JET Spoken Word Poetry (c) 2014 Blue Team Warriors: The Fire of “Being Heard” Every Spring semester our North Miami Beach coast rediscovers its freshwater artists. As the eighty degree Florida heat rings in Spring All classes unite for a Color War bout. Since ten years old when I stopped to beatbox I truly lost the only real breath I ever knew. Performance almost emaciated into emptiness Art nearly corroded to ash Until our arrival. When Color War’s intensity heightened Our Blue Team’s microphones came solely into question. The margins for finding our Blue Sky purposes melted: No perfect sounds floated to our midsts. My best friend Eliezer Barman Circular shaped glasses in hand told me: “Family stays together”. At the time I did not see his “Be Heard” message- that changed when Eiffel 65’s “Blue” played. As our Blue Microphone group in a microscopic second floor classroom began our practice-- while beatboxing alone to Eiffel I realized the one person keeping my soldier’s heart on vibrate-- had been inside my veins for hours on end- I never wanted to be a hero destined for Rolling fame. At that moment fear began its battle with my Beatbox blood-- Ready for it--- Tonight is our night Michele Avichayil and the rest of my Color War members opened our practice doors in pure awe. “Jonathan--- how long have you been doing this for—your boom box spirit will take us so far.” “I know it will--- at the end of the day this competition will not make us Nothing will ever take away the family bonds our “Beatbox” community has forged. Hope’s fire lies in the heart.” With that streamline thought I knew exactly our mission--- Seize our moment--- Be Determinate. As our Blue Beatbox pride arrived to the Cafeteria stage my blue face paint quietly evaporated. My heart continued to pump off beats and the opposing teams instilled intimidation instantly. Barman and Michele then whispered soft into my ear “Jonathan think back to a memory where Beatbox made our whole community’s engine a unified presence as “Be Strong” warrior songs. Before our final act on stage in three seconds Michele with her Sapphire Blue Bonnet wondered: “Why did you give up your dream when ten to drop your beats of passion to this Gate of Hope?” In response I replied: “Michele, whenever our Blue world keeps to themselves- our Mic’s fall.” Our beats matter so much in the universe-- to the people we love--- We should never let that go As the Lemonade Mouth song Determinate by Bridgit played I saw a mystifying blue mist swift. By nearly pitch black lights-- All the other Color War teams waved their cell phones to the roof. When I imagined her lyric: “Don’t be afraid--- the chips will fall where they may” I began a beat-- almost felt like fate. The beat’s underground perspective and our group skit taught us character. When stakes try to suppress your voice—Never let off-beats affect you--- Even in dark mists.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Sep 2014 05:46:54 +0000