2020

10/27/202011/15/2020 Darn Fine PoetLeave a comment

Creativity gives me community
voices pushed by the voices
of my ancestors– love
 
creativity allows a clear mind
kindness in my life
don’t judge me but feel me
 
creativity gives me freedom of spirit
we are better together than apart
purpose
 
passion with purpose = power
 
we are shaped by what we create
we create what we hold in our heart
 
creativity lets you express
your soul to the world
 
creativity is the expression derived
from the internal collaboration
of the two selves
 
your voice is you power
to live a creative truth
words become wings that
give birth to the future
 
I dream of a day when all are
equal & live without fear
 
thankful for moments to reflect, now onto
reality; nephew’s memorial service,
post suicide
 
Don’t let someone else’s opinion of you
become your reality or define you
don’t go looking for evidence that you
don’t belong
 
be willing to uplift others
leaders are created
when you teach others
how to lead

Exquisite corpse: (from the French term cadavre exquis), A method by which a collection of words or images are collectively assembled. I collected these poems as I traveled through Kansas. These poems are written collectively by Kansans at readings, open mics and workshops. The titles of each poem are the locations and dates where they were assembled. They are part of Exquisite Kansas, a collection to be published at the end of my laureateship.

Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina, KS on 12/02/2019

10/24/202010/01/2020 Huascar MedinaLeave a comment

Where does your belief come from?
 
From the past being brought to the future
from the here & now
being unapologetically myself
trying to be the truest form of me
realizing that I am stronger than I know
 
so much stronger than I ever thought possible
exceeding even my own expectations
 
stay true to yourself
 
but is there still meaning
in that, or has it become
cliché?
 
Because the only difference
between a groove & grave
is the depth

Highland Park High School in Topeka, KS on 11/25/2019

10/21/202010/01/2020 Huascar MedinaLeave a comment

I.

Who are you talking to today & how are they?

My future and it’s looking bright
brighter than the sun
& stronger than the waves
 
the waves crashing all around me
I feel that it will one day pull me under
&  let me drown
 
I feel like if I’m drowning in thought
without a second to stop
when I stop there would be
emptiness
 
I would be happy but I wouldn’t be myself
& if I’m not myself
happiness isn’t important
 
II.
 
How do you let thing go?
 
By walking away
or ignoring
the issue
or by bottling
my emotions
 
open that bottle
& spew out
all of your feelings
 
but make sure you’re
in the right place first
think very carefully
on where those emotions
are coming from
but let your emotions
be natural
 
you can’t solve anything
running away

or else
they will control you
control what you feel
or why you should
like their puppet
 
dancing sadly
as you dangle
from the thick strings
 
this is not the life, but
 
tugs of war
tears in hearts
pulls from peers
as they trace
our tears
 
our eyes miss nothing
our breath releases all

Benedictine College in Atchinson, KS on 11/19/19

10/19/202010/01/2020 Huascar MedinaLeave a comment

Where do you go for words?
Where do you go for meaning?
 
Sometimes meaning hides,
like burning stars silenced behind
the lights of the city
 
like a child, waiting to unveil a secret
entrusted to her care
wanting to take hold of it, but knowing
if I grasp it, it will break
 
words flow around us
like water or wind
 
the raucous screams of crows
like the faceless mouths calling for
the death of the battered prize fighter
 
one thousand joined in a single voice
joined in a single, solid song
but I’m afraid to venture in the dark attic
& reach for them, afraid
I will get lost in those words
 
Lost at a grocery store
 —alone

My mother,
one aisle over
 
My heart is a lemon in my mouth
not sweet enough to savor nor
sour enough to make me cry
 
& what to do with this other than
reject it—to spit it out
 
I swallow

Robinson Middle School in Topeka on 11/15/2019

10/16/202010/01/2020 Huascar MedinaLeave a comment

Tai Amri Spann-Ryan’s students

I.
 
I always want to be
the best I can be
but sometimes it’s hard
to always stay positive
& to keep your head up
to always think about wonderful things
 
Life is different for everyone
maybe we can sit under the stars
& think about how we are
all special in this world
cool & brave
 
My life is awesome & cool everyday
I want to be safe wherever I go
there will be a show
that I go to & roar
I go to an orchard
 
II.
 
One day I will find
one soul that will join me
OOGA BOOGA
 
Join me on the road
lighten up the soul
with a smile that is
so full
 
I will find flowers

Pratt High School in Pratt on 11/28/2019

10/13/202011/15/2020 Darn Fine PoetLeave a comment

Where has all the summer gone?
 
The summer was sweet
The summer was salty
Long days full of laughter
Joy was evident under the hot sun
Joy is summer, summer holds beauty
beauty is a blessing
 
The summer turns dark
Cold and desperate
 
The summer will vanish & leave
but will always find its way back
to us
although summer is where bellowing heat
resides, there are also relenting, rosy tides
& in those times I think
do my friends really love me?
They never seem to call me
 
The sun rises the sun falls
but why do my friends never call
even when I call them
they still don’t talk to me
 
So instead, I speak to the sky,
the sun, the clouds, stars, moon
& all the galaxies in between
that stop & listen as I spill
my heart like rain
 
An aching like no other
why must I continue to
exist in pain for the
benefit of those who
don’t care
 
to their senses
understand
how the world is
& can be
 
the sunlight ripped away
now there is no light
I can’t see where
I was or should be

I sat there with nothing
empty  inside
I’ve decided I can no longer hide
there’s so many words stuck
in this mind of mine
for we, the children of mankind
teeter on the brink, between
fear and success
the fear of fear itself,
withers away the thought of success
 
Someday, maybe, we’ll understand why
all the success consumes our minds
 
But why do our minds crave success
the thing that eats us
inside & out
 
with the consumption of our body.

Aaron Douglas Art Fair in Topeka on 9/28/19

10/10/202011/15/2020 Huascar Medina1 Comment

Surrounded by art,
smoking grills, misty tents
& Tennessee town ghosts.

Rainfalls as mist
& I’m reminded of Seattle
as people run from the weather.

I almost never carry an umbrella,
even if people tell me,
I’ll need one.

Umbrellas in the desert
are mocking the sky;
Seattle is always wet.

I ran away,
I ran away to you,
to those eyes &
to those hands.

My breathing stops.
If only I could start my
faltering heart. Which
beats only for you.
Always for you.

For strength is relative,
goals found are fought differently,
then the goals still looked for.

The beating is faster when found
slowed to nothing. ‘Till.
‘Till.

Ellen Plumb City Bookstore in Emporia on 9/06/19

10/07/202010/01/2020 Huascar MedinaLeave a comment

That night, my heart
like drumbeats.
Your heart , like
Winter glass, clear
frost-rime-fragile.
Delicate, strong, precious
frost on my heart;
the beat slows.

Winter:
Death of nature.
Death of our love.

Yet still, somehow we carry on.
Never knowing how strong
we had to be, until we were
there, facing this, our own
stopping of the heart.

My heart, held in the hand
of an Inca lord, who reached 
into my chest, in the midst 
of an ayahuasca vision.

My head fell back as I
sunk more deeply into
the vision. My heart
glowed in his hand
-swollen with love.

Exhausted, long week,
will it get better?
Not anytime soon.

Floorboards creak beneath
the calloused feet
& lights flicker above
a war torn head.

Mango juice drips down
my hands on hilltop highs
as fight to get the spills
sweetness on my tongue.

Strawberries on my knees,
memories blooming as I feast,
childhood romps in green grass,
grubby hands holding
blood-red berries.

Ravenous, some might say,
but I do not see it that way.
I should not apologize for what
others have had in their time.

So devour, if it pleases, Mango
on the lips. Sweetness on the mind.
In this community– we share,
we support, we cheer
each other on.

Per Aspera Ad Astra by Huascar Medina

02/29/201601/26/2016 Individual PoetLeave a comment

We were lost in the plains,

beautiful and ordinary,

Sunflowers in the fields;

seeds of fallen stars,

standing tall; deeply rooted

in this land.

I’ve admired how our flowers shine,

grasping towards the sky

beyond the prairie grass; anchored

down to earth; mimicking

the sun.

When a gardener plants

the seeds of Helianthus, he is

performing magic; raising

stars out of the dust where

buzzing planets circle,

half red moons set; and swarming

comets float in orange comas.

I’ve always felt that

late at night, in the bed of a truck,

in a Kansas field; we were

at the center of this universe.

…and I was exactly where I should be,

amongst the flowers; not below.

Huascar Medina

Huascar Medina has lived artfully in Topeka, Kansas since 2001. He is the father of the four-year-old demigod, Sebastian Rook. Currently he is a member of Topeka’s Speak Easy poetry group and the Red Tail Collective in Lawrence. His first published poem appeared in HomeWords: A Project of the Kansas Poet Laureate. In February 2016, his poetry will be featured in Reverberated Echoes: A Kansas City Reader (Asinimali Publications). He is also a magnificent crow.

Guest editor: Annette Hope Billings is an poet/actress/playwright from Topeka, KS, who has written two collections of poetry. In 2015, she stepped away from four decades of nursing to writing full-time and explore where her creative path was leading her. Her most recent collection of poetry, A Net Full of Hope, was published last year and has been well-received, garnering her a readers’ proposed title of “Maya of the Midwest.” For more info about her book:tinyurl.com/anfohbook To view videos of her work: tinyurl.com/anfohvideos To follow her on FaceBook: Facebook.com/anetfullofhope.