a night in verse: big poppa e
Posted on 13. Dec, 2011 by Carrie in culture
bio > IRIS OWENS BRIGGS
poem > BIG POPPA E
Big Poppa E is a three-time veteran of the HBO DEF POETRY series and National Poetry Slam Champion based in AUSTIN, TEXAS. His live performances combine poetry, stand-up comedy and dramatic monologue into high-energy rants that skewer pop culture, politics and the pain and beauty of relationships. Works by Big Poppa E cover areas of gender, sexuality and masculinity with a playful irreverence, and this focus has led to a growing following amongst high school and college students, especially those involved with speech competitions.
In addition to making his living as a performance poet, Big Poppa E often works with human rights organization AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL and campus group MEN AGAINST VIOLENCE to raise awareness of issues such as social justice and sexual assault.
For more information, check out www.BigPoppaE.com or search for Big Poppa E on Wikipedia. For more than 100 videos of Big Poppa E in action, simply search for Big Poppa E on YOUTUBE. There are all kinds of things on there to watch.
Big Poppa E, will be the featured poet at A NIGHT IN VERSE, a monthly poetry series hosted by NAKEDCITY GALLERY. The fun begins at 7PM, Thursday, December 15th. Admission is free, but donations are appreciated. See you there!
pretty girls make me sad (2010)
mine is the art of the awkward pause, the comedy of mortification,
the joy of realizing you have no idea what to do next. i am the king
of unrequited love, the prince of crushes, the emperor of yearning
from afar.
i fall in love with everybody and scatter pieces of my broken heart all
over this country hoping one day i can follow their trail home, but
the moment they touch the ground, a poem sprouts, and birds make
nests in their leafy words. i have planted forests that pulse and throb
with the rhythm of my blood. i am johnny appleheart, and i am lost
amongst these trees.
and the wind whistles through the holes in my chest. if i twist just
right, it makes the most beautifully sad music, so painfully lovely, so
horribly alive, this symphony of sighs.
i spend more time looking at the tips of my toes than i do the face of
the moon, and i spend more time on both than i do looking people
in the eyes. i didn’t used to be this way. i used to wear my heart on
my sleeve, but it made my wrists too bloody.
now, i am clumsy around girls. i never know what to say. they just
smell so good. i flirt with mixtapes and poetry and have no idea what
a first date is. i always have to ask. is this a first date? it hardly ever is.
i hug every girl i meet so i can share heartbeats with someone even
for a moment.
i have fallen deeply in love with l06 girls who were absolutely perfect
for me, except for one fatal flaw… they didn’t love me back.
37i keep hoping for someone to cross a crowded room and stand
brazenly before me and reach out and hold my face in her palms
and smile with her eyes and say, there you are! i have been looking
everywhere for you! now that i have found you, i promise i will
never let you out of my sight.
but no one ever does.
i am a little kid lost in the mall and crying, clutching at the hems of
passing skirts and mouthing the name of someone i’ve never met.
are you my true love?
no, said the steam shovel, i am not your true love.
oh, my sweet heart-shaped girl, where are you? follow my poems
home to me, my scalliwag, my succatash, my sweet potato pie.
i am so tired.
