It takes a clean break to heal right

Could it be that Spring is finally here for real? It’s beautiful outside.

Grabbed lunch from the little Caribbean trailer out front – jerk chicken, rice and peas and plantains with a mint iced tea – and sat over in Battery Park to eat. The tourists are out in full force and there was a loud rock band playing somewhere in the park. The breeze from the River was pleasant and my lunch was delicious. After eating, I read over my Anything Goes piece for tonight’s bout with Shappy. Ended up changing my approach and went for the whisper over the shout.

I don’t think a lot of people fully realize what I’m planning. Salomé was caught off-guard by the immediacy of it and took it a lot harder than I have. It’s kind of bittersweet for me but, at the same time, my sense of sadness is greatly overshadowed by my sense of hope, both for myself and for Monday nights. I’m hoping the newer people assert themselves and step up and take advantage of the opportunity. Unlike last time, there’s not going to be any transitional meetings attempting to smooth out differences. Quoting myself: “It takes a clean break to heal right.” In regards to the slam, I’ve got faith in Oscar, as long as he doesn’t burn himself out working on two-and-a-half series. I think there’s a few others that will find their niche in my absence as well. Of course, there will be others that will probably find themselves further removed from things. That’s the unfortunate side of things but the reality is, with me there or not, that’s going to happen.

I’m looking forward to getting out to other places again, hearing different voices and connecting to new scenes. Definitely be able to do every Acentos now, check out some of the other reads in the Bronx and catch some of the offbeat stuff at the Bowery here and there. This will be the first time since December 1997 that “host” isn’t attached to my name!

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Continue ReadingIt takes a clean break to heal right

Ok, I lied. Quick fix! Ed Garcia is THE man! The CD (5 PAST 13) is going to be ready for Monday night's show and it's purely because he busted his ass to get it done. The mastering, the design, the production...hell, he even ordered the track list! (I'm #13.) Fuck collectivism, it takes individuals with the drive and determination to get things done. All committees do is talk and obstruct progress. Is it obvious that I'm not looking foward to the collective meeting at the end of the month? Going to take a lot of convincing to get me…

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Looking for parking in the morning so completely sets my day off on the wrong foot! Looking for it in Brooklyn Heights on a Monday morning - where after driving around for 30 minutes, you stick it on a meter and cross your fingers you'll ONLY get a ticket - sucks like a five hour open mic in the park where the swings are off-limits and there is no shade. I'm a little poetry'd out at this point. Since last Monday, I've been at a poetry reading every day except for Wednesday. Haven't done that since '98 when I used…

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What ever made me think that I'd find convenient parking when I decided to drive in this morning? Ended up in a parking lot after driving around for 20 minutes looking. Planning to avoid Hartsdale while Salomé and the kids are gone so I had to pack a bag this morning to get me through Saturday at least. Was planning to go to the Mets game tonight but it's kind of cold and I'm barely avoiding being sick as it is. Went to Acentos last night, tired as hell. Mondays are killer and Tuesdays should have me in bed early…

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The problem with these journals is that by the time you find the time to write something in them, so much has happened that you don't know where to start. Or finish. Besides that, Salome says I've been talking too much about the war. This past Monday's show couldn't have worked out better than if I'd sat down and written it out play by play. Virtually free of Nationals veterans and "slam professionals," it was a bunch of hungry, developing poets leaving everything on the stage for this all-or-nothing shot at the semis. They all came strong and it could…

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NOTE: I am permanently tired. Figure it's going to last until India's at least one years old. There's just no getting around it. Tuesday at Acentos was amazing. I mean really. It's been ages since I've done a full-on 30-minute feature, much less here in NY. Nowadays, many more people know me as a host than a poet. Even Oscar had never heard me read more than a single poem at a time! The space, the Blue Ox Bar, is this cozy little spot in the South Bronx that gets packed with 50 people, and Oscar and Fish filled it,…

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Selected Squares of Concrete

SELECTED SQUARES OF CONCRETE. That's the name of my new chapbook that I just finished putting together last night. I'm going to release it at Acentos on Tuesday if I can get it turned around quick enough. "But, Guy..." you're probably saying, "You've written one new poem in three years! How in the world do you come out with a new chapbook?" I call it the Dave Matthews approach: a mix of new, revised, never-before-released and old favorites. Some of the oldies have never appeared in one book together or, in the case of Sunday Mornings, never in a chapbook.…

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