A Different Peace of Mind reigned supreme yet again for an awesome feature show on Tuesday January 22, 2013, for the #7DeadlySins show. There were eleven creative minds working to present their point of view, a violinist, feature poets from Cincinnati, and a narrator taking the audience by the hand, guiding intriguing minds deeper into the dark hallway to discover each entity; wrath, gluttony, sloth,vanity, greed, envy, and lust one door at a time. There was a lot to consider in order to present such sin to the public. Whether the subject was relatable or not, a level of growth and self realization surfaced into reality upon the final moments of delivering their category. I had the opportunity to speak with the artists about their category and how they constructed their sin.
Q: Were there any challenges you dealt with as the navigator of the show?
A: I had a hard time writing a monologue since I haven't been writing for very long. But a couple days before the show I had an experience with my children that inspired the story I told throughout the evening. Life's frustrations really encourages writing!
Q: What is the main point you believe you have learned through this experience?
A: This experience has help me to be a better poet in the future. Working with such a talented group of performers enriches us all; the poets and the audience. I appreciate working with others as a team in poetry, and even though this is was my first collaboration piece, I hope we will be able to perform the show again.
Q: What was your favorite part of the show?
A: My favorite parts of the show were the poems on sloth and greed. I was impressed with the way they brought the audience into the piece. Robin and Rae did that very well. I also loved BlakGhost's piece on Gluttony.
Gregg Deboor kicked off the show with his version of rage.
A: Writing in the category of rage was extremely intimidating for me. I mean it's rage. It's ugly. It's self destructive. What angle can I relate to that will be fitting, honest relatable when spoken, yet most importantly dances on paper and has integrity? The solution? I wrote horrible version after another until I got to the root of my voice.
Q: Did you enjoy your category?
A: Yes I did, for many reasons. The whole challenge of writing themed poetry for a show, felt overwhelming. This show was foreign water to dip my toes in. Writing about rage more specifically, wrath was hard. I didn't want to take this as a character. I wanted to go deep into this beast.
Q: Was there another category you felt more comfortable with?
A: All the categories were challenging itself because as writers we expose ourselves by inputting personal examples of the sins we have committed in our lives, just to flower them with fictional stories and metaphors. To a certain extent what I wrote about in rage/wrath were things I had done. I couldn't imagine what I would confess about the other ones.
Q: What was your favorite part of the show?
A: All of it. Being backstage seeing all of us getting into our elements, was brilliance bouncing off stars in my eyes. I felt extremely lucky to have been able to be apart of it all.
"Usually, If I don't know much about the subject matter I research it. In this case, I know about gluttony and being overweight, so I thought this was a good way to speak to myself. Sometimes poets need that. Sometimes a poem isn't meant to speak to the crowd, sometimes its meant as a reminder to the person on what life is like, and answering the internal question; "what are you going to do to change?" or "what are you going to do to move on?"
Q: So you were very comfortable with your sin?
A: I loved my category. Being overweight, this poem is a reminder that if I don't do something about my weight then I could wind up with a slew of health problems. I tackled this poem from the point of view that Gluttony was a gangster and that if you tried to back away from the table and stop eating so much (which is the first step in my opinion toward losing weight), then Gluttony would try to show you all of the perks of not losing weight, like I said in my line: "Those health nuts lie, ain't shit wrong with pie!"
Q: What was your favorite part of the show?
A: My favorite part of the show would have to be Greed. Rae did an awesome job, and then when she kept asking the people, "DO YOU WANT MORE!" Then how she brought it full circle was really dope! So I would say Greed was my favorite. Oh, I also liked Eric's poem/freestyle on Wrath. It's like he went into another place with that poem.
Robin
Q: What inspired the idea for a Seven Deadly Sins show?
A: I had a random Facebook status about how dope it would be to have a show like that. I NEVER thought it would take off. I was just talking. What I can say though, is I have a curiosity for concepts with history and back stories, which is why the 7 Deadly Sins fascinated me. Each sin has its own story, its own identity and that is intriguing to me. I guess in my mind, that coupled with poetry would be amazing.
Q: When did it become real to you that this was happening?
A: As soon as jY inboxed me about it! She asked if I was serious and if so would I be willing to go forward in helping to plan it. I was taken aback initially because I hadn’t been on the poetry scene in a long time, so to make a cameo having a hand in a whole show would be overwhelming. But I trusted her judgement so I went along with it. What I did not know is how I would be pushed into actually being included in the show. I thought I would just have a hand in the planning process. But the women I was working with knew me and knew what I was capable of, and insisted I be part of the production itself. I am glad they pushed and I am certainly glad I obliged!
Q: So that push pointed you towards Sloth as your category over the other sins?
A: Yes. The common definition sloth is laziness. The Bible refers to sloth as being wasteful of the gifts God has given you. Both definitions described me because I allowed my insecurities on memorization to stop me from being a poet. I felt that memory and the fear of messing up in front of everyone somehow added to my credibility as a poet, thus allowing the fear of failure to take me away from the poetry scene. But then I realized that God had given me a gift, and I was being selfish with it. I know the power of poetry, and the healing aspect it can have for both the writer and the listener. I knew I could unapologetically be me so I made sure my piece spoke to all of that, and I practiced it so that my point got across. This was my rebirth, and I deserved it.
Q: What was your favorite moment of the show?
A: Honestly, my favorite moment of the show was when it was over. I believe God was moving through the room, and reconfirmed why I had to do this. The fact that I was able to minister to others through my personal struggle, and the realizing that I'm not alone on this island, lifted one of the heaviest weights I had been carrying for years.
By this time, jY offered a short intermission to reflect
over the sins and drink the pain away.
LOL!
At the start of the second half of the show, the Cincinnati
features blazed the stage with
"Vainglorious" !!
Laura Wize and DuWaup Bolden were the features that night and added their flavor to the deadly sin: Vanity/Pride.
Q: How did you ladies prepare for the show once your roles were confirmed?
A: When we first got word that we would be a part of the "7" cast as well as the featured artists for the evening, we immediately began writing and preparing for the feature. Once we found out that "Vanity/Pride" were the sins to present, we began researching, brainstorming and writing. Vanity/Pride are somewhat similar, though they can be different. So, Laura specifically wrote on vanity concerning beauty and I (DuWaup) wrote specifically on pride regarding material possessions. From there, "Vainglorious (It's All About Me)" was born. We rehearsed weekly until the poem was memorized and ready to be performed.
Q: Did you enjoy your category?
A: We definitely enjoyed the category. It allowed us to delve into something we hadn't before. It also allowed us to create some great characters.
Q: What was your favorite part of the show and how would you describe the style and creativity you gave for the show?
A: (DuWaup) I was captivated and blown away by every poem and the way each was presented. All were so different and made the show very diverse in style. Laura and I brought a different style and creativity to the show by transforming into the characters, as we all done for the show.
Para: How did you prepare for the show?
R.M: I couldn't talk days before the show because I had two wisdom teeth pulled and was recovering from illness. So the best way to prepare was to record the poem and listen to it over and over again until it was stuck in my mind for show night.
R.M: Yes I did enjoy the category of Envy, though I will say it was slightly challenging since morally I try not to envy anyone. I work hard and I believe what others have, I can obtain as well if I've earned it. The main challenge however, was feeling detached since I try not to envy much to begin with. But when I searched deep within myself I found envy in certain places in my life, that in turn resulted to be an interesting reality check.
Para: Were there any other categories you found to be more relatable?
R.M: I felt lust or wrath would have been better LOL. I know good and well the group would have looked at me crooked if I asked that aloud. I'm not perfect. Even though I'm least qualified, the mentality of lust can happen even to the physically unsullied.
Wrath would have been better for me because I feel wrath towards many things, mainly about my people being short changed, bamboozled, and drained and for those who continue that vicious cycle.
Para: What was your favorite part of the show?
R.M: My favorite part was the reaction of Januarie York when Anitra spilled the beans of her graceful age!
*POW*
Q: What was it like working with Robin to make the show a reality?
A: Robin was really easy to work with. She wasn’t expecting anything when she put the status out there that inspired me, but when I inboxed her, she was totally game for it. Then when she seen I was really serious, she met up with us and although she was a bit hesitant about actually performing and not so much taking a “background seat”, she was still up for the challenge. Robin gave good input and in the weeks leading up to the show, she really took her role serious, despite her doubts about getting back on the mic for the first time in a long time. She shared ideas and made suggestions, so if given another opportunity (or if she posts another inspiring stat), I would love to work with her again.
Q: Were there any challenges you faced when it was time to make final decisions?
A: I think one of the biggest challenges we faced during this show was changing the date. We originally had the show set for New Years. It was a good play off of the “end of the world” that never happened and we wanted to make it a masquerade-ish ball as well, which we thought went really good with the concept. Peace of Mind was closed on NYE, and then New Years, so our only next date was a Wednesday night, in which we really weren’t wanting to do that because there is already another open mic on Wed nights. Then we had three people drop out due to schedules. Had we gone with the show on New Years we would have lost Lisa Devon, BlakGhost and Theon Lee. When we ended up running past everyone for it to be our January 22nd show, and that coinciding with my birthday, it seemed meant to be all along. Everyone’s schedule was open, the features were still good with it and it was going to double as a show and birthday celebration!
Q: How did you choose the representers for the show?
A: The people who were apart of the show were the 90% who expressed interest in being a part of the show. I made mention of the show several times during our open mic nights and verbalized that it was open, so I did not “hand pick” the cast.
Q: How were the categories distributed?
A: When people would ask about the show, I would simply ask what sin they wanted. I expressed that each sin was totally feasible and could have more than one representer, so long as all the sins were covered. From there me, Kia, Neena and Robin pinned sins with different people in a meeting because most people were game for any sin. Anything that hadn’t already been picked, we distributed it amongst the participants and at the same time hoped that each sin would challenge them to think way outside the box, in regards to relatability, or the lack there of.
Q: What was your favorite moment of the show?
A: My favorite part of the show was literally the entire show! We had ZERO rehearsals, zero time together prior to the show and no one really knew what to expect from anyone. We created a group thread, so there had been good communication between all of us and it was a joy to watch everyone work together so well. II can’t really handpick a highlight because it was all unfolding as a surprise for me, so to just see the creativity that everyone put behind their sin was amazing.
However, to pinpoint more specifically my favorite moment of the show was seeing people read from paper. Gregg, Lisa Devon and Robin all read their poems and barely missed a beat. It was refreshing because we get caught up in this status quo that says if you are going to perform your poetry, you should not read. And although I enjoy memory vs reading, it was just great to see the fear of paper tossed to the wayside and I hope it gave other folks the idea that you can be just as powerful and impactful via the page. You can even be in a poetry show !!!! 
Rasheite Radcliff (Rae) gave the audience her perspective on Greed and its powerful choke hold it will have without notice. GIVE ME MORE!!!!
"It’s a constant battle within myself because although the poet in me is very humble as a person, I can sometimes be very prideful. Being surrounded by so many outstanding poets is always a humbling experience."
Eric D. Saunders on wrath:
"I came to do a Gluttony poem. I ended up speaking about Wrath. Not sure if anyone had done that earlier in the show and I was not planning on freestyling either. But when I do it, it comes from the heart. Love is my heart but in the heart wrath brews as well. I’ve kept too much of it in there and when I sat down, after I was done, I really felt wrath coming through in the things I was talking about. I keep a lot bottled up for so long, so it was ironic that this was the sin I used. The poem I read was for a friend that did what he did because of the wrath boiling inside. That is the desire of wrath; to push one to no return."
An After Word with jY:
Describe your feelings on the show using one sin.
Theon Lee Jones shared the category of Envy with Rehema McNeil,
but his sentiments were more towards vanity in the following response:
"For so long, me and my partner have felt a lack of purpose to our poetic careers. For me, the beginning of Tuesday night could have been detrimental to my entire outlook on something I once said was sent to me from God, for the people. It was between comfortability of having a small local name in a few places in the city, having an opportunity to “keep up with the Joneses” or do exactly what I was told to do before and transpire someones mind and spirit on the regular connotations of ever day attitudes and choices. The answer didn’t come until later this week actually. After the show, the chance at comfortability presented itself again. Just go to work, and wait for the next big Indianapolis collective to come back around and pretend it was the Def Poetry Jam and that I had just shook hands with Nikki Giovanni. I turned that routine of hiding under mascaras of ideologies down. I’d rather die believing in a higher cause than live just because.
#Vanity "
"I was envious of all the talent in the room and was puzzled to how we would top all the extraordinary performances prior to ours while under going several untimely dilemmas."
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"I hungrily drank in the poetry flowing in the room and greedily wanted more. Every time I perform, I want more and more of that feeling. I hunger to be as good as the other poets in the room. While filling me up, it left me greedy, need for more!"
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"We were on it like Blue Bonnet and we looked good doing it!!!!" -Vanity
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"The show made me lust for knowledge, discipline and artistic motivation."
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"I want more. I want to do it in Cincinnati, take it on the road !!!!!! -Greed"
We celebrated that night.
The Seven Deadly Sins show to me was an eye opening experience. I applaud everyone involved with the show for having the creative drive to put their selves into the space of those sins and bring forth the ugly truth of it all.
And the party STILL wasn't over! There were other poets blazing the stage on the open mic list!
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| Brimstone |
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| UnWritten |
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| Mike C |
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| Mr. E |
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| Pope |
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| Eddie |
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| Mz.Para |
Here are more clips from the #7Show !! Enjoy!
**Special thanks to Imani Michele, and Jennifer Baumgartner for the photos and #ADPoM for video!!
LOVE BUTTON!
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