And it was at about that time that I knew this is where I wanted to be till eternity's end...
And you know what, the guy was absolutely right...You can't be deep deep into spoken word or even just poetry in general without at least ONCE hearing about Nuyorican...This is the place where so many poets got their start...and where so many were first seriously noticed....This is a poet's home...
Me and my boy Hector went down there this passed Wednesday hoping that it was everything we've heard it to be and more...And when we got there, it was definately more...The atmosphere wasn't filled with some black-clad, beatnik, bohemians...though it could have been....Nah....It was filled with people....
Everyday people...
People wearing suits...people wearing fancy shirts and sharp-creased trousers...people wearing short-skirts, halter tops, and open-toed shoes...people dressed in a pair of jeans and a long-sleeve t-shirt...and even cats with just any old pair of shorts and a shirt from their lat family reunion...And everyone fit in...
THIS was where I wanted to be for so long and was yet to go...
You'd thik it was in the middle of Time Square...or some big comercial area...nope...while we were waitin to pay the $5 cover charge, we saw folks chillin outside on their steps...people watchin the street from their 3rd story apartment window...It was just another residential block on the eastside of downtown Manhatten...And I loved it...You wouldn't be able to tell that this was an internationally known spot if you drove by on a saturday afternoon....Nah, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between it and the back door of a corner-store...
So the only people that were really there, were those who really knew what Nuyorican is in order to be there...And with that mutual appreciation for what it stands for and what goes on there...It set the perfect atmosphere for the night...
4 hours of poetry...Political...Romance...Humor...Testimonial...Memorial...Everything...4 hours later...we left back home...Back to Westbury, where I was sure to gain my inspiration back once more...It's been a long while since I had the drive to write...But now...it's as if my affinity for the pen has been revived once more...and in soon time, it will be as if ink coursed through my veins...But until that day, I will return back to Nuyorican...I will visit other poetry spots...
Pen and paper ready, because you never know when you'll find that spark...And when I do, I wanna be able to light up my page...