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David A. Romero brings chicano poetry fire to ‘Threads and Lines’, The Clique debates Saul Williams in the ‘2 Piece Combo’ and Romero closes out the show with a LIT prompted poem for ‘5 For Ya’ Eye’.
[Episode Index]
- 0:33 – “Make Me More Mexican by David Romero”
- 5:34 – Threads & Lines
- 14:38 – 2 Piece Combo | Saul Williams
- 30:00 – 2 Piece Combo | @zackgreywrites
- 38:30 – 5 For Your Eye
A year of development and planning came to head with blueberry donuts and a poet I have known for some years and admired before I knew him personally. Having met David Romero at A Mic and Dim Lights, a long running open mic in Pomona California, I came to know him as a person whom I truly identified with. Romero, an oddly white-passing Chicano with hip-hop in his heart, always reminded me of the parts of Mexican-American culture that i loved and knew. It was THIS insight into himself I wanted to show people, and his loving spirit was the cherry on top. He was an easy first choice to kick off the ‘Pen Clique’ podcast.
Shooting the podcast as a video was completely last minute. Originally, it was gonna be just another audio-podcast, using video clips to help promote and share. But as we set up the lights, mics, and cameras, it felt like we were preparing for something more; something greater than what either Kuya or I had initially anticipated, and suddenly the video aspect tipped the scales from “would be nice” assets into necessity. I put on a fresh shirt, realizing pajamas weren’t gonna cut it, just when Romero arrived on time and looking video fresh and handsome.
Romero brought in one of my favorite poems of his for Threads and Lines, and I knew he would take advantage of my “if you’re making art, you can smoke inside” policy. Something about poetry and smoke in the air makes me feel connected to something, like how long have people been smoking shit and talking about art, or words, or the combination of the two? But somewhere between David finishing his piece, and lighting his victory cigarette, I got nervous. How do we do justice to someone’s art whom I admire? How do we pull-off this “magic trick” of artistic honesty and vulnerability in a way that does it justice? Can we do something that looks the way we feel about poetry? But all those worries were shattered by the laughter and fun of the episode, validated when afterwards Romero confessed how fun the show was to do; something I needed to hear. Poetry, and talking about poetry, IS fun and if we only end up showing people THAT, then we have completed our mission. David Romero offered me a deeper understanding of myself in the poems he brought, but he also gave us a deeper understanding of what ‘Pen Clique’ was and can be.
Kuya David and Seth Garnes, the pixel-pushing wizards, went to work quelling all of my worries as they moved forward with the video production. I was still apprehensive to do video, and really envisioned it as a companion piece more than a whole show. It’s easier with editing and podcast magic to do an idea justice, but video is a big can of worms I wasn’t sure we’d be able to turn into something we’d be excited or proud to show to people. I have been, and still am, a deprecating artist and feel like everything I do is horrible. But with top tier ingredients that are Romero’s amazing work, Kuya and Seth as the chefs, and our passion for what we’re doing to fuel the fires, we made something I found to be special and worthwhile. It’s odd when the pieces seemingly fall into place, because you never notice the work that yourself and others had been putting in all along. This special thing, poetry, and special people, poets, I believe can (and do) change the world everyday. And by broadcasting this truth to people via their phones, laptops, in their cars, offices and homes, I hope we inspire, or at the very least make you remember, poetry is still here and it’s still yours.
Writeup by Daniel Hees
[Footnotes]
- David Romero: Website | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
- “Sha Klack Klack” by Saul Williams
- #Poetry piece by @zackgreywrites
- Music by The Dope Spot Studios Produced by Dom V
- Segment transitions & Intro animations by Seth Garnes
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Episode 13 Ft. Meccamorphosis
Baltimore poet Meccamorphosis exposes white-washing & racism within her phone’s autocorrect, with her poem, “Duck You Autocorrect.” The clique pull up Janae Johnson’s piece, “White Girl Roasting” for the first poetry review, and FINALLY find a decent IG poem reeled in from the IG #poetry ether by @tianatakespoetry. Lastly, Mecca shuts it down with all the feels during her “Five For Your Eye” prompted poem.
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Episode 04 Ft. Shelley Bruce
Artist Shelley Bruce throws poetry THIRST TRAPS during “Threads and Lines”; The Clique drops a perfect slam score during the “2 Piece Combo” and Shelley humbles the whole block during the “Five for Ya Eye”.
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Episode 03 ft. Alex Alpharaoh
Take a journey through skid row with critically acclaimed poet Alex Alpharaoh as your guide during “Threads and Lines”. The Clique touch the heavens and the bottom of the barrel with the highest and lowest “2 Piece combo” scores yet! Alpharaoh closes us out by shutting ‘Merica down during the “Five For Ya Eye”.
