Poems Published in Poets & Artists

Two of my poems were published in the December's issue of Poets & Writers "Realism" issue. The Poets & Artists magazine combines poetry and art in a unique and interesting way. Each issue is packed with amazing photography, art and poetry.

This month's issue focuses on the Rebirth of Realism: From Hyper to Photorealism and Everything in Between. It features the work of Sam Jinks, Glennray Tutor, Hubert de Lartigue, Denis Peterson, Craig Wylie, Jacques Bodin, Jenny Dabnau, Francois Chartier, Radames Ortiz (pages 20-21), Evie Shockley, Sam Rasnake, Ann Fisher-Wirth, Nick Piombino, Pamela M. Johnson, Ruben Belloso and many more.

It is available to read online at Poets & Artists and you can purchase a print issue of the magazine at Amazon here.

@WiredPoetry Event Rehearsal This Past Saturday

This past Saturday, the @wiredpoetry crew did their performance rehearsal for this week's @Wired: A Multimedia Explosion of Poetry, Song, Music and Image event on Friday, November 13th at 8pm at the Rudolph Projects ArtScan Gallery.

It was wonderful to see the behind-the-scenes of each performance. Below are some pictures I took of @byronjonesthepoet and @purposedband, bassist Anthony Walker, working on their set. Trills was able to capture some of the magic on video and it will be part of a video we will be working on thanks to the talented film maker Stephanie Saint Sanchez.

Spend Some Time with Artist Kabuki Katze

Speaking of watching other artists at work, graphic design artist, Kabuki Katze, maps out the process of working on the @Wired event flyer.

@kabukikatze is the genius behind The Amplified Bard profile pics on Myspace and Facebook including the wonderful header to this blog.

@KabukiKatze has always been wonderful in making her design process transparent i.e. allowing fans to see the stages of her work. She recently wrote a blog documenting her process working with the @wiredpoetry folks.

Check it out at her blog.

Practice Night with Trills for @Wired

Tonight Trills and I worked on our performance for the @Wired event next week. I headed over to his apartment/studio to work on the timing and video images for our performance. I love collaborating with other artists because I am able to see them work in their element.

Here is Trills and his son Caleb playing on the keyboard during a break:


It blew me away to watch Trills turn various computer programs, keyboard riffs, and audio set-ups into an auditory explosion of nerves and uneasiness.

Imagine what the tweeps involved with @wired i.e. @thepoetmendez, @byronjonesthepoet, @kabukikatze, @radameso, @BrigitteZ have in store for you.

For more info check out Artshound at http://www.artshound.com/event/detail/33043 or RSVP here.

Story of a Nerd and his destiny. Winner of Dreamhack 1998 Wild Compo

I found this great video about a nerd's life in the late 90's. What do you guys think? How would the video be made today? Would it probably still feature an addiction to porn? What about social media?

A Book About Nothing

“I love talking about nothing…. It is the only thing I know anything about.” —OSCAR WILDE

“Nothingness lies coiled in the heart of being–like a worm.” —JEAN-PAUL SARTRE

The concept of Nothingness has always interested me ever since I read Sartre's magnum opus "Being and Nothingness," which inevitably led me into a brooding, existential phase in my life. I can remember after reading Camus or Beckett, I would naturally contemplate the nature of non-being, of essence and negation until my head throbbed from the banging of an ontological hammer.

For something non-existent, this Nothingness, caused me dread. Dread of Being, dread of essence, dread of facticity. If you are in the same position, have no fear now. There is a new book entitled "You Don’t Have to be Buddhist to Know Nothing," a comprehensive catalog of quotations from a long list of thinkers, writers, artists, scholars and the ways they explored, confronted, and played with the presence of nothingness and emptiness in their lives.

According to the introduction, "Without Emptiness there would be no opportunity for something new, or something else, to occur. Where would Something happen? Stars disappearing. Novas appearing. Leaves falling. New leaves growing. One generation dying, another being born. Nothing is the still center of the wheel of life. Nothing is the core of creation. In the dark evanescence between equal and opposite, the Universe ignites."

Read more at the blog.

@Wired is now on Twitter!

That's right poetry lovers and fellow geeks. @WiredPoetry is on Twitter. Stop by and check it out. I will be tweeting behind the scenes of @Wired: A Multimedia Explosion of Poetry, Music, Song and Image.

I will also be tweeting live from the event, so be sure to follow @Wiredpoetry for more details and awesomeness.

@Wired: A Multimedia Explosion of Poetry, Song, Music and Image

Getting Ready for @Wired

Recently, I went to electronic musician and composer, Trills' place to lay down the voice track of my poems for the @Wired poetry event to be held on November 13th at the Rudolph Projects ArtScan Gallery.

It was a great experience to record my poems and then to see him work his magic. I'm really excited about this performance and I hope I can do justice to his score. He sent me a draft of the project and I was immediately blown away. He has done a great job interpreting the emotions and mood for my poetry. Keep checking my blog for updates.

Are you trying to get me drunk, Radames? Tshirts from Zazzle.com

I was researching the new twitter feed search on Bing today when I stumbled on this wonderful gem of a shirt. What are the chances of finding a shirt like this that has my real name on it? I was thinking about buying some in bulk and giving them away as prizes. I recommend you click on the link below and buy as soon as possible.

Are you trying to get me drunk, Radames? Tshirts from Zazzle.com

@Wired: A Multimedia Explosion of Poetry

Envision a small, poorly lit room complete with makeshift stage, uncomfortable plastic chairs lined in rows and scattered attendants, mostly the poets themselves, looking predictably forlorn as they listen and wait.

You know, not all poetry-related events have to follow the same humdrum formula. Unlike contemporary poetry, where words now run amok, zigzagging across computer screens, the poetry reading has yet to push the boundaries of performance art and dabble in new forms.

Well, until now.

Local poets Radames Ortiz, Lupe Mendez and Byron Jones have joined forces to bring Houston @Wired: A Multimedia Explosion of Poetry. @Wired is a revolutionary approach to exposing the literary masses to a new type of poetry reading. By incorporating social media, music, song, imagery and technology to enhance their poetic performances, @Wired seeks to reconstruct the poetry reading and to engage local creatives to actively participate in making a unique event even more special.

@Wired will be presented 8 p.m. Friday, November 13, at the Rudolph Projects Art Scan Gallery, 1836 Richmond Ave, Houston, TX 77098-3510

(c) brigitte zabak (your name[here]media)

Poems about Aliens

In celebration of UFO Day, Poets.org has posted links to some great poems about aliens. According to the site, "While it is seems even literary science fiction pieces are rarely categorized as literature, many serious poets have written poems on the topic of life beyond our world."

I have to admit that I love it when poets embrace different subject matter in their poems and go beyond the natural human elements of this world. Some of the poems listed at Poets.org include Stanley Kunitz's poem "The Abduction" and Robert Hayden's [American Journal].

If you have links to other sc-fi poems, please leave them in the comments.

Gulf Coast Poetry Tour Tonight

I will be reading tonight at the first-ever Gulf Coast Poetry Tour launch party at Rudyard's with readings by twenty-six poets. Readings will begin promptly at 8pm. Don't worry if you can't stay for the whole shebang. Come as you are. Traveling from Houston to Mobile Oct. 6-9 the tour spotlights new, emerging and community poets and lots of them. The tour is possible through a coalition of volunteer organizers and poets working together across the Gulf region. For more information email gcpt.houston@gmail.com. Rudyard's is 21+.

Two Poems featured at Fluffy Towel

"Traveling entails so much more than the time spent in exotic places. Luggage, broken fluorescent lights baring down on squeaky baggage claims, layovers in airports where people wait, stranded sometimes, for a new day. The experiences of getting from point A to point B in your desired destination are stories in their own rite. Radames Ortiz and Carmen Jenner are two writers from opposite sides of the globe who crossed international blogging boundaries to bring readers into a different realm of a traveler's mind."
--Brigitte Zabak

"Stranded at O'Hare" Read by Brigitte Zabak, written by Radames Ortiz.

Visit The Fluffy Towel to enjoy this poem via text and images.

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Hunchback of Burnett Park

He treads across the playground.
A blunt weight on his shoulders.
Muscles tense like knives. The head
forced downward. His slanted
neck a rifle twisted in combat.
His gross geometry traces the dirt.
He makes a gallant effort to look
at birds settled in the high trees.
Fine bodies and smug faces. The full
swings and merry-go-round in fresh
August light. The kind of life, he
always suspected. Children coming
and going. All hollers and sweat.
The vagrant blossoms, others growing tall.

(c) Radames Ortiz 2009

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