Next Man Up, Poetry in Motion

Announcer 0:00
This is a KUNV Studios original program. The

Wesley Knight 0:05
content of this program does not reflect the views or opinions of 90-1.5 Jazz and more, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education.

Donavan LeDean 0:15
Here we go! Here we go! Move it! Move it! Move it!

Donavan LeDean 0:20
Yeah.

Donavan LeDean 0:23
Beautiful. Next man up.

Donavan LeDean 0:28
Dave. Let's go.

Donavan LeDean 0:41
Hello, and welcome to the show. I am your host, Donovan Ledeen, actor, author, and inspirational rhythmic poet. Get out tuned in to next man up. Poetry in motion, where the mission is to promote good mental health for everyone. This portrait show will motivate, educate, and inspire you with spoken word through cultural expression. We have a special guest in the building, Yaya. Yeah, how

Yahya 1:04
you doing? A

Donavan LeDean 1:05
spoken word artist who's making huge waves in the Las Vegas Valley, performing poetry that explores neo soul vocals and rhythmic soulful melodies with a hip hop twist. Yaya, my brother.

Yahya 1:19
Hey, thanks for being here. Thank you for having me here for sure.

Donavan LeDean 1:22
So, what inspired you to pick up the pen and begin writing poetry?

Yahya 1:29
Well, it was funny because basically from high school, you know, we was used to do raps in the in the football stands, right? You take your little brush and hit it and create that. But and it just started from there, just kind of writing, and I've always had the knack to try to tell a story and educate people. So it just kind of transformed into spoken word, right? So the inspiration is basically just life itself, you know, going through things and seeing things and being that voice for the voiceless, basically.

Donavan LeDean 1:56
You mentioned something before the before the interview about marketing strategy, you know, really trying to give poetry visibility, right? Can you elaborate for our listeners a little bit more about that?

Yahya 2:11
Well, I mean, as far as as as far as marketing this and getting us out there, first of all, I think it's a it's a powerful tool to use to get messages across, right? We have to be out there and be visible because I think poet speaks from a sign of the time type perspective, right? And I think that that needs to be introduced into every aspect of everyday life so we keep people informed and well educated about what's going on, right? But like I said, I'm old school. I like to go out and go hand to hand with people, you know what I mean? Because that's where my poetry comes from. Having these experiences with people, and as we touch, like some people might not be into poetry. They're like, I ain't into that. But if you have a, if you have that that time to engage with them and say, Hey, this is what really is all about, and probably give them look, you could probably change that mindset. And you never know, they might be poetry and they run at the same times, right? Because they a lot of people write stuff down, but they don't. You know, I come across a lot of people that says, you know, I've been writing for years. I say, have you shared? No, no, I just write it and all this stuff here. But so we try to inspire them to get up there and speak their truth, as spit their truth, as Rail would say, right?

Donavan LeDean 3:16
But as you mentioned, having that in-person human to human connection

Yahya 3:20
right

Donavan LeDean 3:20
goes a long way.

Yahya 3:21
Yes.

Donavan LeDean 3:22
So, you've assembled with a group of spoken word phenoms calling yourselves living room poetry.

Yahya 3:32
Yeah.

Donavan LeDean 3:32
Right. And you all have taken road trips to perform. You also recently had a performance at Cork and Thorn, which is a music lounge located at downtown Las Vegas.

Yahya 3:45
Yes.

Donavan LeDean 3:45
For our listeners, please, you know, let us know a little bit more about living room poetry and what you all may have going on.

Yahya 3:54
All right, living room poetry. It was funny. It was it was grown really organically, right? It really formed from my living room, right? So we just didn't have nowhere to go. It was like four of us, and we just didn't have nowhere to go. And so they was like, "Well, let's go to Yaya's house. So we went there and we just ordered food, and then you know we said we just started talking about poetry, you know, and our roles and what what it meant to us and what we wanted to do with

Yahya 4:19
it.

Yahya 4:19
So the whole the whole title is living room poetry: a conversation with a poet, because that's what when we do poetry is like having a conversation with the crowd. That's how we want to deliver our poetry. That we having it so people are comfortable and receptive. So the living room poetry was grew organically. We just became a collective. We was out there, and I used to just be playing. Like if somebody was in my living room and we performing somewhere, I'd be in the back living room, right? So, so then we just started throwing that out there, and so people started gravitating towards us. Like, what's the living room? It was like it's just a collect. We come together, we write and recite together, you know, and help hone our skills, work on our performances and things like that. It's more came like a family affiliate. So we just started tracking. Around doing different things and showing up because we thought the biggest thing that this scene needed was support, right? Showing the support for the poets out there and giving them a family type like feel and say we here, you know, we here right now.

Donavan LeDean 5:13
You've recently had a series of dramatic events that have occurred during. the Fourth of July weekend, from a white nationalist group that marched in Washington to a body of a black teenager that was found on an island in Mississippi, Nolan Wells. People think that may have been racially motivated, but the investigation is still ongoing. Just from your perspective, how does poetry play a significant role in this tumultuous social climate?

Yahya 5:58
Yeah, I think, like I said, poetry plays a I think, a very pivoted role. For one, it educates those who are unaware of the surroundings that's going on. Right, poets are are very in tune with what's going on in the world today, and a lot of them have solutions and perspectives that one people might share, and it'll help them become more open and more vocal to what's going on. Right, to make them more aware and more conscious about what's going on instead of it being downplayed as something that is not right. Sometimes the media was you know will portray it as something that is not. You know what I mean. But you know they say if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck. Right. So you can't. So we can surmise that and say, okay, if this wasn't that, then why is this?

Donavan LeDean 6:42
Yeah,

Yahya 6:42
you know what I mean. If one plus one equals two, then why why is it like that? You can't

Donavan LeDean 6:47
negate a truth that's right. Exactly, exactly, and

Yahya 6:50
and I think that's what poets do. They bring their truth to this, and they're they're from a real, real grassroots perspective. You know, we really make it plain so you can see it from a different perspective, and maybe the more truthful perspective than the one that's being portrayed by media, right? Most

Donavan LeDean 7:04
definitely. Whenever you're on stage performing poetry, what would you like the people to take away from your work?

Yahya 7:13
Well, I want people to take away from my work. You know, my my biggest biggest thing is to provoke thought, right? I I want to inspire and I want to motivate, you know, but I also want them to think. You know, I'm saying the thought is the cause of it all, right? And we sit here in this studio and this table here. Somebody had to think that, hey, we need a table, right? And then that, and they manifested it to a tangible thing at this point, right? But it had to be a thought that provoked it, right? So when I'm on stage, I want people take. I want to hear. I don't give you all the answers, right? Because some of the things are definitely from my perspective. But I think a lot of things I could say that you could apply those principles to your life and see how it works for you. Are are the some might not be the same, but the principles work. The process works. So you could apply that and say, okay, now I can see myself to be self-reflective and say, "Okay, this is where I'm at, era, or this is where I need to progress at. Right. So I want them to take away from there that anything is possible, right? Anything is possible, and that you can empower yourself.

Donavan LeDean 8:13
Right.

Yahya 8:13
You know what I mean. So don't let nothing get in your way.

Donavan LeDean 8:15
Powerful message. Before we go, I would like for you to share a poem for us. Ready? Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right, King, talk to him.

Yahya 8:24
All right, this poem. I don't do a lot of soliloquies, but it's just kind of what poetry is to me, right? And how I think it affects people. Poetry is more abstract than modern. See, we got more gods than goblins, more Batmans than Robin. See, it's like this field of dreams, and nobody's picking cottons. Why our ancestors are revered instead of forgotten. See, poetry is an avenue in which we could travel through to bring clarity. So I loosely give you this air to breathe, and fruits that bear seeds, and seeds that bear keys, and keys that bear these to open the door, help you see the things you want to see, and help you be the place where you want to be-be a right or wrong, fact or fantasy-through this creative soul. Poetry is see-poetry is writing to recite with the insight of Morpheus, becoming this poetry contortionist with poems screaming from every orifice while I'm speaking, my spoken word becomes the beacon to elevate those in the streets who need reaching. Mass communication, eat syllable, eat soliloquies. Be teaching. See speech not spoken just to be speaking. See what cut wrists I do this. I'm the Islamic activist with the Quran in my right hand and prayer beats clenched in left foots with God body clearance, acknowledging He who has injured did this. See my kufi state intact to deflect negative interference. See our situation is getting coarse. See cast floss or maintain a divine mind loss, but there's a recourse, of course, and the cost is innocent corpse. So I seek out the source and go to battle with Eric's words until my pen locks in with the. And then I, I turn them to the dark side. See, I lock them down for that Nourse Ark ride. Then I slay just one of them, so they can experience the root of genocide. But until then, my tongue will ride on the kinetic wave of my ancestry, because at this Griot speaks out in his native tongue of poetry. Because see, poetry is my life and poetry is my death. But sometimes it feels like poetry is all that I have left, and see that's what poetry is to me. That's that piece.

Donavan LeDean 10:27
Phenomenal. You heard it right here. Yeah, yeah, my brother.

Yahya 10:32
Yes, sir.

Donavan LeDean 10:33
Thank you for your time.

Yahya 10:34
I appreciate you, big brother.

Donavan LeDean 10:35
The poets that'll be featured on our playlist today are Luna, Zachary Gutierrez, Rachel Davera Winninger, Walter English, Sheldon Alex Sebastian, Liz Prince, Stephon Petway, Chelsea Marais, Donna Villadine, and Blessing. Now let's get on with the show. This is next man up, poetry in motion. Here we go. Here we go. Next man up. L.A. Track. I'm just trying to connect with you through storytelling. Don't talk about it. Let's go. Ah, yeah. Yeah, it's the winner right here. It's that you're willing to change the routine that suits me. It's fundamental, but that's the routine that cultivates theme. Cultivating the mind, the spirit of a path for damnation. It behooves me to walk the same path that leads to salvation, or maybe, maybe it's the corridor through today. I'd rather take that chance than yield and lay. Save I lay, death is one with thee. Each step I take on up the slope may cleanse this disease. Up the hill I walk, I'm rewarded with a cool breeze. Rewarding me for taking a chance, a chance to be free. Up the hill I walk, it becomes true and psychological. Observing the color of galaxies and palace in the dusky skies becomes philosophical. Up the hill I walk, the galaxy brushes the morning blue. The sun rises. See as it rises, the gate of the heavens opens. I slowly revive. Up the hill I walk, the sun rises with warm embrace. It becomes uplifting, a force that captures me with such grace. Atop of the hill I now stand. I encounter the Almighty. He gives a few words that's encouraging, preparing me for all that might be. He introduces me to His soldiers, soldiers of the heavens, as they army with the knowledge and power they crew and mends. Atop of the hill I am now strong, playful, agile at His best, ready to take on no juggernaut downhill for a promise that tomorrow I shall not lay Nourse. Damn. That's it. Yeah, that's it. That's it right there, lane. Write it back. Next man up.

Liz Prince 12:53
Hello. So the first poem I'm gonna read is called "The Colors of You. Thinking of painting, my canvas is blank. I put it on the easel and I grab my paint. There are several colors that I choose. My favorites being the greens and the blues. I pick up my brush. I begin to paint, trying to envision what I will make. Moving the brush up, then I strike it down. My bristles are so soft they barely make a sound. I move the brush left, then I paint some on the right. My painting is coming together. It's really quite the sight. I step back to admire my art. I think about the meaning, and I realize it's from my heart. The meaning is so complex. Where would I even start? Maybe by describing the purpose of the colors in my art, or by telling you the first color I use is the color of your eyes, or how the second is the color of your hair, or maybe how the third color is representing how much I care, or how the fourth color is your favorite and the fifth is mine. I made them twist together, intertwine. The colors together show my love for you. And each time I look at my painting, I'll see our favorite colors and be reminded that you love me too.

Donavan LeDean 13:56
Next man up, Dave. Before we let you go, I would like for you to share a poem for us, you ready?

Chelsea Maraee 14:02
Yes, I am ready. All

Donavan LeDean 14:03
right, Queen, talk to him.

Chelsea Maraee 14:09
My name is Chelsea Marais. I like roses, not because they're delicate or anything, but because you can bleed when you touch them. The petals are soft and the thorns are honest. A contradiction with roots that refuse to apologize. That's not me. My favorite color is pink. I'm from L.A. Where sirens harmonize with swaying palm trees, and I'm usually always the woman who speaks. When people demand silence, I was taught to swallow my pain like communion on a Sunday morning, guys like coffee in any form. Actually, I daydream a lot. I daydream about wanting to walk freely at night, barefoot on gravel, or lying down in an open field where stars burn like stubborn lanterns, and nobody asks. If my body is safe, I want the river to claim me. Its cold mouth opening at my knees. Its silted tongue pressing against my calves. Its weeds combing my ankles like fingers. Sometimes I just want to slip into the water like the person I once dreamed of being. Sometimes my whole life just feels like an act of letting go. I have a son, and I love him so much. But most of the time, I parent strictly from instinct, or sometimes from the ache of wanting to call my own mama up and ask her, "Am I doing this right? So I sit with grief often. Between bedtime routines and morning rushes. I'm still learning how to be a mother without the safety net of being somebody's child. I'm tired, and not the kind of tired that sleep fixes. I mean, bone deep, history heavy, inheritance level tired. I'm tired of watching myself through other people's eyes, checking my posture, my words, my face, and asking myself silently: Is it safe to be myself here? I'm tired of mistakes sticking to me longer than they stick to anybody else. Knowing I could do everything right and still be questioned, I hate leaving my house. I love bumping oldies and dread ordering my food at a drive-through window, and I stay shouting poems in my four walls of a home. I got a lot of bad habits, and I think my worst one is loving men who can care less about me. Measuring myself in replies and how long my name lingers on his tongue, or whether I'm needed or merely convenient. I'm still learning how to live in this body like it belongs to me. I'm learning how to teach my heart how to unclench its fist, and loving myself these days feels like learning a new language. But maybe loving myself right now doesn't look like confidence. It might look a little like patience because some days I still look in the mirror and see everything I've been through before seeing who I am, and I'm not my worst day. I'm not what hurt me. I'm becoming. So if you see me taking my time, I'm just learning my name again and loving myself in pieces instead of all at once. And I think out of all things I've done in life. I think this one is the hardest. My name is Chelsea Marais, and I'm still here.

Donavan LeDean 17:28
Next man up. The

Sheldon Alex Sebastian 17:30
parachute release. I return to the land below with something new to give, but nothing new to see. It feels swell to return sturdy land in two feet, but it doesn't feel fine. What is wrong with me? I guess I'd rather spend time up high with the clouds in the sky than among the rest of us. Where I'm from, which I came, where I went, where I've been, how it feels like better off. Is it wrong? If it is, prepare the ship. I'm going back. I'm going back.

Donavan LeDean 18:04
Here we go. Here we go. Next man up. Before I let you go, I would like for you to share a poem for us. You ready?

Jenny Uddin 18:11
Oh, let me get ready. All

Announcer 18:12
right.

Jenny Uddin 18:13
Okay.

Donavan LeDean 18:14
Queen, all tomorrow.

Liz Prince 18:16
Okay.

Jenny Uddin 18:19
I don't clock in. I lock in, tapped into frequencies most folks don't even notice. I'm bilingual in meltdown plus motion, fluid and silence and devotion. They see tantrum, I see cisory overload. They see picky eater, I see protecting peace from chaos on the plate. They see nonverbal, I see a universe of thoughts the world ain't even earned the privilege to translate. They try to speak for him instead of letting him speak as him, they assume silence means confused. Like I choose words for him. Stop seeing disability. Start seeing possibilities. Autism isn't a misprint; it's a different brilliance. I'm a translator, interpretator, advocate, navigator, therapist, teacher, researcher, educator. Appointments on calendars, patience, and stamina, balancing meltdowns, holding space, holding stamina. IEP meetings where they judge what he's lacking, while I subtract their assumptions and multiply backing. Proving daily that growth ain't measured in talking. Some babies speak words, mind speaks energy when they walking. His silence ain't empty, it's full, full of galaxies and meaning, full of brilliance they keep missing, full of everything, they don't need permission. They label my baby, don't label my fight, don't label the journey. When you can't handle the light, the ancestors didn't sign us to be easy. He assigned us to be legendary. Believe me. Thank y'all.

Donavan LeDean 19:35
Next man up,

Speaker 1 19:37
Sonnet 26. A homicide. Pickpocket my halt from its vivid paws. With a knife, threaten me if I love you. Keep the cutting, wrenching, thrusting, or toss till thy blade snaps my thin cords, bleeding through. Engrave your initials on my shoulders inside a hewn hot scabbing raw red. May the wounds be fatal as I shudder with a crimson caudal tongue as life fled, death, and afterward into love's preamble of eventual heartbreak will gather my still form, dismembered, distorted, scrambled, croaking to him, pleading as to why his wards-they're drowning with envy and spite the way you dote with tender love in sight. Next

Donavan LeDean 20:50
man up, Dave.

Sheldon Alex Sebastian 20:52
When home doesn't feel the same as it was, where shall I go to feel that old love? I need a new place for my soul to find ease, for my mind to find solace, for my heart to find peace. Another day is draining, another night the same. I can only hope tomorrow I can leave with what remains. Can leave with what remains.

Donavan LeDean 21:14
Next man up.

Speaker 6 21:17
Time to make something new. Fresh out of hell, living incarcerated in the devil's cell. Soon as I break out of here, I'm gonna drink from the Holy Grail and I'm gonna fish in the heaven's whale, yearning for freedom and good food or even a good burger. I never claim to be all that. I'm just spilling my guts. Only when you pick up a couple nickels, you trying to get some change, walking through this life in your thoughts, just trying to be the change because they'll be jealous of how you move. Colliding is what you'll do, stunting like a half beast in the shadow lands, colliding with other crews, trying to be famous, knowing that it's devilish. You're being forced into the closing circles, and you're being cornered like you're in a royal rumble and you are the main event climbing to the top of the building trying to scaffold it but there's nobody there no cameras no King Kong no planes no white girls no Denzel it's just you waiting to drop off of it so live your best life a second chance might never come again. If you don't believe me, just ask the other O'Haras that was gone with the wind. The city is crumbling, but I'm ready for destruction. Been on my back so long that it's time to make something new get ugly and beautiful again. Here

Donavan LeDean 22:42
we go. Here we go. Next man up.

Speaker 7 22:45
Inside me, I need to zone in on the world inside me. Make sense of the silence inside me. Create peace with the thoughts inside me. Speak the truth of the words that live inside me. Channel the voice inside me, hear the melody inside me. Feel the beating heart inside me. Nurture the child inside me. Please the beast that resides inside me. Soothe the soul inside me. Relinquish the fears inside me. Relax the breath inside me. Release the energy inside me. Extend the love inside me. Listen to the soul inside me. Focus on the vision inside me. Open the eyes inside me. Embrace the warmth inside me. Express the aggression inside me. Conquer the hesitation inside me. Strengthen the core inside me. Grateful for the power that I possess inside me. Walk with dignity because I know what's best for me.

Donavan LeDean 24:07
Next man up, Boss English. Before we let you go, I would like for you to share a poem for us.

Walter English 24:16
So this is a pants home called "Thoughts from a Black Boy in America. Ready? Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

Donavan LeDean 24:28
Bought to English. Hey, Talto.

Walter English 24:34
I am the one in front of the gun. I am terrified. I know I won't live forever. I haven't even reached my prime. I am terrified, like a rookie at the free throw line. I haven't reached my prime yet. My life is riding on this shot, like a rookie at the free throw line. My heart is racing, yet my life is riding on this shot. My hands. Are up, my heart is racing. I try to seem less like a threat. My hands are up. I'm doing everything you said. I try to seem less like a threat. Mama, look, I'm doing everything you said. Why does this hurt, Mama? Look, I'm the one in front of the gun. Why does this hurt?

Donavan LeDean 25:40
Before we go, I would like to conclude with a power message. It's a message about confidence. You have the talent, the confidence, and morale to go far in what you're trying to achieve in life, yet lack the support for many reasons. At times, you feel isolated, and time makes you question if you should change course, remember this: there is no due dates on success. Stay patient, maintain your routine, and it will all work out. Thanks for tuning in to Next Man Up: Poetry in Motion. I am your host, Donna Villadine. To see my inspirational and poetry reels, you can go to YouTube at Donovan LeDean. Also, you can find my poetry books, children's books, and coloring books on Amazon under my name, Donovan Ledeen. For actor or poets bookings, you can contact me dvmedia one zero@gmail.com Special thanks to my guest Yaya for stopping by discussing poetry and mental health, I am Donovan Ledeen, actor, author, and inspirational rhythmic poet. Until next time, peace. Jaya.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai