I am posing this question b/c I've noticed how self-absorbed this board.. (among others) has become.. What is your fondest memory of this board (old-heads.. chime in here. if you will~)? What do you think you've gained/learned from this board? Have you found it hard to stay/leave this board? Lastly, is it actually not that much of a big deal to you (i.e. the whole interacting, being accepted, and posting)? Peace~





Lonelinees doesn't discriminate ©Sister Souljah

I never meant to do you harm ©Coldplay

I first came here thinking some super-okplayer-star was going to see my work and sigh me up (lol). Once I realized that wasen't going to happen, I found some other super-poetry-stars. I love yall, even the people who I've never seen face to face. I've kind of made up my own faces for you all (sorry). I come here everyday, 4 and 5 times (maybe more) to get my poetic fix. Sometime words move me to write something myself. Mainly inspiration, yea thats why I'm here.

i dont want your purse...u in my home ...u of lily white translucent missing the point of melanin skin - invisible_ink

email: dehejia_maat@yahoo.com
websites:
http://www.smacktv.com/db (new, still working on it)
http://www.4luvofpoetry.com/dbutler.html
http://www.rastafaritoday.com
http://www.thecypherscorner.com
http://www.illpoets.com

i started posting on okayplayer shortly before i started performing my stuff...and ever since, my written and oral lives have been intertwined...

and so that's a neat thing to see. And the local scene here in LA echoes the Freestyle scene as well...ups and downs...folks come and go...

some of the names i remember from back in the day who helped make me the poet i am today:

MUSE...no doubt. It's time for the reunion album, cuz.

mindful...you encouraged this inexperienced poster to keep it up and keep expanding...and you still do that to this day...you've never been anything less than yrself, and for that we're all blessed.

Beyond Levels aka Paperdollpoet aka lei...the Okaypoets site was a beautiful home away from home...even when i didn't visit as much

RGV...yr poems cld beat up my poems anytime...

i remember the formation of the Domepome Poets...and all the fervor it caused for a minute

i remember when some poet of unidentified gender named guerilla love started posting...

i remember when guerilla said to muse and i, "check this cat ThaAnthology. i think he definitely fits in with the DPP.." or somethin' like that.

i remember when collabs were all over the place.

i remember bringing my man b thomas onto the boards because i KNEW heads would feel him.

i remember when i useta post stuff that was still being worked out because i knew that i could get good feedback from the fam here.

i remember getting an e-mail from an okp named leech, thus beginning a friendship that's transcended the written.

but most of all

i remember love

-------
just breathe
thass what i keep tellin myself
-------
my AIM name is RatpackSlim
my e-mail is ratpackslim@hotmail.com
thass my MSN addy too
---------
Domepome Poets--the Dopest Poetic Prophets...

I don't really remember when i started posting here for real...i know i'm not an old head on this board but I'm not that new to it either. I stay here because i'm continually inpspired...there's talent here and it shines through different lights, so even some hues may be too much of a glare for me, i've learned to decipher through to finding what i need to find for me. And maybe this board could use a dose of humbleness sis, but the truth is we deal with yin and yang, not saying that one side is better than the other just saying that we both need one another. that's just my viewpoint though. I've gained a lot of insight here. it's not hard to stay and i have to interact because when i am affected by a poem i want to comment on it. it is the reciprocal action. anyhow, thas me.

1 L O V E

peace and blessings unto you...
always,
anita j.

the Horatio Smoove memorior...that was dopeness at it's best! i miss coming here and seeing pres, vitamink, instant ax, RGV, paperdollpoet.....i miss the interaction we usta have.







i simply want to be the love song dangling from her lips-(c) Saul Williams

Jazzy since '75..


Got aim: Sistawitafro
Got Msn: Jazzybelle75

Do the damn thing then ©Hits

what Anita said and...
I can't miss what I never had. altho this may be a bit contrite it seems alot of old school have polished themselves and become spoken word artist and performing. I love writing here I am inspired right here. I know the fondest memory was when Muse replied to my first post. He has not since and I thought I was lost really lost for a while then the calm came and now I write and reply and allow the Most High and these expressions in here use me like a pencil sharpener what goes in with no point comes out sharp. So hey while this may have been needed for clarity pleeze know what this did for u in the beginning is doing the same for others. It may be time to climb another step on Our ladder to "Higher Ground" in the words of Steveland Morris.(Stevie Wonder)
ASIEM
"Kuun fiyah Kuun" Quran
(Be and it is)
" A writer takes his pen to write the words again that all in love is fair" Stevie Wonder
checkout this site
http://4luvofpoetry.com

I came to this board by accident....and at a time when i was really low....The response I got from folks was really energizing....I began to write and write and write....and about a couple months after i first came here....I performed for the 1st time....I got a wonderful reaction...A night I'll never forget.....I owe this board and the folks I met here my renewed confidence, my renewed creativity, my renewed love for the word.....
Although I'm really bogged down with school, and don't write half as much, I pass thru here everyday and peep at whats going on.....

What I remember the most about the board is how everyone used t interact.....It was less of a post and get reply thing...it was more of a family.....Maybe that vibe is still here, and because I'm not around as much I can't feel it.....



The folks I remember and have the fondest memory of....

Paperdoll....She was one of the 1st people to respond to my shit.....We formed what I consider a pretty good friendship...Never met, but the day we do it'll be on...
I remember posting and seeing her name as the 1st on the reply list.....

Rgv......Words can't express the respect and admiration i have for this lady's work

MUSE.....Sheer talent!!!!

3rdi......Me and this lady got pretty close too......HEr work inspires me

Incogx.......Can't recall having ever spoken to this brother, but his work is another source of inspiration...

Mindful.....Remember her from way back when and remember being amazed at how her work was evovling

There're so many people I've 'met' here I could take forever....but most of them have really inspired me and reminded me of something I have that I wasn't paying attention to...

Do the damn thing then ©Hits

im def very new compared to many of the people on here... i had been checkin this board out for months and reading peoples stuff and lurkin... then a friend made me get a name and really encouraged me to start postin... this was around january i believe... i was so hmmm scared i guess b/c there def was a sense of family-ness and i thought i was going to be this outsider and just feel retarded and stupid and get discouraged.... instead everyone on here has been so wonderful... there are a few people who i think true friendships may develop with... and my writing has improved so much thanx to the wonderful people who have taken time to not only reply but offer critiques... i am inspired becuz of my time here... and just managing to make it to the boards will help bring me out of a bad mood, take away stress and just make me feel better.... fondest memories i'm not sure there have been so many amazing pieces i have read... i can't pinpoint just one at the moment... :)

i'd stayed long enough to be able to say i had a fondest memory of being here.

guess . . . maybe just being here before it'd completely turned to 95% tripe, steada just the former 50 n'change.




SIG_________________________________________________________________________________________

f'dis MOMENT QUOTIN:
"my tongue is my gun, revolution's already begun" ©Cee-Lo

"who CARES about other people?!?!?! . . . . forget what OTHER people have to say!" ©Jef

:Si Mi:


:Gt AtmE:
SAKtoo15@Hotmail.com /MSN messenger
Kpoetixx on AIM

lol.. i guess i'm an old head now, huh? :-) well...my fondest memories are when paperdollpoet (formerly known as beyond_levels) would post.. i loved her poems alot... i also remember when fahim (ThaAnthology) first came to the boards.. he raised the status quo... my shit wasn't even that great then.. but he made us re-evaluate ourselves.. made us check our shit before we post'd.. his skills are still tight.. but he has some stuff that are still shinin'.. stuff from long ago that still hit me hard like the first time i read them.. i've learn'd alot from the boards.. readin' other peoples' works help'd me alot.. i've learn'd to work on description from fahim.. paperdollpoet & rgv taught me how to tell a story or at least make my words count.. not just post up whatever.. but make my pieces actually serve a purpose.. whether it's to entertain, tell stories, or to teach you.. everybody will agree that one of the fondest memories are birthday post (that either you or a friend start'd) and the amount of replies you got on a birthday post.. you smiled big when everyone show'd you love on your born-day.. people check'd each other's work more.. back then.. there was never a post sayin' "READ MY SHIT", "WHY AREN'T YOU READIN' ME?", or "I'M LEAVIN' THE BOARDS".. you would've got clown'd heavy and nobody would've check'd your stuff.. the writers were a lot better.. didn't just throw up shit.. everybody took their time writin' a decent piece.. people critiqued you.. they didn't leave replies like, "good shit"..."i liked this"..."really feelin' this"... the replies were heavy critiques like, "i'm not feelin' this part for some reason (and then go into reasons why and citin' lines or stanzas), but as a whole this piece is aight" replies made people revise their work.. i still got people like noni aka truth, fahim, ebony aka nefertiti, madawaka, anitaj, dpp, and others who know me, that will also tell me or lemme know when i'm gettin' too comfortable... they make me stay on my toes.. i thank them alot..
______________________________________________
"Like the moon, we on the earth
takin' a ride around the sun
my son, we only just begun
& the journey's far from done
we on a mission,
watch yuh brain' 'gone fishin'
like Walter Mosley" -Talib Kweli

"my life is authored by the moon
foot prints written in soil:
the fountain pen of martian men
novelling human toil..." -saul williams








email: nyckencole@aol.com

"people check'd each other's work more.. back then.. there was never a post sayin' "READ MY SHIT", "WHY AREN'T YOU READIN' ME?", or "I'M LEAVIN' THE BOARDS".. you would've got clown'd heavy and nobody would've check'd your stuff.. the writers were a lot better.. didn't just throw up shit.. everybody took their time writin' a decent piece.. people critiqued you.. they didn't leave replies like, "good shit"..."i liked this"..."really feelin' this"... the replies were heavy critiques like, "i'm not feelin' this part for some reason (and then go into reasons why and citin' lines or stanzas), but as a whole this piece is aight" replies made people revise their work.."

...not knockin' anybody, but it jus makes me wonder when ppl say these things...how much do the selfsame ppl check others work? not jus 2 u, Gio, but 2 e'body else who has the same complaints...how many replies do u throw up a day...a week...a month? that's what makes ppl post them "READ MY ISH" posts...cuz these selfsame peeps talkin bout "nobody replies any more" dont reply...& also, how many indepth critiques do y'all post? i always try 2 break it down 4 ppl no matter what...but many poets i've seen complainin abt the lack of criticism don't give none themselves...u gotta take the plank outcha own eye so u have proper vision & sight 2 take sumn outta sumbody else's optic also...y'know? i still got love 4 the board & e'thing, but i feel a lotta peeps don't practice whut they preach & its a shame...its the duty of e'y1 in this community 2 sit back, use the search function & hunt out all the replies they've recently made & check 4 quantity & quality...

and THEN complain.

's the only way we can grow y'all...

practice whut'chu preach.



------------------------------------------------------------



"first off the bat, Peppermint Grasp...i'd suggest u know the ledge, perhaps pick a less
experienced challenger instead...without such tenacious competitive edge/flowin' rep
spinner of word cucoons, slaughter yr side-order torture with gift of gab u wish u had
FOOL!!/fallen angel, harbinger of death wit Lucifer's message of text encased in a
glistening mic check...who's up to fight next?/Pitiful Gabble; a lesser speech technique
used against Leech, when it fails 2 fell leg-lacking, ego-trippin' emcees?!/Nigga please!" (c) someone i once was.

Do the damn thing then ©Hits

if i don't like your shit, i don't respond.. call me bein' nice.. just 'cause there's no reply to the post don't mean your shit wasn't read.. maybe there's no comment..
______________________________________________
"staring at the edge of his unlit cigarette
I search for answers
I wait for clarity
and or flames
hidden among the lessons
in the stories
he pulls from his pockets
like peppermint candy
covered with lint" -Frank X. Walker

"his stories
floating in the air
like vapor photographs" -Frank X. Walker

"we stood
at the edge of the road
in Clifton
looking out at the
wide wet mirror
that divided
one county from the next
absence from forgiveness
then spoke and laughed
in unison
like twins
like a small choir
singing psalms." -Frank X. Walker

"Like the moon, we on the earth
takin' a ride around the sun
my son, we only just begun
& the journey's far from done
we on a mission,
watch yuh brain' 'gone fishin'
like Walter Mosley" -Talib Kweli

"my life is authored by the moon
foot prints written in soil:
the fountain pen of martian men
novelling human toil..." -saul williams








email: nyckencole@aol.com

style that killed my damn eyes... :P.. ha~ all of those parentheses and such.. LOL....





Do the damn thing then ©Hits

I remember when I first started posting. Guerilla Love checked for me, as did Giovanni. They gave me encouragement beyond imagination. I'd never before posted my work, nor performed it and through building with them, Muse, Rat, Instant Axis, Noseitall, Reflect and all of the DPP fam they really made me elivate my craft. Not to mention I have now some of the dearest personal friends I could ever dream of. And they came from here.
I do miss the critiques though.
Maybe we can get back to that, because that's partly why we're all here. And we're all guilty of that. I've thrown up a "really diggin" once or twice myself and I'm sorry.
I come here 4-5 times daily (not just cause I'm MOD) when work doesn't have me jacked up. I truly feel like Free is home. It's a neighborhood. You don't always know who's moving in, but you extend a hand anyway.
but that's just me.
fathology.
**********Mad Love to The Sigs**********

DomePomePoets- We live the word and love the word...as it should be.

"i have caught fire from
your mouthnow you want me to
swallow the ocean." Sonja Sanchez


"when we say goodbye
i want your toungue insidemy
mouth dancing hello" -Sanchez

http://members.blackplanet.com/ThaAnthology/#
www.divinecipher.com
www.4luvofpoetry.com
www.illpoets.com
www.rhythmandpraise.com

i remember writing pieces and not being able to sleep at night wondering what people thought of the piece.

getting up at 3 am just to see who was posting on free.

once before this board gave me insomnia...

now i get sleepy. (ha) just kidding..(almost)

i miss getting inspired to write...and having the time to go through everyone's post. i don't know how things are now b/c i haven't been reading as many as i did back then. i almost have no patience to search through new folks to find the gems of inspiration...but thats selfish and i am trying to get back to reading more so than writing.


keep the motion
paperdollpoet
----

amiia lalolani nina moon

i member so much...its jus crazy...

i dunno...um...

Lunch first bustin' on the boards w/ an elementary but still tight-4-the-times style back then...& losin' 2 Toejam in the battle tourney cuz his 3rd round verse was kinda spaced out & wasnt really felt by the crowd...& then him gettin mass votes from a buncha mysterious newbies who he didnt know & the controversy that stirred...& him throwin the Secret Wars tourney which incog won 'cuz of his disgustingly sick "i stick a sorceress in every orifice" verse....(yes i still member that freakin' line)...& of course his name change 2 ____thaFlatFoota...& then 2 Lunchboxxx...but not b4 his blatant outrage that Anth got mod & he was passed over...lololol...that was hilarious...

the attack of Stealth Nemesis multiple times on the board, & how it never escalated in2 a full-fledged war but merely miniature skirmishes...

Mindful goin 2 msmind 2 childless & finally 2 mindful namewise...

BeyondLevels bustin' on the boards & gettin beef cuz of her ratin' system...& an OKP tellin me she'd been reborn as paperdollpoet -- i NEVER knew 4 sooooo long...

um...Horatio Smoove -- that post was genius.

Incog first bustin on2 the boards w/ short paragraph format freestyles & gettin NO replies...& i was the only one postin responses under his lonely name...lololololol...

gettin my first call from an OKP -- Omoge...who's since then become like a sister 2 me -- some1 i love & cherish more than she'll ever know...

the relationship me & O have had since...

receiving Omo's birthday present. if i say i didn't weep actual tears that day, then i'm a liar & the truth does not dwell w/in me...

gettin' Instant Axis a hotmail acct so he could get on MSN & kick it w/ me...lol...um...gettin AIM jus b/c of Instant Ax...meetin' Prez cuz of IA & kickin it w/ Prez 4 hrs while he was @ work every day...cryin on his shoulder, seekin advice & jus goin thru madd stuff...Prez introducin me 2 Dave, as a cat who felt one poem i dropped...IM-ing Dave & making OKP history...damn that's my brother f'rill now...always will be.

gettin my first call from Nikki aka 3rd i...& pollyin' w/ her hilarious self, jokin' around jus messin & goin buck on the phone...the genius-level collabs we did that were majorly slept on...

crazy group conversations in AIM...

insane keystyle collabs in MSN w/ multiple emcees bustin' niceness...DVS, Lunch, Dave, Slim, Axis...goodness...

i think i finally recall sendin Slim that email...i think either he replied 2 sumn of mine or vice versa...& i emailed him abt that reply...the rest is history -- all i know is that i have a true friend ANYTIME i wanna git up & surf over 2 LA now...lololol...ummm...

Dave goin from roguepoet(& being almost completely emcee) 2 Rogue(the true birth of DatPoetDave) 2 Aeon...when he went 2 Aeon, it was like a freakin' earthquake...on sum major bigdeal type ish...he didn't even publicize it but word spread like wildfire...umm...him introducin' me 2 HottLykeFiyah <-- history was made there 2...me & her struck up an insane friendship & spent maddddd time online jus' makin' each other laugh....

the tourney over @ spitboxer.com when OKP went & crushed rawkus.com's battle emcees on neutral ground. that was off the chizznain...

hearin' DVS 4 the first time...& then bumpin' the real audio files on a school computer & droppin' the jaws of my bwoys...

hearin' Axis 4 the first time...

learnin' Axis was caucasian...

meetin' OrangeLoni in MSN...how? i have no freakin' idea...lololol...but that conceived a relationship i wouldnt break 4 the world...my lil' sis she is...if she knew how much i cared, she'd be worried. umm...that lil' fallout we had when she kinda hurt me...

discovering G/D.

finding out how the Inbox worked & readin' the buncha msgs i'd gotten & never checked...

makin' aliases...

writin' my first poem, "Sometimes" & postin' it as a semi-newbie(i'd gone on a months-long hiatus, disillusioned by the shaft that the emcees had gotten) & clocking 17, 18 replies...from then on, it was str8 fire...the poet took over, the emcee took...a backseat. bwaha...speakin' of the emcee -- spittin on the phone 4 Lunchbox...it was one of the devastatin' verses i posted against PG in our battle...

comin' 2 America August last year & seein' the response my OK-brethren had 2 that event...

hearin' the Net's response 2 Lunch losin' in his own tourney. lol...

hearin' Lunch 4 the first time on a self-produced beat...

hearin' all this jazz abt this crazy dude called Saul Williams, peepin' a sample of his work in Ghana & fallin' in LOVE...

Prez postin' "Indigo"...

Slim postin' "Eve Of Evolution" or whateva it was called...& my friend's response 2 it -- she friggin' flipped her wig...LOL!!!

Toe reprimandin' me 4 puttin a "lol" in one of my poems -- "Sound Check"...

Lunch creatin' his own site & rgv actually bein' a mod there...*gasp*...

talkin' 2 rgv in AIM 4 the first time & decidin' never 2 do it again cuz the mental trauma endured was a bit 2 excessive 4 my innocent, naive self...talk abt COLD...

sittin' @ my laptop on weekends postin' 20-30 replies in a day jus 2 push other ppl's work up...

formation of the PostMasterGenerals & my desire 2 get in...

talkin' 2 Tracy on the phone 4 the first time & gettin' lost in her wonderful countrified accent...

poetx clownin' on bamboo in the first line of his battle verse <-- classic, i still 'member it 2 this day...

discoverin' that Yunique/Kwame was applyin' 2 Vanderbilt & might get in -- i'd finally have a friend...& not jus a regular friend but an O-friggin-KP!!!!! then discovering he wasnt comin' cuz of educational politics...one o' the biggest let downs of my life...

messin' around in chat one night & strikin' up a convo w/ a newbie poet whose work i'd greatly admired. discovering she was a grad stuent @ my college & had a fellow OK-friend there also. goin out 2 dinner w/ them & eatin' w/ our hands...hearin' that they were in their last year & leaving...cursing myself 4 not metting them sooner <-- my first & only experience w/ meeting an OKP in person...

making it 2 the finals in Lunch's battle tourney, proving me one of the sickest emcees on these boards even tho' i gave up that side of me 2 concentr8 on poetry...

the poet revolution: & the subsequent disappearance of madd cats like thisismeKhalid, Guiness, Reflect, eclectic, L_O_Quent, Quidom, Abbot, Epicenter, Bananman, TinkyWinky...the list goes on...the sad thing is, a few of these cats r actually still on OKP, just on other boards...esp G/D -- they've given up on Free 'cuz of various reasons...that's beyond saddening 4 me...*sigh*...

i dunno...i'm sure there's more but i cant even think of any right now...i'll get back 2 y'all w/ more as they come...but 4 now, these r just a few of the golden moments i remember of this site...mannnn, talk abt haydays, huh? this joint was the freakin' feces back in then...let nobody tell u diff.

------------------------------------------------------------



"first off the bat, Peppermint Grasp...i'd suggest u know the ledge, perhaps pick a less
experienced challenger instead...without such tenacious competitive edge/flowin' rep
spinner of word cucoons, slaughter yr side-order torture with gift of gab u wish u had
FOOL!!/fallen angel, harbinger of death wit Lucifer's message of text encased in a
glistening mic check...who's up to fight next?/Pitiful Gabble; a lesser speech technique
used against Leech, when it fails 2 fell leg-lacking, ego-trippin' emcees?!/Nigga please!" (c) someone i once was.

------------------------------------------------------------



"first off the bat, Peppermint Grasp...i'd suggest u know the ledge, perhaps pick a less
experienced challenger instead...without such tenacious competitive edge/flowin' rep
spinner of word cucoons, slaughter yr side-order torture with gift of gab u wish u had
FOOL!!/fallen angel, harbinger of death wit Lucifer's message of text encased in a
glistening mic check...who's up to fight next?/Pitiful Gabble; a lesser speech technique
used against Leech, when it fails 2 fell leg-lacking, ego-trippin' emcees?!/Nigga please!" (c) someone i once was.

That was cool.

that made me remember
ESP the part about posting under an alias I did it for so long that I just totally changed my shit... I still dontthink people know who I am
I guess thats the fun in it right... initially it was just some scardy cat shit...
I lost lots of good work though but you learn...
yall gave me much praise and told me when my shit was trash. sad to say that only happened once... Id prolly be a lot better by now lol... but yeah thats crazy
remembering shit on the boards is funny... instead of remembering people or places and pictures in my head I remember what music I was playing or what my life was like at that time... took me back for a minute
it was nice
thanks

aminamoonbeam@hotmail.com
aim:Amina NiaRa


Ankore!

but i'm at work when i'm online which means i couldn't devote the attention deserved to review you alls works.

I read, just don't respond that much.

the reason I'm in GD and other boards all the time is because it doesn't take undivided attention to respond and my attention at work is divided.

you all are too talented for me to do otherwise, it would read something like "kewl poem" and I don't like that.

I guess would have to be the first time my boy introduced me to this site. I had no idea of what to do...

Getting advice from Prez and PoeticFlux/Sosha about how to post (still have the email)

Getting caught up in a freestyle with Ratpack Slim and meeting GuerillaLove as an indirect result of it...

My first phone convo with MUSE

Getting "inducted" to DPP--as honorary mother

The "Horatio Smoove" post...

My $400 phone bill from trying to make sure that all of the fam got properly introduced to one anotha and the realization that the fam was a bit more diverse than I had realized!

When Gio was in his "parenthetical" phase...and the collab we never finished...

When ppl used to give hard up critiques--and the Lilies hit you hard...

Meeting this quiet lily named Mindful that has come to mean more to me than she will ever know...

Coming to Free 6-7 times a day just to see who had replied--and losing sleep in between work/chat/Free.

This board has come to mean alot to me in the past 2 years...I know I don't post as much anymore, but I get here when I can.

I LOVE YOU ALL....

Sem.


``````````````````````````````````````
"...you could've had a revolution, but instead you wanted the world..."
-Me.

"i have stepped out of my body for a sec to "re-fine" my self and find my self attempting to "find" the orighinal me. i hope to return in due tyme."
Semloh.

;-).. you of all people should know that.. :-)





Do the damn thing then ©Hits

the board has become my notepad since i dont write anymore..just shit to get off the chest...if it was about getting responses,i'd quit coming here a long time ago.



blak

the "rep ya hood" cypher post somebody had put it..everybody did their thing on that. i liked it when timid_grape was getting everybody irritated,kept everybody on their toes. um...when some jokers from rawkus came around thinking cats wasnt gonna step to them. made me wana rock an okayplayer bandanna,ha ha


blak

was gorgeous. Also, the late night jazz club thread...now that was amazing.
----------------------------------------
indeedilyjoinavajewboina
-Brother

Don't cry. Don't brace your eye. It's
only teenage wasteland.
-Pete Townshend

Something like Eldridge Cleaver meets
John Lennon

to respond to this for awhile, but i ain't know what to say, and still don't. this place has helped me grow sooo much... i seriously attribute my ever-increasing love of the word to okpfreestyle... i came here when i was like 17, still learnin how to hold a pen the correct way & yall showed me what it was like to bear my soul in my work... showed me what happened when you bled into a notebook & taught me the importance of meaning what you say and saying what you mean instead of just jotting down sum pretty words...


in my hiatus from the boards, when i post my lil' words get overlooked & tha's kool... but to those who always always always take the time to say a lil sumthin no matter how big or small--mindful, gio, foneticcus, blak, anthol & others--yall made this feel like home & still do whenever i come back around


gio, i still remember the first time you IM'ed me what seems like years ago w/ such kind words... i think i smiled non-stop the rest of the week after that.. lol


dave--mr. aeon--i dunno what made ya hit me up the day you did, but i'm glad ya did it... my admiration of you goes far beyond your words & i'm glad i got'cha, big bruvah... same goes for you too, eli... i love you guys.


okay. i'm leavin out stuff, but i'm finished. gotta go bed.
:)

I could remember what the hell I posted like 6 minutes ago b4 my comp started trippin...
but uh...

I used to live here basically... I can say that I did spend waaaaaaaaaay too much time on the internet but the need was there
I would say it was like 2years ago when I spent the mosttime here... its a great thing to be able to get in the minds of other folks who are seemingly just like you...
its been a while like about 5 months since the last time I posted something...
and when I did post I was constantly writing, constantly being challenged, constantly pushing... it was just like that though
cant say its the sameway but of course I wouldnt know
I made some friends that Ill prolly know for life though... but uummm yeah
did I answer the question

aminamoonbeam@hotmail.com
aim:Amina NiaRa


Ankore!

I just remember all the poets who've disappeared some I didn't dig their style but had respect for the work they put up on the boards. I miss the quality of the posts and how folks would really delve into a poem and expressed what they felt and didn't.
I miss the convos with my fam on the boards Muse, Pres, Aeon, and Foneticcus and Orangeloni/Girl Ashameed.
I miss postin' but I have a killer writer's block, but soon I shall return


"With each breath I take, I'm sayin' I love you"-Me

" Missin u like lungs miss oxygen in a chokehold"-Muse

" Nigga fukk u and fukka a sorry"- Me

" Now c'mon Kim u know I look betta than morris chestnut. Now I can't say Shemar Moore, he a pretty mutherfukka" -Jeff

There used to be a serious head on here, called himself abbot. He would peep everyone's shit and give true constructive comments. And he could bust fo'real. I miss that cat and those like him. Anyone know what happened? I heard he just got busy w/ school, but I know that can't be the whole reason he fell of completely.

sig:
Puttin it down fo'
Oakland
Oaktown
Cokeland
The City of Dope
The 'Town
The 'O
The O-A-K

"When I die, fuck it I wanna go to hell, cuz I'm a piece of shit - it ain't hard to fuckin tell. It don't make sense giong to heaven with the goodie-goodies dressed in white, I like black Tims and black hoodies... All my life I've been considered as the worst - lying to my mother, even stealin out her purse. Crime after crime, from drugs to extortion. I know my mother wish she got a fuckin abortion. She don't even love me like she did when I was younger - suckin on her chest just to stop my fuckin hunger. I wonder if I died, would tears come to her eyes - forgive me for my disrespect forgive me for my lies... I swear to God I feel like death is fuckin callin me..."
-B.I.G.

I'm acually new to this site but i've always been into poetry. Back prolly a year ago i was gettin shit published. I was also involved (with what i thought to be )the love of my life. He was my main inspiration. After he and I parted ways, I felt like I lost my motivation. I couldn't get anothing worth showing anyone on paper. I seriously had WRITER'S BLOCK. It's because of this site that I got my shit together. I realized that I didn't "lose" my motivation, it just got misplaced. Alot of what I read here makes me realize that writing is what I enjoy most. It's what pulled me thru some of the hardest times of my life. I've got MAD love for this site and everyone that speaks their mind here-it's where anyone can get unbiased replies about their work. If Freestlye was better then-then it was now then my only regret is that I wasn't around to get skooled earlier

ONE LOVE
LyricalDelinquent
AKA
FrequentDelinquent

mindful-

well i guess its about time that i posted a response to this.
i dont know if i can pin down a specific reason for my obsession with this board...
but ill share some of my thoughts here:

as for my fav memory of free...i dont think i really have a specific one. maybe it was when i discovered it for the first time...

nah, i know what it was.
it was when i was sitting at an airport comin back from meetin an OKP and usin their free internet ish in the lobby area...me just sitting there, fighting with the nonsense keyboard theyve got setup and posting the best piece ive written (in my opinion)

of course it fell off the board and i forgot to save it (ufck)

but that gave me the general impression of this board:

"if youre not known, you wont get read."

but hey, im not gonna say thats necessarily a bad thing.

i must admit that i really dont like most of the stuff ive posted on here. so im actually quite shocked when i get positive replies...cause i really thought some of my work that ive posted was crap...
but im my worst critic.

as for why i keep coming back... i think its cause new people are popping up all the time. and its great to have a blend of styles that i can sift through with my cup of coffee/tea/bottled water. its both inspirational, comical, insightful, mind-boggling, and strange at the same time.

i remember being frustrated as hell one night and posting a writing exercise...jayare knows about that one.

i must say ive read some great work on here.

a lot of yall are extremely blessed with very special gifts. i wont go into specifics because i will always forget someone and ill end up pushing this post to 100+ replies because of my scatter-brained self.

its been quite the adventure. the net is a powerful medium of communication...and its great to see that people are using it postively.

so im gonna end the post here and not say anything negative. ive got a lot of those thoughts on my mind. but ima let the backspace key prevent me from bashing anyone/anything.

writing is difficult. true writers know that their work is never done.

we should all have a slumber party together...id host it but i can barely fit in this place.

but anyway...i said i was gonna end the post awhile ago so ill keep that promise.


peace and love, everyone
ladee!


(=0=+)-9&*(&*+!+_@(__+!_~(+{_#)(@!+!... ((the separation between the sig and the message


From the Exile of Godaigo:

When I plucked the notes
After many months of silence,
I yearned for you,
And the notes became cords
On which to thread my tears.


From my personal collection:

Sleep with a man
not a man with no thoughts
but a real man
man of emotion. man of shame. man of humility
a genius of his own kind

I still have a very nice memory of finding a poem by delsbrothergeorge entitled "Oatmeal" written with me in mind when I was really distraught over some things going on at home with my younger sister.
________________________________________

How you feel about that?