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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.
[EPISODE INDEX]
- 0:46 – “Duck You Autocorrect” by Meccamorphosis
- 4:38 – “Threads and Lines”
- 14:42 – 2 Piece Poetry Review | “White Girl Roasting” by Janae Johnson
- 31:00 – 2 Piece Poetry Review | @tianatakespoetry
- 37:09 – 5 For Your Eye
The Internet and poetry are two things we’ve been working to make more synonymous with each other. In this Internet generation of poets, we are seeing new, exciting things in poetry and not only in accessibility to the poets and their work, but also in the poetry itself. There’s work reflecting the identity of kids raised not only with the Internet but with poetry. Meccamorphosis is one of my favorite examples of this exciting new generation of tech-aware poets.
We initially linked up with Mecca through Instagram. We found her work, enjoyed it thoroughly, and reached out to her to clique up. This chain of events seems normal to kids now, but for Kuya and I – both in our 30s, we remember the days of the 2000s: Little content online, and barely emerging avenues to connect you with the artist online you really fuck with. Being a producer for ten years has made all of the advantages of social media very apparent to me, and to see young poets utilizing these tools is mad exciting for us at Pen Clique. Mecca’s use of it all is exactly what we are hoping to see – young dynamic poets displaying fire poetry but also giving their audience so much of themselves. Before I formally met Mecca I already appreciated her sense of style and fashion, laughed at her jokes, and felt a small sense of the essence that comes through her social media posts and presence. She is exactly the evolution I love seeing in poetry; she and other kids are using what they have to survive with poetry and art, which then propels them forward.
Mecca came to L.A. for a tour run, hitting L.A. staples and embracing the dope things happening in the L.A. poetry scene. To have Pen Clique included in all of that was not only an honor, but an affirmation and blessing to the both Kuya and I. She was vibrant in her performance, but most importantly she brought in work that reflected her struggle and place in our modern post-Internet world. “Duck You Autocorrect,” Mecca’s ‘Threads and Lines’ piece is a well-written narrative of how this generation is navigating online life; it ends with the powerful statement “my phone finally says ni*&% and I’m starting to think it shouldn’t…” leaving us unresolved and without a clear answer and placing the audience in the same place of confusion as this generation. A generation trying to use everything at their disposal to make the change in the world they want to see, without a road map or elders who have insight into navigating the trials ahead. Mecca reminded me that these young people are taxed with defining this new online space, and some of them, like Mecca, are doing pretty dope shit with what they got.
We went on to give two really great reviews and scores during the ‘2 Piece Combo’ a segment where we give honest opinions about poetry we find online. Mecca joined us in giving Janae Johnson’s “White Girl Roasting” a perfect score, but finding a #poetry piece we really enjoyed was equally exciting to us was. It was an opportunity to encourage online poetry and the growth of high quality writing on Instagram. To share in the brilliance of these brave new artists redefining the uses of the Internet, while seated next to such a perfect example of one in Mecca, was a blessing. We are excited to showcase Meccamorphosis because she is what is shaping poetry to come; she is a dynamic, gifted, and an Internet savvy artist out there using the arts along with the Internet to help redefine our world all the while being fun, engaging, and fresh AF.
Write-up by Daniel Hees
Edited by Seraphina Lotkhamnga
Photos by Seth Garnes
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Off Page: August 2020
For this month’s showcase, we got THE Alyesha Wise, South Central songbird Samuel Hummingbird, Florida’s finest Blacqwildflowr, rising singer Jess Roman, activist & Pen Clique fam Roz, and the astral music vibes of Zensoul.
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Epiosde 08 Ft. Matt Sedillo
Matt Sedillo cliques up this episode to clusterbomb the mic with F-bombs, we praise & crit a Prentice Powell performance, roast on a salty haiku, and chop it up about them poli’tricks!
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Episode 23 ft. Shalane Goss
How do we grow through heartbreak? On the final episode of season 2, Shalane Goss joins the clique as they dive into their feels and wade through the murky waters of accountability in relationships during ‘Threads and Lines.’ An 18 year old Sarah Kay performing on Def Poetry gets the ‘2 Piece combo’ poetry review treatment, and the clique pull unexpected gold during the #poetry Instagram poetry review. Shalane ends the show with love abounding with her ‘Five for Ya Eye’ prompted poem.
