Last night after a full day of shooting a video
I was exhausted feeling low
as if nothing could help me.
I rushed to the venue at Elderberries.
Thank God I did because last night by the time I got
Home it planted new seeds within me.
Not only did I feel better but I was so inspired by the evening.
It restored my soul
it was alive and inspiring. A needed time.
an amazing array of voices and characters poems and prose.
It had a casual but vital energy about it.
Michael Camacho opened & closed with a wonderful lively set, and one of my friends said
he never saw anyone put so much feeling into “If I Only had a Brain” from
The Wizard of Oz, and all of his jazz standards with so much passion.
Lisa K. Thayer and her tireless effort…
She has devoted herself to this for love of sharing thoughts, poems
and language. I feel blessed to know her.
She kicked the night off with her poetry. She delivers her poems
with sensuality and feeling.
She speaks with her body and she brings me in…
Each time I find other layers falling into me.
I love this poet who I have grown to call a friend.
You have to see her. Not only is she a poet but she brings an intensity
to The Juice Bar like none I have seen.
She does a great service to the world
and the language
bringing these treasure these tiny jewels to others
on a daily basis.
If someone thinks this is sentimental
that is tough… because she gives the street an urgency
the disenfranchised and she can kick ass.
Michael C Ford was next.
A seasoned and interesting poet with a voice that sends chills through me
and goes very deep with great wit and humor and sometimes a cynicism
that is so right on in today’s world.
Last night before writing and reading two incredible poems he read an excerpt from his novel that was so exceptional it reads like a poem.
His voice is so astonishing. I tell him he could read a menu
and you would thing it is Shakespeare.
He is smart funny witty and takes no prisoner and no bull shit
comes out of these lips.
I love this guy. He gets to my core and I cannot turn away or deny
what he conjures up within me.
He is a choir within one soul
that really resonates with me
and calls me forth
to be extraordinary in the chaos.
He loves words and language and he is also producing with
Eve Brandstein, Rex Weiner
and John Densmore “Waiting For Jack” (Kerouac) another must see poetry event for everyone.
Next a new friend of mine who I have grown quite fond of Susan Hayden. I never heard her read her own work before.
This was a real treat for me.
To see this lovely being with great humility and presence
deliver her work
Her last two poems about the long Kiss and the one about boys without fathers
touched me very deeply.
powerful feelings
expressed in such a tender way
it broke down my resistance and it even reversed some of my
hostility and negativity last night and for a few moments I forgot that
I was not feeling well.
She have a tender touching sweetness
about her
her verses and sent shivers through me.
I was so very moved.
I want to hear more of her work.
All these people penetrated into my defense mechanisms
I felt some of the tension leaving my bruised body.
I was calming down and no longer wanted to jump of a bridge.
I was released of my mesmerism of limitation.
Then came my dear friend Bill Duke
by the time he delivered “Men Like Me”
and finished the last cadenza as I recall it
You could hear a pin drop.
This is a fucking poem that will knock your shorts down
and rivet your very essence
it is not pretty and neat
it is rough on the edges all more powerful because
he started it again because he could not find a page
and it rocked it gushed out like a stream
like a steam roller hit you
and Bill got into a rhythm that left me breathless
and speechless.
I was torn kissed and his crescendo was so exhilarating.
I felt as if I had lived through birth and death tragedy and renewal.
That one poem says it all.
I walked away from this evening with renewed strength
and gratitude to be alive and even felt better.
These evenings are so great so inspiring so wonderful whether
two people come or 2 thousand
it does not matter .
Last night was a good show but the poems live on there own
and these poets even if they leave there poems
on the music stand.
The poems will jump off the stand
take on shape and burry themselves in your heart.
What a pleasure and honor to work with all these people
at the sweet little Elderberries.
I have performed around the world worked
with many famous acts and I have to tell you
I have never had this much fun,
Everyone should go to Elderberries and experience these poets
They are my Rolling Stones my Pink Floyd and they all play
lead guitar and sing lead vocals.
Love
Stevie Kalinich
sjk
L. K. Thayer adds:
Theida Salazar got up impromtu and hypnotized the room with a personal
poem by memory that snake charmed us all. He is a magical wordsmith & performer
delivering electric beats with his exciting rythms and exquisite delivery.
Stevie Kalinich, who you’d never know wasn’t feeling well
captured the room in his butterfly net of poetry, with me holding his
book for him at one point (such a joy for me to be next to this powerhouse)
he is a master of heart, soul & compassion that literally
lifts you out of yourself and into his effervescent stream of consciousness.
He is a genius poet and a stunning performer you must see to believe.
Thank you to the full house that came to hear us at Elderberries
and to owner Dottie Zold, for her amazing food & hospitality & spirit.
Until next time, Cheers! 🙂
© 2010
Foto by L. K. Thayer
I love the poetry
I love the people
like hungry children
like needy beggars
we ned the inspiration
to carry on
in the face of such immensity
when economies are falling
and depression is rising
and everyone says no
I say yes to keeping the language
and its many voices alive.
The word painters and the painters
with the brush
and the invisible brush of images
The prose and poems
will touch you
one for one
one for another for
certainly in our time
the end f 201
we need the voice of poets
that spoke through the beats
The Kerouac’s and Mcheline;s
of the world
who are now blooming
to keep poetry alive
is to keep life alive
while poets write
and painters paint
and doers do
there is hope for the world
for they will never
silence these voices
and we will rise
a sisterhood a brotherhood
rise up against oppression
and hatred.
We will plant the seeds
for peace
and revolution
wherever the soul is violated
and mankind’s needs
are pushed under.
Keep the poem alive
and God Damn come tonight.
There is something for you here
whoever you are.
LOve
Stevie
Elderberries Cafe, Hollywood, CA
© 2010
Foto by L. K. Thayer
Inspiration
never leaves us
where it finds us.
Tenderness and listening
are essential
for the creative act to occur.
This is what i believe-
Tortured souls
pass through our lives ;
and they can drag us down
if we are not aware
or alert.
We all get caught up in events
and circumstances
and we get swept into things.
There is no time for breath..
each day is a miracle of sorts
and definitely life is a gift.
Calmness is the seed
from which creativity springs for me
and stillness is the flower
and out of this
Oceans of inner waters
a feeling arrives
an impulse to share
to bring something forth
into the world.
A child of sorts an Art
no one can do it for us
but I find
the more one opens up to Grace
that all is a gift
the more one can create works
and live lives
that reach out
and touch others.
Cold icy nights in Europe
awakened my spirit
for a brief span of time.
Casual relationships
come and go
but true friendship
that turns into love
or that is love
lasts as long
as being lasts
We can not be to cautious
because if we are too guarded
we miss life
repel new expression
and experience
only to fall flat
on our face again
doing is the way
to learn for me.
I mountain climbed in New Zealand
did Rock sculpture in Japan
collaborated on paintings in UK
and Holland
and wrote my poems
on Canvas for charity
Each country
each city
a unique adventure
and a time
for quiet reflection
alone in my rooms
where ever I was.
…many different beds,
The fact
that I am still alive
is a miracle.
Sometimes i just like to sit
and think
be at peace
goodness is attractive
in someone a way to be
a path that is not selfless..
help arrives from somewhere
and though we are alone
we are not alone
in some strange way..
We are trapped
in our own consciousness
and the only way
we ever break out
is through Art
or love
and more through living
and being love
than anything.
This is what I live for.
I am not after life
but I am after living.
Love to you
talking about
getting carried away …
sleep is what i need!!!
Wisdom is a treasure
and it comes from experience
when we look at the experience
and find the lesson
or the lesson reveals itself.
We are complex
magnificent
selfish
and sometimes selfless creatures
here on this planet
and yes we are still blossoming
in our own unique ways
but we have to water the plant .
We probably are complete
even though we feel
we are not
and life is letting go
of what is not essential
and chipping away the stone
around the sculpture
alone
or with someone special..
someone you trust
and care about
that brings out your highest
and best self
that does not make you
ugly or sour.
I agree with the philosophy
if ones believe in oneself
one is on the right road.
Every outward journey
is a journey
towards the self
a line
from one of my poems.
When the dust settles
life is glorious
most of the time
it feels awful
beyond description
when we lose a loved one
only the quiet comforts
at other times
we complicate it
by too much wanting
our own way
and not following the grace.
Wisdom comes in small doses
nothing is forgotten
each memory is forever
each dance a testament
that we still are life
with all its challenges
and pitfalls..
Only the striving must cease
and we must become quiet
for the true self to emerge
through the chaos
and perplexity.
Under the rock
there is a diamond
we have to polish it
and the diamond is us
each unique
when we find our own voice
it reveals itself to us
forward happens
we can not stop it…
dominion is our birthright
all is
only as real
as we make it
the thoughts we give power to
can shape
and sculpt our lives.
Blaming is a street
not to travel.
Let those who have wronged us go
and let our resentment go too.
Songs of the self
pour out of us
when our hearts sing
all is in the way
the notes are brought to life
and sound.
Now it is time for breakfast.
© 2010
(Note: Stephen will be reading at Elderberries
with “The Jazz Poets Social Club”
Sunday November 7th
with poets
Bill Duke, Michael C Ford, Susan Hayden & L. K. Thayer)
Ms. Thayer also appears in the highly acclaimed “Waiting For Jack” a poetry theater event produced by Eve Brandstein, Rex Weiner, Michael C. Ford and John Densmore and presented by Tom Landau’s STUDIO 1520. Lisa will be reading “Ann Waldman’s” poems.
The Los Angeles Poetry Examiner literally ran into Ms Thayer in the crossfire of Internet Poetry Networking, yet another topic we’ll cover in the coming weeks. I thought it necessary to ask the Lovely Lisa a few questions for Examiner…
You are listed with the poets that used to read back in the day with Poetry In Motion, what do think about, that after all these years, the poets are still having at it?
Lisa Thayer:
Great. We only get juicier as we age with our own experience. I’m glad that they are still writing, sometimes it is a matter of life and death, like breathing. It means ‘their creative force is alive and they are listening to it. It’s a beating heart.
How long have you been writing and sharing your poetry?
Lisa Thayer:
I started out as a singer/songwriter (I’ll give you a CD)…for 2 years I just heard melodies and words just fell out, it was really a purging of emotion that I expressed in lyric form, which to me is the same as poetry. Then I didn’t write for a long time until I started studying regularly with Jack Grapes, an amazing teacher in LA. He has inspired me to go into the deep voice and get to the good stuff, so about, jeeze, all in all about 5 yrs. only, 2 1/2 I think with Jack.
Which writers or poets helped shaped your own voice in terms of poetic style, and which influenced you the most?
Lisa Thayer:
Anne Sexton speaks to me the most, with her freedom, madness and no holds barred style, she’s so brave and uncensored. Bukowski of course, Pablo Neruda lately, he’s so romantic and passionate…so many. I’m not really a reader, but I like short poems and can really get a poets style and voice when I study them, I’m an actor, that’s probably why, I have a good ear and am sensitive to where someone is coming from. I love “Bill” Shakespeare, Tennessee Williams, actually, too many poets to name here!!
Where did you grow up, does this have a big influence on your poetry?
Lisa Thayer:
I really “grew up” in LA. I’ve lived here over 30yrs. I was born in Fargo, N. Dakota, yes! And was raised outside of Mpls. Minn. where I first got into theatre as a kid. I think the Midwest is a very soulful, honest place to be from, your words really mean something, you don’t just say something to say it, your word is valued more, like gold, really. I was raised on a lake every summer, my grandparents owned a home on Detroit Lakes, where my mother still lives. I always had a good imagination.
Tell me about L.K. Thayer’s Poetry Juice Bar, how long have you been running it and what made you start The Juice Bar?
Lisa Thayer:
Well, it’s funny, “The Juice Bar” is the first named that popped into my head, having to do I guess with “creative juices”…I started out with just my own poetry, I needed somewhere to put it, along with my nephew VC Ferry’s genius photographic images, i wanted to promote him, I still do. Then I invited other people’s work from Jack Grapes class & have recently gotten bit by the foto bug myself (I also created L. K. Thayer’s Foto Fetish) and that was a year and 80,000 hits ago. I call them “Guest Squeezes.” Things just keep getting juicier! We all do… like good wine!
“Praises From a Tenor Sax”
like salt on a bloodsucker
recoiling, shriveling
paralyzed fits of punishing
pawnshop
reuniting
with the sell-out
the down and out
muck and mire choir
singing
praises from a tenor sax
and a song
you can’t let go of
fill the loving cup
and drink it dry
try to stay away
but you can’t fight
the pull
of the taffy
you get stuck in the
sweetness
and you wanna
die
happy
– by L. K. Thayer
Photo by L. K. Thayer
I loved last night so much. All the poets were awesome and all unique. Different inspirational sensual moving artists.
Michael C Ford
was an absolutely brilliant performer recalling, evoking, inspiring, one to think about Jazz. His voice is like velvet, soothing and he has a powerful presence.
Definitely a man of words to hear and a real treat.
Alexis Rhone Fancher
I never heard her read before she is passionate alive vital. Her sense of intimacy and physical perceptions is truly amazing and she is uninhibited. Her words come alive.
I want to hear her again and again and an energy comes to my body which these days is hard to reach.
and
L. K. Thayer
I can not say enough good about Lisa. She does every thing with a passion. She is a great host.
A wonderful poet who makes her poems sizzle. She is emotionally relentless and once she grabs hold of you and once you sense her essence it is impossible to forget her.
Someone else has to write about me. I cannot write about myself…
Weekly Jazz & Poetry at Elderberries Cafe in Hollywood
7564 Sunset Blvd. (at Curson)
Free Parking in the back!!
Beginning September 12th
Sunday Evenings 7:30 P.M.
Produced by Michael Camacho, Greg Lipari & L. K. Thayer
Poets – Stephen John Kalinich, Michael C Ford,
Alexis Rhone Fancher & L. K. Thayer
*******************
JAM SESSION Beginning at 9:00 P.M.
With
Jazz Vocalist, Michael Camacho
Gary Pratt on Bass
Gary Fukushima on Piano
&
Adam Alessi on Drums
*********************
The Juice Bar 