Haikus on the Fly
/Last night I attended a monthly event called, "The Poet's Cafe." Hosted by Rebel Poet, this event brings together 3 local poets and a musical guest to create a night of words, song, and pure magic.
The vibe is welcoming. The art is divine. The whole night just leaves you feeling uplifted and inspired.
Rebel Poet encouraged the audience to write haikus (short 17-syllable poems) to share in between the poet's sets. As the reigning Haiku Champion, I couldn't help but take up this challenge.
I ended up writing a haiku inspired by each of the performers.
The first performer, Justin Rambo, recently dropped his first spoken word album. He calls his art S.W.I.M., which stands for Spoken Word Inspirational Music. He's a lyrical motivational speaker that had us all thinking about how to be legends in our own lives.
I also was wondering how I could even write a haiku while absorbing the messages he was sharing that my heart so desperately needs to hear.
So I wrote:
How could I write while
words swam through air and cracked
open my rib cage?
The second poet was Jon Meliferas, a sailboat captain and logophile, who's bio said more about his mustache than his credentials. As he read, I couldn't help buy keep thinking about the mustache so I knew that had to be the subject of his Haiku:
The mustache begs us
to question why such
curious optimism.
The third poet is the dear Charles Hines, a competing and professional poet who reflected on the struggle of growing up, trying to make it, and being loved and accepted in this world. He is of the generation of young poets I had the pleasure of teaching a decade ago in a program through the Arts Council, so he has such a special place in my heart. So I wanted him to know that he is:
A star already
in my eyes, blinded by the
light. Shine on, dear one.
(side-note: in typing this up I realized I was actually two syllables short. That's what happens when you write on the fly. Now that I'm editing I'm tempted to replace "Shine on, dear one" with "Supernova." Thoughts?)
The last performer was the musical guest, N.N.I, a combat vet and soul-singer. He took us all to church and gave us communion. His message was about letting your soul be free in this life. For him I wrote:
Old soul, short life, shows
us the power of being
free and connected.
One of the things I write about a lot is when it comes to doing any habit, activity, or hobby you want to get better at, it's best to lower the bar. This is why challenges like this are so great. Each of these poems were written in only a few minutes, if that. If I hemed and hawed over them, they wouldn't have happened.
Don't let yourself get stuck in perfection when you could just make something for fun.
Wanna come to the next Poet’s Cafe? You bet you do. I’ll be one of the featured poets on May 5th.
The show starts at 7pm and runs until a little after 9. It's at Coffee Speaks and Tea Talks in New Tampa. Find more on the Poets Cafe on Instagram and make sure you follow me to get reminders of this and other upcoming performances.
