Happy Birthday Tu Anh Phan

Workshop at The Dudley Cafe

Thanks to Tu Anh Phan and SOUP for a great night. 

Haiku

Peter poet picks
a pal to prompt pickled poem
now pays the piper.

Tales from the SOUP Poetry Workshop

Yesterday, the Society of Urban Poetry held their monthly poetry workshop at The Dudley Cafe. SOUP member and co-facilitator Tu Anh Phan ended the night with a writing prompt for the group.

In short, we were told to draw three rows of three boxes. Then in each row, we were to draw in the boxes part of a story about something in our lives we had regretted. Some of the group wrote a poem based on their own drawings. Some of us, like myself and other facilitator Crystal Beck (aka Navah The Buddaphliii), took it a step further and traded our drawn sequences. Crystal and I ended up writing short pieces interpreting each other's drawings, which was a lot of fun.

What follows first is Crystal's drawing along with the poem I wrote in response. I tried not to guess the identity of who she drew first (which is easy to do if you've ever looked at her Facebook). I succumbed before I was finished).

SOUP on Display

This is just one part of the poetry and art on display for the Society of Urban Poetry at the Dudley Cafe all during National Poetry Month. Stop by there and check out work by DiDi Delgado, Timothy Hall, Navah The Buddaphliii, Jeannie Nunes, and Tu Anh Phan.

Happy Birthday, Tu Anh Phan

Taken from the Stone Soup Poetry Slam back in July, which makes me feel warmer just looking it this chilly day. I have to get some video of this guy, too.

Promises, promises...

From The First Friday Youth Open Mic

At the First Parish in Jamaica Plain.

Open mic panorama.

Vernon C. Robinson (VCR) at the open mic.

Tu Anh Phan during his feature.

Mr. Phan brings up all the open mic readers at the end. Chaos ensues.