Hold your own...know your name.

Tomorrow is the start of something new, and I'm anxious to see what happens.

The first practice for the Black Extravaganza poets is tomorrow. I'm going to have to deal with the antics of the best friend and accept the awkward stares between myself and a former friend. I'm excited about meeting the other poets who made it. All the poets from last year's extravaganza basically became a tight-knit group and I was blessed to meet most of them. Some have graduated while others have other matters to tend to. As far as I know, there are four of the original poets still there.

I've performed poetry before (duh), but this is a whole new level. Within a month, I'll be performing in front of countless people. Though I feel with the repetition of practices and rehearsals, it shouldn't be that hard.

I guess this leads into my history of poetry...

I believe I started writing poetry when I was in the seventh grade. I remember writing a poem about inspiration for writing poetry, but I believe it got lost in the clutter of notebooks I used to have. Before the end of the school year, I wrote a poem called "Together Again". I typed it up and every line was a different color of the rainbow (a sign of things to come?). From there, I would type up various poems in one of the coolest fonts ever (Curlz MT) and use different color schemes. Eventually I grew out of the habit around freshman year in high school and printed in black ink like everyone else. (Didn't stop me from writing in various gel pen colors. God I loved those things.) I rhymed a lot as well. (I remember writing rhymes in people's yearbooks one year in middle school lol)

I remember writing about writing, togetherness (non-romantic), and loving myself (a G-rated version of "Eff the haters"). Then crushes came and gone and my unrequited feelings ended up spilling out on paper. I actually showed a boy a poem I wrote about him. That was pretty awkward, but we stayed friends despite my crazy writing antics. I don't believe I started reading my poems out loud until I joined my high school's literary magazine.

I remember writing the occasional love poem before falling in love with my first boyfriend. Of course after that, there was explosion of lovey-dovey poetry. And the romance birthed from there. From hook-ups to break-ups, I had something to say along the lines of "love."

College brought about the exposure of spoken word and I was pretty sure that I would never fit into that category. Now I'm not so sure...I think I just have to find my voice. I've become more comfortable with performing though. Nerves used to kill me, but see for yourself...








I was at Fuzzy Wednesdays (R.I.P?) with a friend and I felt pretty comfortable.

I'd like to think of myself as a shy girl who shouts on paper.

Or maybe I should stick with Refreshing Cadence.

I'm pretty sure I'll have a couple of nicknames after Feb. 24th.

I'm bad with giving myself nicknames, but curiouslovechild was definitely a hit for me.