Happy Birthday, Gladys Teresa Hidalgo

Don't have a clip of you reading, but here's a shout out from Angelica Maria Aguilera!

Happy Birthday Angélica Maria Aguilera

Happy Birthday Angelica Maria Aguilera

Happy Birthday Angelica Maria Aguilera

A Nice Find

Angelica Maria Aguilera appeared a while ago on Button Poetry's YouTube channel as a runner up in their first ever poetry contest. A relevant piece even thought it's almost three weeks after Cinco de Mayo.

April 19: Angelica Maria Aguilera at VerBaLizAtiOn (and Happy Birthday, VCR

Come out for Angelica and to give B-Day wishes to VCR.

Happy Belated Birthday, Angelica Maria Aguilera

Hopefully next time I won't be traveling and will be more prompt. 

Tonight

 Angelica Maria Aguilera. The Dudley Cafe. The Society of Urban Poetry. Be there.

Healing Through Spoken Word

Courtesy of SOUP. Catch this at the Dudley Cafe next Tuesday on August 2. No to be missed.

Stone Soup Croutons, 7-11-16, All Last Straws

Stone Soup Croutons is a weekly poem I write using lines and impressions picked up from poems overheard from Stone Soup's open mic readers and features. I figure out a title (and sometimes the rest of the poem) later. To paraphrase Lorne Michaels, the poem doesn't go up because it's good; it goes up because it's Tuesday Wednesday. Clearly I need to rethink the deadline of this series. I may post on Wednesdays or later due to snags in my routine as of late.

Dexter Garcia read to a packed audience Monday night. It was anyone and everyone on the mic. One of those night's I'm too busy and occupied to keep names straight, let alone jot down everything that is said. I hope I captured something from the night, which was the first Stone Soup gathering following a series of tragic killings. The vibe of social justice was prevalent, even if it wasn't the direct theme of everyone's poems.

Usually, I have difficulty capturing and using lines from these highly emotional and personal works focusing on race. The closest I've come so far was a poem written partly in reaction to an audience member challenging DiDi Delgado in the middle of her reading on the open mic. Hopefully I did something better here. At least I'm resolved to document this theme better.

I ended up basing the "You" in the poem on a particularly creepy Uber driver Dexter described in one of her poems. Credit also goes to DiDi who remembered and quoted a line from Angelica Maria Aguilera on her Facebook wall, otherwise I might not have remembered it. I thank everyone on the open mic and list you below whether or not I remembered and/or used your words.


All Last Straws 

After your final staged outburst
your bitch baby thinks you can stand
and hump the empty air forever.

You tell her all deaths matter
just to try and sound clever on Facebook.

She is loud, loud, louder than any statistics
lifted from Donald Trump's Twitter.

July 11: Dexter Garcia is Coming Back to Stone Soup

It's been a good break for Stone Soup, and we're coming back strong on July 11. Dexter Garcia is featuring at Stone Soup to kick off a series of appearances to celebrate the release of her new book of poetry, For Blackmail: A Compilation of LOVE Poems. You can read an excerpt of her book in Stone Soup Servings and buy a copy at Stone Soup. It also features great artwork by past Stone Soup feature and slam winner Angelica Maria Aguilera. If you need more reasons to pick up the book, I'm sure Dexter will give you more reasons on Monday.

People I Want to See Tonight at Stone Soup

Angelica Maria Aguilera and Gladys Teresa Hidalgo

 

Gladys (seen right) came back to Stone Soup this past Monday. Angelica (left), on the other hand, I last saw when it was still jacket weather.  Hopefully, she'll be back for Dexter Garcia's feature in a couple of weeks.

 Matt Parker

One of SOUP's mainstays, I haven't seen enough of him these past few months. If I don't see him tonight, I'll be sure to see him (along with Angelica and Gladys) on July 5th for the SOUP'ed Up Poetry Slam.

Happy Birthday, Angelica Maria Aguilera

Stone Soup Croutons, 11-30-15, Performance Plan

Stone Soup Croutons is a weekly poem I write using lines and impressions picked up from poems overheard from Stone Soup's open mic readers and features. I figure out a title the next morning. Or a day or so later, in this case.

It's been a few weeks since I've done this. I've had an even harder time multitasking at Stone Soup since starting the regular live streams. Given that one of my crouton poems was just featured by Mass Poetry, I figured I should get back on the horse for Angelica Maria Aguilera's feature and write one this Monday no matter how badly it came out.

The result? Not too bad a job, given that I was more rushed to jot down lines than in previous weeks and was writing on a tinny, flimsy note pad (I left my notebook in my girlfriend's jeep). Also, I took less actual ideas and more words and half-phrases this time, so people might note even recognize that I took from their poems. This may be a new thing. We'll see next week.

Apologies to Dexter Garcia. I could have borrowed from her second open mic piece about the Dominican Republic (at least that's what I believe it was about), but instead I use that line about pizza (you'll see below). Bonus plug, see Dexter in two weeks.

Here's the poem...


Performance Plan

You write an angry update about
your well-playing job
upset not at doing nothing
at your desk, but because
you saw a blue jay fly off
outside your house.

November 30: Angelica Maria Aguilera Features at Stone Soup

For the first time in weeks, I was able to set up the live stream in time for the open mic to start. Now I have to think of how to improve the lighting. Thanks to Angelica Maria Aguilera for a wonderful performance last night.

Off I Go

Angelica Maria Aguilera is featuring at Stone Soup tonight, and I can't be late!

Angelica Maria Aguilera is Featuring at Stone Soup Poetry on November 28

Read a sample of her work today in Stone Soup Servings at Oddball Magazine. Then be in the audience this Monday.

November 30: Angelica Maria Aguilera Slams Her Way to The Feature Spot

I'm posting this as early as possible to let you know about a phenomenal feature that's happening next Monday after the Thanksgiving marathon. I hope you will all be well rested enough to see Angelica Maria Aguilera feature at Stone Soup. She has been a great presence at the Stone Soup Poetry Slam. If you have been lucky to attend the last couple of slams, then you have had a great sneak preview of Angelica's work. If not, you'll just have to accept my word because this is a can't-miss opportunity to hear a new talent on the rise. Enjoy your holiday time, but be back in the seats on Monday!