Acentos Writers Workshop Fall 2010 Session 2 Tara Betts

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Acentos 

Fall 2010

Session 2

Sept. 26.

Tara Betts

Last Sunday morning upon arriving at Acentos we had the pleasure of seeing one of the founders of the Acentos Foundation, Fish Vargas, who we haven't seen for months as he is a new West Coast transplant. He brought with him the logical proposal of a sister group to ours based out of Oakland, California. As passionate as he is about Acentos it was logical and presented us a wonderful opportunity for growth on a national level. It's Manifest Destiny!

After a group hug and farewell we got down to the nitty gritty. And it WAS gritty!

During our second week back at Acentos we had the pleasure of partaking in poetic repartee with the wonderful author, lecturer and Cave Canem Fellow, Tara Betts. Her easy going relationship with the group and dynamic thinking were guaranteed to shake something loose in us. 

It turned out that it would be both exciting and nerve wracking as we all stepped outside the box to try something new. We began with a writing exercise called the "Ten Minute Spill". 

Cliff 

Needle

Voice

Whir

Blackberry

Cloud

Mother 

Lick

Here is my own:

Our relationship was ginger foot tracing along cliff

The tear soaked needle that sewed our mother-daughter quilt rusted blunt 

Her voice sent my mind reeling into tailspin confusion

The comforting whir of the fan blowing on my face soothed the small hairs on my nape 

Small women living in a cloud of confusion and despair

She tore open my wounds and licked them with lemon tongue

“He left us, you look like him, that bastard desgraciao”

I hate you, wish you’d never been born

My right thigh red, her left hand with swollen blackberry fingertips

If even she couldn’t take the force of her rage what hope had I?

We read our poems to one another and found ourselves laughing, enjoying each other's different plays on the words, discussing the particular usages. Some used the word "blackberry" literally and mention the fruit, my own symbolized a bruised welt or as the cell phone which when the exercise created didn't even exist.

 

Using words we’re forced to use can make us break out of common modes or we can find a way to incorporate them into our favorite themes. The word "mother" prompted most of the poets to go directly into poems about our mothers which more often than is bound to dredge up some tears, because we get open like that that's what went down. Fearless poetry here, people!

The second segment of the workshop had us all breathing funny or altogether holding our breath. Tara shared that she is often inspired by music and we logged onto YouTube to check out Broken Language by Smooth the Hustler. Good times! In it he describes himself in a creative, forceful bulleted barrage of straightforward and flip-descriptive lyrics. Our job was to crank out an identity poem with Tara telling us she wanted to see the women get open and bring it because as women we're taught to downplay our badassness and this kind of work taps into the uncomfortable regions of braggadocio. 

As we listened I tried to jot down as many as I could. He tells us he's a:

Head spinner 

Body polluter 

Gat shooter

Brain smasher

Breath taker

Shot popper

Cock blocker

Lady shitter

Human drug generator

(google the lyrics later)

Heather Headly 

Kiss craver 

Baby conceiver

Now it was our turn and hopefully the poets identity wouldn't be straight misogynistic like the 90s lyricist. Our results hit points in a range from fun and light to deeply traumatic and raw. One poet inpsired tears with a wonderfully written but graphic poem describing a woman severely abused and raped. Several of us had tears in our eyes as she read and then we thanked her for doing the work and inviting us into her pain, allowing us the look into her truth. One of the hugely positive points of poetry is that it benefits both reader and writer by uncovering our common ground and exposing our common threads. Healing moments, growth come from the ability to turn pain into art and communication. 

There were many different approaches, some were shy about sharing, some thought maybe they did it wrong but one who impressed was Roberto Plena Irizarry, whom had just gotten off of a plane from Chicago and took a cab from LaGuardia straight to Acentos. 

Beatles loving

Hip hop head boppin

Salsa feet tapping

Merengue hip swinging

Coffee drinking

No beef or pork eating

Fast food hating

Rose scent sniffing

Bomba kissing

Neck biting

Bruised thigh giving

I want things my way arguing

Don't fuck with me warning

iPhone texting

Laptop facebooking

Comfy day sneaker rockin'

9 to 5 dress shoe wearing

Fortune 500 company innovation creating

Live concert organizing

Nuyorican poetry reciting

Mother loving

Father rejecting

Union squaring

Kingsbridging

Pollen sneezing

Migraine suffering

Temper carrying

Silence appreciating

Public argument loathing

Chocolate ice cream cone buying

Arnold palming

Non costco membership having

Out of control money spending

God fearing

God challenging

God praying

God believing

Occasional Sin indulging

Sunday morning acentos cab flagging

Puerto rico tomb purchasing

Bury my ashes in ponce requesting

Use some of it for pen ink wishing

Santa claus dismissing

The Cuco is real believing

Poetry in the park attending

My girls pocket holding

Beard grabbing

One hitter toking

Don't tweet too much but I be's on tumblr posting

Albizu campos writings searching

Signed copy of arc n hue having

Boricua flagging

Young Lord admiring

Amiri baraking

Ying yanging

Bronx stomping

Manhattan train riding

Roberto Irizarry birth certificate filing

December birthday partying

Chips Ahoy cookie eating me

And there you have it. Week number 2! Done and dope! 

Next week we have  E.J. Antonio a 2009 fellow in poetry from the New York Foundation for the Arts and a recipient of fellowships from the Hurston/Wright Foundation and the Cave Canem

Poem by E.J. 

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You can find out more about our Tara Betts  

Tara Betts is the author of the book Arc and Hue, her debut collection on Aquarius Press/Willow Books. Tara is a lecturer in creative writing at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. She is also a Cave Canem fellow.Tara's poetry and prose has appeared in various journals and anthologies. She has also been a freelance writer for publications such as XXL, The Source, BIBR, Mosaic Magazine and Black Radio Exclusive.

Tara Betts encourages literacy and works with arts programs. In Chicago, she was an influential educator. Tara co-founded GirlSpeak, a weekly writing/leadership workshop for young women. She has also conducted short-term workshops in schools, community centers, Ms. Foundation, City Girls (a substance abuse rehabilitation center for teen girls), Cook County Jail and Cook County Juvenile Detention Center, Louder Arts Project, Cooper Union, Dodge Foundation's Poets-In-The-Schools program and London's Roundhouse.Tara Betts appeared on HBO's "Def Poetry Jam" She also appeared in the Black Family Channel series "SPOKEN" with Jessica Care Moore. She has also been one of the writers/performers in girlstory-an intergenerational, multicultural women's performance collective. Tara has also performed in plays, including two SouthWest V-Day productions of Eve Ensler's "Vagina Monologues" at Chicago's DuSable Museum. After winning Guild Complex's Gwendolyn Brooks Open Mic Award, she represented Chicago twice at the National Poetry Slam.

She has performed her work in Cuba, London, New York, the West Coast and throughout the Midwest at venues such as Arie Crown Theater, The New School, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Studio Museum of Harlem, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Bar 13, The Metro, Cornelia Street Café, Bowery Poetry Club, Yerba Buena Cultural Center, the Field Museum of Natural History, Harvard University, poetry slams, conferences, several colleges, universities and numerous public, private and alternative schools.

Tara is making appearances at festivals throughout the country as well. Some of her past appearances include the Mixed Roots Literary & Film Festival, The Hip Hop Theater Festival,
Ladyfest Midwest, AWP, Split This Rock Festival, the National Black Writers Conference,
the Austin International Poetry Festival, and the Baltimore Book Festival.She has shared the stage with Patricia Smith, Rosellen Brown, Afaa Michael Weaver, Martín Espada, David Mura, Kwame Dawes, Luis Rodriguez, MC Lyte and Grammy-winner Jill Scott and others. She coached and mentored countless young writers and performers that have participated in the Brave New Voices and Louder Than a Bomb teen poetry slams and still teaches writing workshops with teens at Urban Word NYC.

Welcome back to the Acentos Poetry Workshops @ Hostos!

 

Acentos 2010-11 Session 1 

Samantha Thornhill 

Samantha's path as a writer began at the tender age of 8.  She received her Bachelors degree in creative writing from Florida State University, where she joined BackTalk! Poetry Troupe, a guild that nurtured Samantha into the eloquent performance poet she is today. Upon graduation at FSU, Samantha received a full fellowship from the University of Virginia where she received her Masters of Fine Arts in poetry while coaching Virginia's slam team to two consecutive regional victories.

Samantha now teaches poetry to actors at the Juilliard School in New York City. She also serves grades 6-12 as writer in residence at the Bronx Academy of Letters. There, she teaches creative writing seminars and manages a talented group of teens in the production of the school paper, The Raven.

In 2007, she and published a middle school level chapter book, Everybody Hates School Presentations, based on the hit show Everybody Hates Chris. When Samantha is not obsessing over odes and writing poems, she is at work on her young adult novel Seventeen Seasons, to be published by Penguin Putnam. In November "Ode to Little Odetta," her performance poem about the late folk legend, will be published by Scholastic Press as a picture book. Her individual poems have been featured in the following publications: Crab Orchard Review, Indiana Review, Poets and Artists Magazine, The Louisville Review, Two Review, African American Review and Faultline.

Samantha is grateful to the organizations that have been most instrumental in nurturing her artistic and spiritual growth: Cave Canem Retreat, Soul Mountain Retreat, Hedgebrook Retreat, and most recently the Jerome Foundation, which enabled her to spend three months in her homeland, Trinidad & Tobago.

Info from Acentos Poetry Foundation 

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Visit her: http://www.samanthaspeaks.com/

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Our first day back to the Acentos Writing Workshop grind was sure to be a promising one as the sun was shining, the weather was as pleasant as it has been all year and upon entering the lobby of Eugenio María de Hostos Community College at 149th and the Grand Concourse, like minded friends with similar purpose greeted each other with hugs after months of anticipation. Today would be the long awaited kickoff to the new season and upon settling into our seats we were treated to a stunning realization. In the room sat approximately 20 women and no men other than El Mero Mero himself, Rich Villar. He welcomed us back and updated us briefly, inviting us to submit to the Acentos Poetry Review and shared exciting upcoming dates such as Split this Rock's response to SB1070. On February 4, Flor y Canto will be going down at the True Reformer Bldg. 6-9 during the AWP conference in Washington, D.C. Exciting! 

He introduced us to our lovely facilitator this week, Samantha Thornhill who's presence and easy smile warmed the room.  She professed a great love, a near obsession with "the ode" and we began with a reading of beloved, recently departed, Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize winner, Lucille Clifton's Poem to my Uterus. We went around the room and shared a word that came to mind in response to the poem. "Liquid, Attachment, Loss, Pregnancy, Aging...", were tossed into the pot. We were then told to choose something of our own to write an ode to, something physical or conceptual and make a list of 7 words in connection to it. Before we would write our ode we would whet our muse with  a 10 minute free write that was dotted with Samantha's calling out words to incorporate into our consciousness as the words flowed. 

So, I'll share mine for the sake of truly sharing what goes down:

Freshness lives on the other side of this smile. It’s bitter and vulgar full of discontent and snide stories. When will I know who to see when I see. When will the memories of that one show me who you are. Designed  to make my heart palpitate, your words sense my fear. They can smell the next thought coming and I don’t know why I keep running. Because the blue stink of misunderstanding is cloying. But your love transcends. There is no fight, there is no other way. I need to be. Fight for my life. Turquoise summer sun is gone and tomorrow will be red moon, tomorrow will be cold coat slipping on gray snow. The love is a magnet, all space, all time, all words, all things considered and released in the cleansing pull of gravity. All residue pulled away clean, nothing left but the sore I leave blessing in the ground where I dig my heels into the earth and pull the roots from the light. Tell me what you see in my silhouette, against the wall. What does my shadow belie. Is it the beast, a roaring lion, a behemoth? Do you still see a unicorn prance when you see my fresh dewy face, or is it the monster in my eyes trying to tear us apart. Never want to do this again. All I want is to move into tomorrow Work to do, work to do, life to live, kids to feed, tired of the past, want to live in tomorrow. In my home I will find solace, in myself I will find joy. If all I am is a shell, trying to fill it with you will never satisfy. I can only give them what  am. What am I? My feet tremble, tremulous steps take me down the spiral and in the bottom there is a pool. I just have to get there, take my bath, sink into the healing springs, close my eyes, breathe in the water, exhale and open my eyes, drink and swallow. Become, grow, my heart is beating. I hear my heart. Reborn. Receive. Rebleed. Reblood. Renew. I am new. 

And stop! 

We discussed how hard or easy it was to incorporate the words she was giving us and if we were truly writing without thinking. Were we in right brain or left brain mode. She even touched upon String Theory - Suffice it to say, that's a long convo for another day. 

Closely related to the Ode is the elegy which began as an ancient Greek metrical form. It's traditionally written in response to the death of a person but the fun of artistic license in the creativity which one can take with the traditional. Though similar in function, the elegy is distinct from the epitaph, ode, and eulogy; the epitaph is very brief; the ode solely exalts; and the eulogy is most often written in formal prose.

The elements of a traditional elegy mirror three stages of loss. First, there is a lament, where the speaker expresses grief and sorrow, then praise and admiration of the idealized dead, and finally consolation and solace.

We toyed with the idea of writing elegies to concepts of constructs: racism, misogyny. Elegies to stages in life: youth, child bearing years, love lost, viriginity. 

Samantha then asked us some deeply personal questions that forced some very private answers, but no fear. These were not to share to but to get us to think; To make things rise to the surface.

Who was the first person to die in your life that was close to you? 

Have you said everything you would like to say to this person? 

Death of an iconic figure that really wounded you? 

How did you hear of their passing? 

If there had been a day of the week that has died in some way what would it be? 

Something dear to you that has been lost of stolen: 

Samantha read Elegy for Satan, the words of Turkish exiled poet Nazim Hikmet, who's life was steeped in death. The title made our ears prick but the opening line quickly smoothed out the thrilling undercurrent by informing us that, Satan was his dog and he was a simple dog who'd done nothing to earn his name, it

was just a name and he died. That was all. With lines like "a tree that dries up in your hand is a curse" we were open His description of his beloved pet, his accountability in it's death, the joyful end in which we are assures us that death is universal and together we go in joy was understated and profound all at once. The importance of title, the way that we can grasp the mind with the title and take it in any direction and then either follow up and expand within the body of work or negate it and cause a titillating series of thoughts to connect the dots. Untitled poems were frowned upon. Really now, your poem still has no title? Don't you name all of your children? 

We would write an ode of our own and write 7 words to support the poem.

Poem to my Hair

Fun

Companion

Safety

Babies

Cancer

Hair

Love

But we couldn't use any of the words! 

Ode to my Hair

My identity has been braided into and her twist, your bounce, your sleek attitude. 

Hours of time we’ve spent creating the mood and tone of the day, a personal celebration.

Naked I can walk into the world with only her to speak for me If I so choose

Somedays I feel like saying nothing, that’s an option too. 

Not everyone has such a good relationship with their hair and I appreciate her for it. 

In the bitter cold she’s been my blanket, in times of despair she’s have been my comfort. 

When I am done with it all, we discuss the options and the martyr that she is, 

to the floor she flutters taking with her the past, the pain, the sorrow. 

She must love me, willing to fall to lighten my burden. 

But she always returns with the promise of variety and what spontaneous relationship to be have!  

“What shall we do next?” she asks. “Do you want to be an auburn siren, the babydoll blonde, 

sexy bookish brunette, or maybe, oh oh, maybe you can be the ethereal dark golden goddess? 

Let’s do that next! This is going to be fun! Whatever you want, just let me know!”

When I hold my children in my arms, she brushes their foreheads and chins. They light up gleefully. 

Dimples, giggles, “I got this”, she tells me with a knowing wink. 

They feel safe under her the warmth of her cover, hold her so close. 

My genetics threaten our future. Will my father's curse rend her from my scalp

I pray that she stays with me, fear my wounds be exposed. 

She covers my secret ticks and shame with glorious silence. 

My home, my banner, my warmth and love. 

We closed with an elegy of her own. Her bright and positive light shown through as she rewound through a pivotal moment in her life saying farewell to each second as she spoke it aloud. She forgave and erased the moments becoming more powerful, forgiving and wove images of canine fur and sun speckled memories, trees and park. An elegy to the occasion when she was bitten on the face by a dog. By the end of the poem it the scar just to the right of her chin, the only physical manifestation of a moment which had now never occurred, was a dimple to  us all. It was a healing moment. 

Samantha Thornhill left an indelible impression upon me. I enjoyed every single word. Her absolute ease in discussion as if we were all home talking, the slight Caribbean lilt and her wonderful spirit made this a most enjoyable and memorable one. The connection reached into the personal for me. As she spoke I could imagine her as a small child, writing, dreaming. I could feel in her the kind words and encouragement and the difficult moments which had forged who'd she become. I was proud of her for having grown into such a powerful and elegant woman. I hope to incorporate all of this in my becoming as well. So it's not all about poetry, it's also about personal growth here. All in all this gorgeous Autumn day was a wonderful return to the new season of Acentos. 

Please join us:

***Get there at 12pm sharp and make sure you have Identification!*** 

Eugenio María de Hostos Community College & Grand Concourse,

***ROOM A-329***Bronx, New York 10451
Call for more info: 917-755-2055

Directions to Hostos Community College-
Hostos Community College is located at a safe and busy intersection just steps from the subway station and bus stop

By subway: take the 2,4,5 IRT trains to 149th Street (Eugenio María de Hostos Boulevard) and the Grand Concourse.By bus: take the Bx1 or cross-town Bx19 to 149th Street (Eugenio María de Hostos Boulevard) and the Grand Concourse.

By car: From Manhattan, take the FDR Drive north to the Willis Avenue Bridge to the Major Deegan Expressway (87N). Proceed north to Exit 3. Take the right fork in the exit ramp to the Grand Concourse and proceed north to East 149th Street
(Eugenio María de Hostos Boulevard)

From Queens, take the Triborough Bridge to the Major Deegan Expressway. Continue north to Exit 3. Take the right fork in the exit ramp to the Grand Concourse and proceed north to East 149th Street (Eugenio María de Hostos Boulevard)

From Westchester, take the Major Deegan Expressway south (87S) to Exit 3. Turn left at the light. Turn left again at Grand Concourse and proceed north to East 149th Street (Eugenio María de Hostos Boulevard)
From New Jersey, take the George Washington Bridge to the Major Deegan Expressway south to Exit 3. Turn left at the light. Turn left again at Grand Concourse and proceed north to East 149th Street (Eugenio María de Hostos Boulevard)
*********THE ACENTOS WRITERS' WORKSHOP was established with the purpose of nurturing various voices of poets in the Bronx and beyond. With writers/facilitators from across several genres donating their time, the workshop encourages newer writers to hone their craft, establish community, and perform their work in front of supportive audiences.
The Acentos Writers' Workshop offers opportunities for growing writers through contact with professional writers, poets, mentors, and teachers. The workshop accepts writers of all backgrounds and skill levels to foster growth and maximize their full potential as writers;

The Acentos Fellowship workshops are a key component in reaching the next level up from the Acentos Writers workshop. These classes are not open to the public but will serve as a spring board for the upcoming Acentos teaching artist workshop that launches in the spring of 2010. Upon completion of the intensive workshops, the participants will carry the well earned title of Acentos Fellow. They will be able to present and further cement the expertise and knowledge in well crafted work that the Acentos Foundation holds near and dear to their heart. As part of the Acentos Foundation and the louderARTS project, the workshops serve a multitude of generations, ethnicities and backgrounds. Through our association with Hostos Community College in the Bronx, the workshop honors this rich cultural diversity.

ACENTOS WORKSHOP SCHEDULE -2010
Tara Betts 26-Sept
E.J. Anotnio 3-Oct
Gregory Pardlo 17-Oct
Edwin Torres 24-Oct
Jericho Brown 31-Oct
Major Jackson 7-Nov
Ocean Voung 14-Nov
Elana Bell 21-Nov
Rich Villar 5-Dec
Aja Monet 12-Dec
Raymonda Daniel Medina 19-Dec