Wine N' Rhymes 6/29/2018

I was going to write a big ol' blog post about this event that I was a part of last night, Wine N' Rhymes.   My roommate Reece put it on, he's the guy on the right in the picture in this local newspaper article.  The woman in the pic is Rachel of Designs, Vines and Wines, a studio/gallery space in Studios at 625, on Trade Street, in the middle of Winston-Salem's art district, where the event was held.  The other guy is Collin of Vibe Funktions, the third part of the promotional team for the event.  The whole thing was hosted by L.B. the Poet, who's kind of the rock of the local poetry scene here.  If you check out the article in the link, I'm "Steve the homeless guy," they talk about for waaaaay too long.

Basically, it was a night of really amazing poetry, spoken word, and a bit of rap, tossed over some groovin' music buy local musicians, and Melvin the kick ass bongo drummer.

I was there as "live art," doing my Sharpie scribble style thing as the other stuff was going on.  There was wine to taste.  I'm not a wine drinker, and don't drink anything anymore (except Diet Coke), but everyone else seemed dig the wines being tried.  It was just a cool, fun, thoughtful, creative evening.

The Metallica drawing I'm working on right now for someone was at a weird point.  I couldn't do much while I was there, without my computer set up to check the details.  So I started a new "doodle art" piece, by drawing "WORD" in big letters, and then letting the ideas flow from there.  I wound up writing a poem on the spot, right from my head to the drawing (in ink), and shared it later in the evening (New Shit!).

There was a ton of video and pics shot last night, but it's either not posted yet, or it's on Instagram, which I'm not on (until I get a phone).  I was going to get a phone this month, but the city of Winston-Salem decided I needed to pay more than I currently make in a month as continuing reparations for my "Great Donut Caper."  I got arrested for trespassing and resisting arrest last fall, about 3o seconds after buying a pack of donuts at an Aldi grocery store.  Long story.  Don't ask.  So anyhow, the phone's on hold and so is Instagram for me.

Here's the poem I wrote last night:

Poetry: Voice for the Voiceless

I walked into the woods
To see what it had to say
But the woods couldn't answer
In an articulate way
I asked the bear, I asked the owl
They answered with
 A hoot and a growl
I saw the trees
They danced with the wind
But they could not express
Their opinion
As I walked from the woods
I felt a bit mad
The woods couldn't tell me
If they were happy or sad
I walked into the meadow
A brook babbled, in it fish swam
But I just couldn't tell
If they gave a damn
Right foot, left
Step by step
I passed from the country
To the city, poorly kept
The wild lands faded
Sounds, staccato and sharp
Piercing and pounding
It was no angel's harp
Things got more tense
More hurried and stressed
Broken places, battered people
The place was a mess
In the madness of the city
Sounds of beauty reached me
I suddenly heard words
Eloquent poetry
Poets weave words
They write down love and pain
They speak for the downtrodden
The wind and the rain
Words for the wordless
Help keep us all sane
(Mostly)

-The White Bear