VIDEO ::: Warsan Shire is Poetry Goddess

for women who are difficult to love from brianna olson on Vimeo.

warsan versus melancholy
(the seven stages of being lonely)

warsanshire.bandcamp.com/

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for women who are difficult to love

you are a horse running alone
and he tries to tame you
compares you to an impossible highway
to a burning house
says you are blinding him
that he could never leave you
forget you
want anything but you
you dizzy him, you are unbearable
every woman before or after you
is doused in your name
you fill his mouth
his teeth ache with memory of taste
his body just a long shadow seeking yours
but you are always too intense
frightening in the way you want him
unashamed and sacrificial
he tells you that no man can live up to the one who
lives in your head
and you tried to change didn't you?
closed your mouth more
tried to be softer
prettier
less volatile, less awake
but even when sleeping you could feel
him travelling away from you in his dreams
so what did you want to do love
split his head open?
you can't make homes out of human beings
someone should have already told you that
and if he wants to leave
then let him leave
you are terrifying
and strange and beautiful
something not everyone knows how to love.

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words : @warsan_shire
warsanshire.tumblr.com/

image : @briolson
bri.lovevolution.org/

ART ::: Fall Morning Light

There is hope in the rising of the sun.

Fall Morning Light

Hope Sun Rising Series

24x48" Acrylic on Birchwood, 2011

by Martha Wade

http://www.wadecreate.com/

ARTIST ::: Gary Bunt

Gary Bunt has such an endearing style of painting that drew me in. Add to that wonderful bouts of poetry to companion each piece, and you will be won over too.

Happy Anniversary
20 x 24" Oil on canvas

Once every year
They come up here
Looking down
On the house where they live
He worked all his life
For his dog, kids and wife
And still he's got love to give

The Harbour Cat
40 x 48" Oil on canvas

The cat sat on the window sill
Looking at the fish
He thought to himself
How nice would it be
If they were in my dish

Gary Bunts show at the Portland Gallery in London is sold out. To view more if this artist's work visit the gallery website.

ADVICE ::: Ignore Everybody

Comic art by gapingvoid

IGNORE EVERYBODY and 39 Other Keys to Creativity
A Book by Hugh MacLeod / @gapingvoid

1. Ignore everybody.
2. The idea doesn’t have to be big. It just has to be yours.
3. Put the hours in.
4. If your biz plan depends on you suddenly being “discovered” by some big shot, your plan will probably fail.
5. You are responsible for your own experience.
6. Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten.
7. Keep your day job.
8. Companies that squelch creativity can no longer compete with companies that champion creativity.
9. Everybody has their own private Mount Everest they were put on this earth to climb.
10. The more talented somebody is, the less they need the props.
11. Don’t try to stand out from the crowd; avoid crowds altogether.
12. If you accept the pain, it cannot hurt you.
13. Never compare your inside with somebody else’s outside.
14. Dying young is overrated.
15. The most important thing a creative person can learn professionally is where to draw the red line that separates what you are willing to do, and what you are not.
16. The world is changing.
17. Merit can be bought. Passion can’t.
18. Avoid the Watercooler Gang.
19. Sing in your own voice.
20. The choice of media is irrelevant.
21. Selling out is harder than it looks.
22. Nobody cares. Do it for yourself.
23. Worrying about “Commercial vs. Artistic” is a complete waste of time.
24. Don’t worry about finding inspiration. It comes eventually.
25. You have to find your own schtick.
26. Write from the heart.
27. The best way to get approval is not to need it.
28. Power is never given. Power is taken.
29. Whatever choice you make, The Devil gets his due eventually.
30. The hardest part of being creative is getting used to it.
31. Remain frugal.
32. Allow your work to age with you.
33. Being Poor Sucks.
34. Beware of turning hobbies into jobs.
35. Savor obscurity while it lasts.
36. Start blogging.
37. Meaning Scales, People Don’t.
38. When your dreams become reality, they are no longer your dreams.

(more tips ::: find out how to buy this awesome book!)

POETRY ::: Affirmation by Assata Shakur

Assata: Exile since 1979
On May 2 1973, Black Panther activist Assata Shakur (JoAnne Chesimard) was pulled over by the New Jersey State Police, shot twice and then charged with murder of a police officer.

Assata spent six and a half years in prison under brutal circumstances before escaping out of the maximum security wing of the Clinton Correctional Facility for Women in New Jersey in 1979.

Due to government persecution in her own country, Assata moved that same year to Cuba where she now lives in exile.

Thankfully, she still writes and is able to share her expression with the world.


Affirmation
by Assata Shakur

I believe in living.
I believe in the spectrum
of Beta days and Gamma people.
I believe in sunshine
in windmills and waterfalls,
tricycles and rocking chairs.
And I believe that seeds grow into sprouts,
And sprouts grow into trees.
I believe in the magic of the hands.
And in the wisdom of the eyes.
I believe in rain and tears.
And in the blood of infinity.
I believe in life.
And I have seen the death parade
march through the torso of the earth,
sculpting mud bodies in its path.
I have seen the destruction of the daylight,
and seen the bloodthirsty maggots
prayed to and saluted.
I have seen the kind become the blind
and the blind become the bind
in one easy lesson.
I have walked on cut glass.
I have eaten crow and blunder bread
and breathed the stench of indifference.
I have been locked by the lawless.
Handcuffed by the haters.
Gagged by the greedy.
And, if I know anything at all,
it is that a wall is just a wall
and nothing more at all.
It can be broken down.
I believe in living.
I believe in birth.
I believe in the sweat of love
and in the fire of truth.
And I believe that a lost ship,
steered by tired, seasick sailors,
can still be guided home
to port.