As you know by now, it’s National Poetry Month! Our friends at Poetry.org suggested “30 Ways to Celebrate“, and we’ve got our own way to honor the art, craft and joy of poetry. We call it 30 for 30 (Twitter hashtag #30for30), and over the course of the month, we’ll be posting one poem a day from community celebrities to poets with enduring legacies.

Today’s Poem of the Day comes from Omni Zona Franca, the featured poet for tonight’s Open Mic Poetry at 5th & K:

OMNI_ZONA

What am I doing, what are you doing, what are we doing here where there is nothing to do (walking with a teacher in the interference)
by Omni Zona Franca

To fight for insertion
To prepare the body for insertion
To fight for insertion
To prepare the body for insertion
To fight for insertion
To prepare the body for insertion

“It’s a shame things no longer happen in a way
that only the psychic entity and its state of
flesh and blood have to prepare
to enter the current. No. There are forces organized in matter and beyond that bind it!
the face
of the mechanism:
To fight for insertion
Prepare the body for insertion
To fight for insertion
Prepare the body for insertion
To fight for insertion
Prepare the body for insertion

“Over and over again an enormous illusion
organized and with many faces, slides
between you and your goal, between you and the
only path. The lines of development
point downward once more. The dialectical
as an emerging order has become an order of evil.
All this has been transmitted to your being.
You are an image-carrier marked by evil…!”
¿                            ?
Voice
¿              ?
Voice:
“¡¡Sing!!”
We must fight. We must fight. We must fight.
We must fight. We must fight. We must fight.
“The last face is convex
We must fight. We must fight. We must fight.
Very close to the center
two surfaces of insertion!
We must fight. We must fight. We must fight.
For what?!… We must fight. We must fight.
We must fight. We must fight. We must fight.
So these two surfaces cease to exist?!!”

PHOTO 2024 02 01 07 10 14

For Langston Hughes on His 123 Birthday

Speech given on February 1, 2024 in Havana, Cuba In 1927 Langston Hughes walked into a Cuba amid an emerging community of artists, intellectuals, and radicals.  He saw a “sunrise in a new land [– a day – in his words]sic – full of brownskin surprises, and hitherto unknown contacts in a world of color.”  … Continued

PALESTINE WEEK 1920 x 1080 px 2

Palestine Week 2024

January 18, 2024 – January 25, 2024 In keeping with our ongoing mission of uplifting racial and cultural connections, Busboys and Poets is hosting Palestine Week (January 18 through January 25, 2024). This week-long series of events will offer a diverse range of programming featuring Palestinian food, music, dance, poetry, discussions, and other enriching events. … Continued

patrick pride

Busboys and Poets Book Review: Anger is a Gift

Mark Oshiro’s contemporary YA fiction is an incredibly moving story about community, about love, and about taking a stand against prejudice and violence, even when it seems completely hopeless, and it is especially difficult to read. Especially for someone like me, caught up in my own privilege and ignorant of the struggles faced by people … Continued

77FA122A D468 47B0 A931 6513302313B5

Everest Base Camp #13

Seeing is believing. I worry that I’ve seen too much. The beauty of everything around me can be overwhelming. I am in a constant state of awe. I worry about how the world will look when this ends in less than 10 days. For now, I am setting that worry aside and will cross that … Continued

Mobile Messaging Terms and Conditions

Mobile Messaging Terms and Conditions

Last updated: August 2022 Busboys and Poets (“Busboys and Poets”, “we”, or “us”) operates a mobile messaging program (the “Program”) subject to these Mobile Messaging Terms and Conditions (the “Mobile Messaging Terms”). The Program and our collection and use of your personal information is also subject to our Privacy Policy. By enrolling, signing up, or otherwise agreeing … Continued