Poem of the Day : Roger Bonair-Agard February 5, 2010

Breaking Rules or

Variations on answers

to a familiar question

I sent your girl out

for a wheelbarrow

some biscuit mix

a tub of lard

you gotta know

what this means

that this house

is a dungeon

Your girl brought me

a sledge-hammer

your girl brought me

a Diehard battery

your girl brought me

rose stems

She is a firebrand–your girl

She brings butter

to the fish fry

she brings hay

to the rodeo

your girl is the cats pajamas–

Naw, you girl

is the cat–she has

her claws out

claws out dragging

a moose behind her

a 3-hole punch

a scimitar

she brought her own lube

your girl brought

the ice cream

and the Almond joys

I sent your girl out

for pumpkin

a rooster

3 melted candles

You know what time

that is right? You know

your girl know

how to light

a campfire how

to stock a canoe.

Your girl is a lumberjack’s

pocketknife away

from downstream logging

if you know

what I mean

She brought back a snowblower

a stick of butter

unscented varnish

a fifth of Vermouth

cooking oil

a bowling ball

your girl is a pitchfork

away from digging

a deep-ass grave

your girl rolls

hose like a gardener

your girl swish it

from anywhere

on this court

your girl just left here

wearing a cape

that’s all I’m saying

just letting you

know what’s up

you know how

your girl get down

right?

*From the publication 3 hole punch By: Kevin Coval, Roger Bonair-Agard and Lauren Whitehead

if you would like a copy of this book email Jeff Kass at jeff@neutralzone.org

Also By Roger:

• Tarnish and Masquerade
• Burning Down the House

Check him out in a city near U!

http://twitter.com/rogerbonair

http://www.myspace.com/rogerbonairagard

More about Roger?

**A native of Trinidad and Tobago, Roger Bonair-Agard is a poet who lives in Brooklyn. Bonair-Agard was a member of the 1997 Nuyorican Poets Cafe Poetry Slamteam and later coached the 1998 Nuyorican Poets Cafe Poetry Slam team, which went on to win the National Poetry Slam Championship that year in Austin, TX.^[1]

He then co-founded the louderARTS Project and has been on the 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 louderARTS Poetry Slam teams.^[2] In 1999, he won the individual competition at the National Poetry Slam.^[3] He is currently the Artistic Director for louderARTS.

Ise Lyfe ,when are you coming back?

I went to Ise Lyfe Show ” Who’s Krazy?” a one man show which fused spoken word & comedy.

The main character was a guy named Milton, a black guy who didn’t know he was black , who was having a nervous break down in his basement after being fired from his job .

Not to mention he played like 6 other roles! It was amazing.

I’ve never seen a one man show before but  I enjoyed this show so much I may as well go see another one man show in the future. I might even try and see him again, even if i have to fly to cali!

I’ve realized that it is very hard to get a point across to people . We  already have our own set of values and beliefs. He tests these values and beliefs that we have as a culture. He wasn’t afraid to talk about black issues , white issues , world issues.

It was very brave of him! I laughed soo much. But sometimes the reason we laugh is because its so close to true, its scary. We feel exposed! okay, maybe thats only me! but there were audience members of all races

(haha it was a *LBC Credit event)

and when I laughed tooo hard  I started looking around and they weren’t laughing. This is what they really think also, we as  a people think this also, who else thinks this? how can we change this? so many this’s and not enough progess.

This guy Ise Lyfe is an Oakland native who is being a positive force in his community. He owns an education firm in oakland that finds provocative ways to teach. Sometime in order to teach children, you have approach them by to relating with the situations their familiar with. That’s what Ise Lyfe did to the majority college audience last night. He used a fun and familiar way to bring up real issues that we as people deal with in everyday life.

*If want more information about Ise Lyfe check out this site—http://www.speakoutnow.org/userdata_display.php?modin=50&uid=422