Omaha/Lincoln Nebraska and the happenings of such

So yeah we have spent few days in Omaha/Lincoln, Nebraska. Lincoln is about an hour or so outside of Omaha, so we have been kind of bouncing back and forth between the two cities.
Our first show we did in Omaha was at a public library in this little designated area called The Spot. We were their first feature they had ever had which was really cool, and for probably the ten people that came out we made like 30 bucks which was also very very cool, as well as heard some great poetry by the local writers attending the event.
Our next show was at a coffee shop in Omaha called the Benson Grind. It was a great open mic, but a very different crowd than i'm used to haha. The entire crowd, including the host, were older folks, I would say probably 40's and up, which by no means is a bad thing, it was just interesting and actually really cool that an older crowd was enjoying and interested in reading and listening to peotry, and on top of that, we were very well recieved by them (which is certainly different than most older poets in SLC who generally tend to avoid performance poetry)
Our last show was at a bar in Omaha called The Hidout, the open mic reserving its own name as Shoot Your Mouth Off. This was by far, the most fun I have had at just an open mic since being on the road. The crowd was rowdy, loud, and generally intoxicated, we were heckled, people laughed and cheered, and we were very well recieved! Needless to say it was a really fun show, and we made like 60 bucks to top it all off!
Now we are in Lincoln, Nebraska, staying with an awesome person we found on http://www.couchsurfing.org/. We will be here for a day or two before we head south, with no shows booked for two weeks, and looking forward to a break from poetry and traveling just to travel for a little while.

- Cody Winger

The Song the Cloud's Sing - Cody Winger

I have always followed the clouds

In school they tell you to follow your dreams
But most children don’t exactly dream of being lawyers
People usually pick up that you can’t actually be Superman
So I follow the clouds

In my early teenage years
My nose picked up the scent of rain
At a Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards show
The loud fast music pummeled my brain like the mosh pit did my body
I found myself loving bruises

So I fashioned a battle shield
Made of a sleeveless denim jacket
Patches and studs
Started reading about anarchy
Fascism
Active disobedience

Thought it would be a good idea
To put porno in the school books
To forcefully enlighten the nerdy Mormon kids who hung out in the library

Shaved my hair into a mohawk
Spiked it up daily
Wore it proudly
Like it was wedding ring
A birth right
A statement to the world

Like fuck the system
No matter what we have each other and our anger
That will never change

We built up unbreakable fists on the insides of our eardrums
That beat back the pressures of adolescence
We were young and punk rock

Did things to piss off security guards just so they would chase us
Vandalized red neck’s cars for being ignorant
Refused to stand for the pledge of allegiance at school
Because America sucked and we weren’t exactly sure why

We just knew that at the show
When the music fired everyone up
Like the guitarist’s fingers were Mount Olympus
And Zeus stood atop their finger tips
Shooting lightning bolts like shrapnel
Into the crowd

Nothing else mattered

The day I shaved my mohawk
Was the day I stopped following the clouds
It’s hard to get a job
When people call you freak for being who you are

Have you ever heard your identity fall betrayed to the bathroom floor?

It sounds like this:

You are now obedient
You are now permitted
We can now acknowledge your personality
To be a word spelled with person

In my early adult life
My nose picked up the scent of rain at a poetry reading
The smell so foreign I almost didn’t recognize it
Bringing back fond memories of bruises
The poetry pummeling my brain like the performances did my body
I found myself loving metaphor

So I fashioned a battle shield
Made of pens and paper

Found that after a reading
The sun shone a bit brighter
Things got a little easier
Life seemed a whole lot better

Starting reading about revolution
Governments
Effective activism

Thought it was a good idea
To read poetry with profanity in it
To forcefully enlighten the nerdy scene kids who hung out at the coffee shop

Got laid off from my job and hit the road
Starting reading the brail birthed from the earth
Like every bump on the asphalt is a new letter
I have pieced together the word freedom
Super glued it on the cover page of my long and unfinished journey
Met people who shared the same conscious understanding
That we are actively disobedient shooting stars
In a sky that chooses complacency

Like fuck the system
No matter what we have each other and our voice
That will never change

The day I hit the road
Was the day I started following the clouds again
It’s kind of hard to get a job
When people call you freak and you completely agree

Have you ever heard the song the clouds sing
On a seemingly endless road pointing directly to the center of the setting sun?

It sounds like this:

My boy

Welcome home

Mineapolis/St.Paul

When we arrived in the twin cities, we first went to St. Paul. There was an open mic at this place called The Artist's Quarters, which was this really cool little jazz bar that they held open mic's and poetry slams at. They allowd you a seven minute set to do whatever you wanted. Me and Deann split our time for the set, she did My Muse, I did Faceless. It was a really cool open mic, we met some really amazing people and had a great time. After the open mic we crashed at these musician kids houses who were all really cool and great hosts!
The next day we hung out in Minneapolis for a while, and then went to our feature at Kireans Irish Pub in Minneapolis. They were having a slam there, so we featured after the first round of their slam. The feature went quite well, it was a pretty big crowd which was cool I havent performed in front of a large crowd like that in a while. During the entire thing we met so many amazing people, and it was really good to be around so many poets again haha! After the show we crashed at these poets house in Minneapolis, woke up in the morning and hung out in Minneapolis for a while.
We have aquired more art on the van! We met this graffiti artists/painter kid in Minneapolis who painted a very abstract girl on the side of the van who lookes kind of like a hawaiin girl, with flowers in her hair and stuff its really really cool.
Anyways, we are now in South Dakota, hosting a slam and featuring tonight, and then we are off to Omaha tomorrow morning!

- Cody Winger

On the road again...

We are spending our last night in Bismarck, North Dakota, and heading out early tomorrow morning to Minneapolis, of which I am very excited for.
North Dakota has been great to us, thanks to everyone out here!
Minot was really cool, we met a lot of really cool people out there, but I had a more intimate connection with Bismarck, hosting the slam, teaching the workshop, and just hanging out with the people out here has been fantastic! There is a lot of heart and desire for artistic expression and an underlying drive to achieve that which I think is fucking awesome. I will be sad to leave here, but am quite excited to be traveling again and meeting more people!

-Cody Winger

The first poem I've written since being on the road -Cody Winger

Friday, September 18, 2009
Star Light City

The first thing I noticed about Bismarck
Was the stars
Out here you can still see them
Shining like outcasts
Of a world that prefers electric
Your white lights smile in the sky
As if your poetry has crafted light house satellites
And dotted them across the blackened heavens
In a Morse Code that reads passion

I was born of electric light
Raised in a place where stars
Are a distant mythology
Because the pressure of shining
Becomes so difficult at times
It is much easier to be a black hole than a super nova
But there is still star light
When it illuminates through constellations

Bismarck
You have painted the heavens
Intricately hollowed blow guns out of pencils
To hunt for a beast that brews expression in its bones
Tattooing PERSISTANCE across your chest like a mantra
Your victory has been a long time coming
You can see it
With every step you take
On ladder rungs woven from bits of inspiration
Keep climbing
The open armed canvas of the galaxy is not far off

I am a shooting star
Going from constellation to constellation
The sky is not as big as we think it is
My time here dwindles away with my tail
But my faith for you stands strong and hopeful like a light house

You are my star light city
No matter how far I’ve gone
I will always look back and see your constellation beaming
Your stars smiling brightly against the blackened heavens in a Morse Code that reads
Passion
You are not of electric light

You are of blood and trees

Bones and rock

Tongue and fire

Bismarck
Though you did not know it
You have intricately carved a notch in my blow gun
Hollowed from pencils
Since my time being a shooting star
I have killed my first beast
Here
I took its bones and carefully laid them out in front of me
This is what came from them
The fruit of my labor

Now I leave it with you

Use it as fiber for your ladder rungs

You have painted the heavens
Keep climbing
The open armed canvas of the galaxy is not far off

Bismarck's first poetry slam

Last night we hosted Bismarck's first poetry slam, which was an absolute success! I would say there was about twenty plus people that came out, of that number, 95% of them were high school kids, including all seven who competed, and all of them were amazing writers. Most if not everyone there loved it and are very excited to have their next slam, I have a good feeling that this will sweep over Bismarck, and in the next few years they will be sending teams to nationals.
Also, our feature last night went incredibly well. We made something like 75 bucks, had an awesome feedback from the crowd, and were very well recieved. The owner of Project Noise, Matt, walked around for us before the show and asked for donations without us even asking him to do so, which was so so cool of him. He is also hooking us up with another gig there on Friday with some hip hop groups, so all in all we will have done three shows in Bismarck, have had a great time and met a ton of amazing people!

-Cody Winger

Bismarck

Last night we spit our first show in Bismarck at Project Noise which was pretty cool. The crowd was rather small, but the poeple were really cool and we made a bit of money so yeah definitely wasn't a bad out come at all!
Tonight we are teaching a writing/performance/slam workshop which im really really excited for, and then tomorrow we are hosting Bismarck's frist poetry slam!

-Cody Winger

Last day(ish) in Minot

Yeah, I've decided that I really like North Dakota. Except when it's wet and cold, haha. Anyhow, Minot has been great and very receptive at shows and also for letting us into their homes. We've had a lot of fun hanging out with and meeting local artists such as Tru Soul Brothas and Gypsyfoot and all of Sonja's friends.

The van is running like a champ, I feel fully confident that it will get us from points A-Z, knock on wood.

We are about to eat at our friend Dyana's house, she is going to bbq. w00t!

Have fun ya'll, sorry it's so short, I'll write more soon!

-DeAnn Emett

Day 4 on the road

So far the road has been totally awesome! We have already had a lot of fun and met a lot of really cool people in North Dakota. Last night we did our first gig in Minot, North Dakota at a venue called the Pangea House, which was this really cool little laid back venue that actually resembled more of a house than a concert venue. There was a pretty decent turn out, I would say a fluctuating twenty - thirty people. Before us, there was a duo of local poets that went by The True Soul Brothers, who had a very lyrical, smooth, laid back style of poetry which was awesome, and not only that, they as individuals, aside from their poetry, were totally awesome people. I (Cody) can not speak for Deann, but I learned my first valuable lesson on the road that night, not only from the amazing people we met, but also for the actual venue itsefl.
I had made up in my head the entire day and especially on the way to the venue, this dramatic assumption of the venue being a big, concrete floored, large elevated stage, big scary place that would definately not dig on poetry and blah blah blah. But when we got there, is was this cool little joint, and the poeple running the gig where way awesome and down with poetry, and there were other local poets performing, and it was completley 100% opposite of what I had assumed it to be. So, my first big valuable lesson on the road... NO ASSUMPTIONS!
We have our next gig tonight at The Bagel Stop, a small little bagel/coffee shop in Minot, North Dakota. More posts coming soon!

-Cody Winger

Leaving Salt Lake, arriving in North Dakota

There is something rather stasifying and liberating at the same time about driving to the grocery store at 9:00 in the morning (still in SLC) to do some last minute grocery shopping for the road, and noticing, that almost everyone who is awake and driving around you, is up and heading for work. I had a pretty intense realization at that point, that I was really, truly about to embark on a three month adventure, not having a steady home or a steady income, to travel the country doing poetry.

We left SLC at about 11 am, Monday, September 7th. Shot straight up through Idaho into Montana. Our original plan was to camp out in Yellow Stone National Park, but when we got there they wanted 25$ just to drive through it, so obviously, we decided otherwise. We drove around the park, while still heading east, and found another camp sight, but they wanted 30$, so once again, obviously, we decided otherwise. We headed further North East, into a beautiful mountain range, where we found a camp site for like ten bucks. It was a good site, we made a fire and ate mexican beans and rice, I (Cody) being the genious that I am HAHA slept in the van instead of in the tent, and, to no suprise, was regaled with horror stories of how horribly cold it was.

The next morning, we didnt even bother making breakfast because of the temperature, and headed straight for North Dakota, it took us about eight or so hours, we pulled into Minot last night, and now I am here, still too early to be awake but children and loud dogs dont really help someone trying to get a beauty sleep haha. Anyways, more posts coming soon...