poetry reading

A Little Publicity

~ whisperingsbyjkl ~ Leave a comment

There has been some exciting things happening in my world lately.  On Saturday, July 18th, I co-hosted “A Night of Musical Poetry” where I was the featured reader.  For the event, I memorized 2 lyrical haiku (Endlessly Lyrical and Turbulent Water), 4 short poems that had elements of music (Cadillac, Frozen in Time, A Knee’s Way and The Last Goodbye), and read 2 poems that were inspired by actual songs (Not Even the Trees and I Heard Him Making Love to His Guitar).  It was a great 20 minutes of fame.  I only wished that I spoke a little bit louder.  Prior to my reading, we were entertained by musicians that played the violin and the ukele.  After my reading, we were able to hear wonderful poems shared by fellow poets during open mic.  All in all, it was a beautiful and inspiring evening.

Here is a photo from the event.A Night of Musical PoetryThree days later, on July 21st, we had a Gallery Day event at work.  I had the opportunity to showcase Whisperings to my fellow colleagues.  It was a fun, classy event with music, art, wine and cheese. =)

Whisperings at Gallery Day
Gallery Day

Poetry in the Park

~ whisperingsbyjkl ~ Leave a comment

Yesterday afternoon, I attended a book launch party for my poet friend Rachelle Escamilla’s Imaginary Animal at San Benito County Historical Park.  It was a beautiful country day, warm and breezy, with a glimpse of the historical past.  The food was amazing and the poetry was touching.  Rachelle is an inspiring poet who writes from the heart.  Imaginary Animal takes you through both her and her family’s memories of the country life, her journey as a poet and what it means to be Mexican.

I had the opportunity and pleasure of starting off the poetry program by reading a few of my poems from Whisperings.  I settled on Forever Creating, The Love of My Life and Absolute Freedom.  It was the first time I read Absolute Freedom out loud but it seemed like the perfect Hollister crowd for a motorcycle poem.  Here is a photo from the event.

Poetry in the Park
Other featured poets of the day included Samuel Ramos and my creative writing professor from San Jose State University, Alan Soldofsky.

My next poetry reading will be a smaller, more intimate setting on Saturday, July 18th and will focus on musical poetry.

Poetry Reading 3.29.15

~ whisperingsbyjkl ~ Leave a comment

I’ve been ridiculously busy the past month and didn’t have a chance to post images from my poetry reading.  Once again, I want to thank everyone that attended the event and shared their beautiful poetry.  It was a magical day.  I still need to edit the video (so I will post that eventually).  I hope to do another reading soon.

10 Minutes of Poetry (Live Reading on 2/4/15)

~ whisperingsbyjkl ~ 1 Comment

I had my first official live reading on Wednesday, February 4th at Cafe Lift titled “10 Minutes of Poetry” where I joined a group of talented performers for the night.

Here, you can get a glimpse of my reading =)

Please note that you may need to be a follower of Cafe Lift on Facebook to properly see some of the videos.

My introduction poem Like No Other was under the theme “The Body & The Senses” and seemed to be a favorite among the crowd.

My second poem Ominous was under the theme “Dark Poetry” and is always a fun, psychological poem to read.

My third poem 30 Days of Beard was a memory from work and written based on testimonials from my male colleagues.  The theme, of course, is “A Different Perspective.”

My fourth poem Forever Creating is a blank verse piece written in Creative Writing class.  It falls under the theme “Inspiration & Creativity.”

The fifth and last poem of the night was Flying, based on a childhood memory.  This poem falls under the theme of “Telling a Story.”

 

Live Poetry Reading

~ whisperingsbyjkl ~ Leave a comment

I visited Cafe Lift for the first time last Wednesday and read my poems Frozen in Time, The Beat Goes On and The Last Goodbye.  This is also the first time I was recorded live.  Lucky me, I had to go first since that was the only slot left.  I was very nervous and not as animated as I could have been, but I think I did OK overall.  What do you think?  I had a blast at Cafe Lift.  There were so many talented performers.  I definitely recommended checking out their FB page, and if you are in the San Jose, CA Bay Area, you should also check out the venue!

Please note that you may need to be a follower of Cafe Lift on Facebook to properly see the video below.

New Bookmarks

~ whisperingsbyjkl ~ Leave a comment

I decided to design some bookmarks tonight, which I will be handing out at my poetry reading in February.  It took a while, but it was definitely fun to create.  I can’t wait to see the finish product (printed, cut and possibly with a ribbon).

Whisperings Bookmark Front
Front
Whisperings Bookmark Back
back

Recent News and Postings

~ whisperingsbyjkl ~ Leave a comment

The Whisperings Publication was mentioned in the Poetry Center San Jose (PCSJ) eNewsletter In So Many Words.

Last month on October 16th, I read my poem Moonbathing at the Willow Glen Poetry Project.  It is now posted on their website.  There were a total of 31 readers that night.  You can see the full list here.  Dream Cather was one of my favorite ones that I heard that night, while Cyborg Penis was probably one of the more unique ones.

I also attended the Willow Glen Poetry Project this month, on November 20th.  The featured reader that night was Ellen Bass from Santa Cruz.  As part of the introduction, the MC discussed the beauty of Ellen’s work, in particular What Did I Love, which was a poem that was praised by the 2011-2012 Poet Laureate of the United States, Philip Levine.  You can read the full introduction here.  Ellen shared many beautiful, witty and inspiring poems that Thursday night.  I look forward to attending more of these local readings 🙂

On a more personal note, I am still deciding on which library to book for my Whisperings poetry reading in late January, stay tuned for that!