What kinda Poet is You???

I was having a conversation with friend, who is a PR for a poetry group, the other day and he was describing different poets that he wants to book for future shows. He kept saying things like, "...yea he is a real Political Poet" and "...she is more of an Erotica Poet." This sparked the question in my own head of, what kind of poet am I? I wasn't really sure at the time when I initially asked myself and I was afraid to ask my friend because he may have been confused as well. So I took my time and really pondered on it. I do poetry about all topics from love to politics. I have yet to write a funny poem so I cant be a Comedic Poet. Then it hit me, even though all of my poems are about different things, they all take the same approach at describing their subject matter. All of my poems come in the form of a second or third person story. Not too many things happen in my life that I can find inspirational enough to write about so I usually stay away from first person poetry, but I always find myself fascinated with the lives of others. So there it is, if you ever want to describe me as a poet, just say that I am a StoryTeller.

Untitled Poem: This is Not a Love Poem 53

Untitled Poem subtitled
this is not a love poem number 53

There is a man in my chest
where my heart use to be.

He is a natural born patriot
with blue and red veins
running through his frosted white skin.

He has a dark belly full of moths,
and they flutter from the shutter
of my eye lids when I catch light
of the sunshine in your smile.

And like every man,
the one in my chest has responsibilities
far greater than himself

He runs a 24 hour convenient store
selling every emotion under the moon
Like an apothecary turned street hustler

From late night lunar love
to his needed nocturnal canoodling,
he continues to remind me why
the angles envy us so much

You see we are one of God's
most underrated inventions.
And he created the human body special
with certain things in pairs for a reason.

Like lungs, one for breathing and one for wheezing.
and only asthma patients know what I'm talking about
because we are the only humans forced to use both.

Your eyes, one for seeking and one for peeking
Because while we are on the quest for love
its ok for us to be distracted by the crave of lust

But as for the heart, we were only meant to have one.
Because if I had two, then it would be true
that the man in my chest has moths that flutter for you
and another woman at the same time...

but he is the fine line between reality and fantasy
and I don't want you drifting to close to the edge
at this moment of vulnerability

So let me offer you this moment of clarity,
Cuz the sun is another underrated invention
that never receives honorable mention

And that ball of ultraviolet light, is strapped tight
To your happiness, it is trapped in your joy,
bound to the one thing
that still keeps us connected

Yet you are choosing to shed light on a
distant part of our universe
that was meant to stay in darkness forever

So come back to the real world
where you and still I love each other
like tomorrow has to be a miracle

Because even Superman needs the sun
to survive in these times.
And although I may act a little retarded every once in a while
the S on my chest doesn't quite stand for stupid just yet

See your smile is in direct relation
to the sunrise on Love's horizon
and I cant remember the last time my pupils were dilated

But My heart chooses to sell emotion
because he doesn't require sunlight like I do.
And he doesn't mind trading my hugs for hypocritical hopelessness
and my kisses for your cursed insults

So remind the man in my chest there
is something brighter than moonlight
blast him with L-UV rays
and bring the moths in his belly back to life again

Just give the them one more chance to flap their wings
Cuz the hate from your tongue is the only reason
that they are eclipsed to darkness

This is my heart but I want you
to love him like he was yours.
and prove to me that you remember
how to make the sun kiss the horizon

ask me to draw a flower
and I will paint you a garden

Just turn up the corners of your mouth
bring his belly back to life
and dont you ever stop smiling again...


(c)2009 Johnny Alfredo

Who else lives here???

For those of you who do not know, I am a student at the wonderful East Carolina University located in good ole Greenville, NC. It's not as big as my hometown Charlotte, NC, but it is big enough to make you feel like you're not on a deserted island. I am now going into my Junior year and for the past 2 years that I have been in this city, I have definitely made it my business to find the poets and become apart the small poetry movement they have here. It's definitely nothing compared to SlamCharlotte and The Concrete Generation, but it certainly serves as a great environment for poets to grow and be inspired. I have done countless sets and appearances at many shows and I am starting to realize that I am running into the same crowds, and therein lies my dilemma. Like most poets, I use my poetry as an outlet for not only myself, but for others as well. I am notorious for telling someone else's story, while at the same time, I still maintain the artistic part of writing poetry. My poetry is usually heavy in metaphor and puns to dress up the language and make the poem entertaining for the readers and listeners. Yet this same crowd that I keep performing in front of is starting to show me that they don't really enjoy my style of poetry as much as others. I was watching the crowds reaction to other poets and it seems that these people enjoy poetry that is more direct and just says everything in plain English. In my opinion, that's not real poetry, it is prose. The thing that makes poetry so much different (and better) than prose is the fact that the language can be playful. You can say things indirectly while still packing meaning. These people would much rather me say something like, "I hate vegetables," as oppose to me saying, "I look at vegetables like a claustrophobic Santa Clause looks at chimneys." So I believe the solution is that I need to reach out to a new demographic... but how? It's not like when these shows are promoted, the PR only ask for middle aged African American couples to show up, that's just who comes. Hopefully I will figure it out soon...

Where do we go from here???

So I am still trying to figure out what I want to do with this blog. I was thinking of taking the Rev Run approach and just give some helpful advice based on the daily story of my life, and I still may consider that route, or, I could just speak from the mind of the world and just talk about small issues that are going on all around us while giving my own unbiased, yet sometimes biased, opinionated statements like SxePhil. Either way, I want to do something that attracts readers because this whole "daily rant" idea of most blogs is starting to lose its purpose to me and I am only 3 post in! I already know how boring it is to listen to a story of someones life, so I can imagine that it's a lot worse to have to read it. Speaking of readers...I haven't told many people about the blog yet, but I did tell one lady in particular. I am actually anticipating her checking out this post so before I continue with the story, I just want to take the time to say she is probably one of the sexiest girls I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. She always keeps the swag on deck and on top of that, she is a brown skin beauty. You already know how rare it is to find a sexy dark skinned girl. But to really top it off, she is a Libra...but that's another blog. So yeah I have only let a few people know about the blog, but as a poet, I hate getting on stage and feeling like I have nothing to say. I have the same feelings about this blog. I don't want to really share it until I have something really profound to share, so until then people...

Womanizer???

So the other day, I was on facebook and I noticed that someone, a female to be exact, dropped a few lines in my honesty box. I was expecting the usual post like, "I love your poetry" or," I think you are awesome," but to my surprise, it stated, and I quote, " Are you a WOMANIZER???" I didn't know whether to punch a hole in LCD or laugh until my insides melted into pudding. Womanizer? I initially thought it was a joke so I replied to the post with an "lol", but she just replied right back only to let me know that her question was as serious as the AIDS epidemic. Do I really come off as a Womanizer? I mean I know I flirt with anything that can hold a conversation but idk 'Womanizer' is the term that applies here.

Lets look at the definition of Womanizer:

The word Womanizer is a noun that comes from the verb Womanize which, according to Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary, means to pursue casual sexual relationships with multiple women.

Anyone that actually knows who I am would know that Womanizing is completely out of my character. I am just going to assume that this mystery girl is a stranger that just bumped into my profile, but if I find out who she is, I will definitely make a point to laugh at her like a hyena that overdosed on 5 Hour Energy Shots.

[dot]BLOGSPOT[dot]COM...

Sooooooo, I definitely haven't had a blog since I was a freshman in high school when it was cool to use Xanga. For all of you new generation kids, Xanga was popular in the pre-Myspace era. So if you didn't have web access back then...well you get the picture. So yeah, I plan to use this as much as my busy schedule will allow me. I won't hold anything back in this bad boy, so everything that doesn't come out in my poetry will definitely be posted here. Also, all updates as far as my poetry, any shows or gigs I do, ANY and ALL happenings with Word of Mouth will be posted here, and everything else that goes through my head on a regular basis. I hope the world is ready...