First, thank you to everyone who came out Friday night for the open mic. We had a lot of good readers and even a great harmonica player. But one of the highlights of the night for sure was the piece of Flowetry played by artist Julius Vergara. And it is with his performance that I want to continue my conversation on the art of Flowetry.
Julius, fellow reading editor Danielle Cofer and I were sitting outside the Coffee Klatch waiting for the night to begin when we began to talk about the pieces of poetry we all were going to be playing that night. I brought a few poems I had been practicing and showed them to Danielle and Julius. Julius, after reading a few of my poems grabbed a piece of paper and started to write down a few lines of his own. After finishing a short poem he tells me that his nearly two year relationship to his (now ex) girlfriend just ended. I could see the hurt everyone experiences after something so familiar is suddenly gone, in his eyes and in the wobble of his voice. But then something personal and (more importantly) raw happened. Julius started flowing word after word and phrase after phrase together until he had woven together a beautiful, moving, power-filled, and dynamic flow about his ex and the importance of moving on.
What was powerful about that moment was not the fact that he had just came up with all the words and rhymes off the top of his dome, it was the manner in which he presented them. It was his swagger and charisma; his strength of personality through the pain of heartbreak.
And so the night began and readers read and poems were heard and soon Julius was up at the mic. He took his turn and read his poem and then walked back down to the table. Next various other readers read and then re-read and finally Julius looked at me with a grin. He stood up from his chair and walked silently and briskly to the mic. Once there he gave a short preamble about his ex and his recent break-up.
What happen over the next few minutes is hard to put into words because it is nothing short of the heart and soul of Flowerty. The whole room, myself included, could feel the raw emotion coming from Julius. He was delivering lines off the top of his head and living in the moment; letting the river of inspiration carry him to what I like to call the flow-er's Nirvana (more on that later).
It wasn't even the words he was saying but the manner in which he was saying them. He had taken his body and his soul from a mere means of communication and transformed them into a single medium through which he delivered a striking metaphysical message about love.
His performance transcended the room and touched my heart.
And as he stepped down from that mic, it didn't matter anymore that his girlfriend had broken up with him. It didn't matter that both of us were teary eyed. It didn't matter that he had just made the whole thing up. What mattered was the fact that he had found something pure and magical inside himself and decided to share it with us.
But it wasn't for the sake of just getting up and sharing, but for the sake of growing. That is the purpose of Flowetry; to grow as an artist, poet, person (what have you). Flowetry knows no concept of fame, no concept of value. It is and always will be something which is beyond the here and now. When I talk to many of my fellow flow-ers they tell me that when they are rolling on a flow they feel a sense of ecstasy; emptiness of thought and calmness of nerves. This is what I call the flow-er's Nirvana. A place where you feel as though you are reciting words long since written. As though you are connected to the multitude of other flow-ers speaking this very instant.
One Mind One Love One Peace One Voice
As Always
Undoubtedly Yours,
Bermuda the Man
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