My Name In Lights…Kinda! ;)

NaPoWriMo Day 3

3/30 Prompt: Write a machine poem

 

I’d Live Off The Grid If I Could Still Have Facebook

Robots are not friends.
They would turn on us one day,
If we plugged them in.

Please don’t sue me, Matt Groening.

This work, “I’d Live Off The Grid If I Could Still Have Facebook” by Beth Murch, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

NaPoWriMo Day 2

2/30 Prompt: Write a secret poem.

 

Untitled

She wrote me a letter
Saying that she knew that she could trust me
Because you love me so deeply.

I don’t know if it would matter to her
That you actually cast more shadows than love my way,
But I will keep her secrets just the same.

This work, “Untitled” by Beth Murch, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

NaPoWriMo Day 1

1/30 Prompt: Write a poem of resistance.

Diaspora

“By the waters of Babylon, we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’ How can we sing the L-rd’s song while in a foreign land?” – Psalm 137:1-4

 

There was a time when our navels were answer enough to the question
“Where did you come from?”

 I wish I could recall the sensation of being connected to my place of origin,
Wish I felt rooted in my belly by belonging like a sacred umbilical cord,
Wish I felt the roads of my homeland restore my blood like the veins in a placenta.

 How do you answer the question
“Where do you come from?”
When you really don’t know yourself?

 Sure, there are the bits and pieces
That I have winnowed from the stones of gossip
And the dust that gathered over my family’s secrets,
But no matter how much I sift,
There are never enough grains of truth to bake a loaf of bread
Honest enough to satisfy the hunger in my questions.

 Where do I come from?
Can my bloodline actually be traced
Beneath the compost heap of mockery
By those who make jokes about Indian princesses?

 Where do I come from?
Does my DNA really descend down spiral staircases in hoopskirts,
Pledging allegiance to the land of freedom
Built on the black backs some ancestor of mine may have broken?

Where do I come from?
Can my cells truly contain traces of clapboard churches
And communion grape juice,
When I light Shabbat candles
And feel that my mezuzot keep the door frames of my home
From collapsing inward?

 Where do I come from?
Does my gnarled little stick,
Shirred with contempt from the family tree,
Sprout shoots just to spite its heritage?

I don’t sing very loudly these days
Because I cannot speak truths about what is holy and good
When my feet are dirty from land that isn’t my own.
Since I don’t know my own truth,
Everyone assumes that I am always lying.

 Where are you from?
I am from the tomatoes flaming red in the moist heat of summer.
Not good enough.
I am from the splatters of acrylic paint dripping down canvas.
Not good enough.
I am from the dreadlocks that tie me from G-d to the Earth.
Not good enough.
Where are you from?
I am from my grandmother’s cedar chest.
Not good enough.
I am from the smile of sunlight on strips of bare skin.
Not good enough.

 No, I don’t sing very loudly these days,
Because I don’t know the words to the songs of my homeland.
I haven’t figured out where I am actually from.
I am aware that I don’t belong where I am now,
And, perhaps, that is the only story of origin I really need.

Is this your photograph? Please let me know so that I may credit you!

This work, “Diaspora” by Beth Murch, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Raw Like Sushi, Tender Like Tomatoes: Vulnerability and Ferocity in Spoken Word – a workshop by me!

How do you feel about FREE workshops? How about FREE workshops with snacks?

If you are looking for something to do on April 11, 2015, come out to my super-amazing-tremendously-awesome-no-hyperbole-whatsoever workshop at the Kitchener Public Library!

KW Poetry Slam Presents:
***FREE*** Workshop with BETH MURCH

Saturday, April 11th, 2015. Free.
1:30 PM Performance in Front Lounge
2:00PM – 4:00 PM Workshop in Room A
Kitchener Public Library, 85 Queen Street North
Folks are welcome to attend part or all of the programming.

Do people tell you that you are “too emotional”? Have you ever really wanted to get up on stage to spit the truth but worried that instead, you will open your mouth and nothing will come out? Do you carry bog roll with you to spoken word events because you are afraid that liquid fire reality will blast out of you? Are you plagued by stomach pains caused by keeping your mouth shut? Do you just need someone to tell you that you are special?

Then this is the workshop for you!

Spoken word is a diverse genre that allows for a multitude of voices, styles, and experiences, and yet, some of us are afraid to share our work with others because being vulnerable is a scary thing. Some of us have been discouraged from being “too radical” or “too fierce” while onstage. What’s wrong with choosing authenticity over popularity? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! Say it loud, say it proud! The purpose of poetry has always been to convey messages: to tell personal stories, to expose our tender emotions, to display cracked hearts, and to find healing in the understanding that all of us are bruised, split, broken, hastily glued back together, and in search of understanding who we really are.

Beth Murch (a.k.a. Queen B a.k.a. Mama B) is a self-proclaimed stage-rager and a recovering soft-spoken “good girl” who has watered many a mic with her salty tears. Let her affirm the validity of your experience and affirm the importance of you sharing your words with your community. Learn ways to expose your delicate heart to your audience while acquiring techniques to keep yourself grounded and safe.

Come for the snacks, stay for the love, leave with the knowledge!

“Stand before the people you fear and speak your mind – even if your voice shakes.” – Maggie Kuhn

Facebook Event Page

Photograph by Colleen Rintoul of Colleen Rintoul Photography ( http://www.colleenrintoulphotography.com/)

Featuring At Kitchener-Waterloo Poetry Slam!

On Saturday, April 4, 2015, I will be featuring at the Kitchener-Waterloo Poetry Slam as the city’s slam 2014-2015 slam champion and as K-W’s first representative at the Canadian Individual Poetry Slam being held in Vancouver, British Columbia later this month! I’m super excited and I hope you will come out to join me!

Facebook Event Page: April Slam Featuring Beth Murch

 

Photograph by: Colleen Rintoul Photography (www.colleenrintoulphotography.com)