We Can Never be Superstars

photo by Angela Rowlings

I am not a superstar
But I’m not afraid to share what I got

I don’t have wings
But I have the words that could make you feel
Like we both be flying

I’m not falling apart right now
But I know what it feels like
To feel like I’ve lost it all

I know how to make you feel like you are the one person I have left in this world

Because you are

You are what is keeping me beautiful
And I am but a reflection of what you are

I am here to show you
That you don’t have to come prepared with me

You can just adlib

And we can create the dialogue
To perfect the solutions
That will supply the fuel for our chemistry

Not everybody can be Angelina Joli
And not everybody can rock a poem from a page on a stage
for you
Like me.

If you feel compelled to get to know me a little better because you can’t figure me out just yet
Then it’s probably just the energy in this room that you’re looking at
And with all due respect
That counts for only but a moment's cost of significance
...................
Just two minutes
You and me alone

My eyes will show you everything
You could have never discovered on your own

And lips can do the rest when you get weary of searching
Tongues will do it best when we get tired of talking
Kama will show us how to effectively lick our wounds
While poetry plays in the backgroud pushing us somewhere past the moon

When your midnight comes,

You can look for me in the sun
This is where I choose to wait for the Blue orchids to bloom
Sweet and Fearless
Living love like life depends on it...

Because it has to.

poem by Iyeoka Ivie Okoawo

Up and Coming Shows: Saturday, September 24th

Up and Coming Shows:

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10TH

Iyeoka and Oz will be hosting and performing @
ORIENTATION WEEKEND POETRY SLAM at COLBY-SAWYER COLLEGE
New London, New Hampshire
11pm

Saturday, September 24th 2005BloodSkinLand Productions presents...
MEGACIPHER 2005
The 7th Annual Cultural Blockbuster
@ OrigiNation Cultural Arts Center
11 Walnut Park St., Roxbury - Egleston Sq.
(next to laundromat & rental store)

7:00pm showtime (doors open at 6:30pm)
Tickets: $7.00 advance / $10.00 at the door


TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27TH

Live audience CD recording with the Jeff Robinson Trio
Hi-N-Dry Studio in Cambridge, MA @ 7pm.
There are only 25 tickets available for this special event

The Show was like...

...a zillion beautiful people in the same room at the same time.

Thank you ALL SO MUCH for coming out to the show!
The event was a legitimate success.
Thanks to YOU.
It would have been an empty room with a powerful mike without YOU.

There were maybe one or two nay-sayers in the midst that spoke of the holiday weekend being a difficult space to fill.
But contrary to the most probable of all possibilities...friends and family and fans and die-hard supporters payed top dollar for a fabulous show AND a noteworthy cause.

I personally had a wonderful time, sharing the new stuff and the classics.
So many beautifully diverse people were present to bless the Blue Wave this Labor Day Weekend.
Special thanks to the sound guy who made me feel like notes were supposed to carry like that.
I'll admit though that I'm terribly exhausted, emotionally and physically.
It's almost overwhelming to have so many people you love in the same room all at the same time, listening to what you believe to be your "life's work".
Or at least the work that you believe you live to create.

So thanks for listening and speaking to me before, during, and after the show.

Lots of people have been asking me to post the last poem that I read on Saturday called In the Blink of an Eye and I promise I will.

Until then...Feel free to leave a comment or two.

soon, IIO

Political Conspiracy Theories

photo by Angela Rowlings
Bury the Prophets and Silence the Poets

Up Close and Personal SHOW to Benefit SUDAN Releif Efforts

Just a friendly reminder of the show I have this Saturday @8pm at the Blue Wave Lounge with R&B vocalist Lee Wilson and JT of the III Kings.
I don’t have to tell you what an amazing show it will be…

I would like to tell you that a portion of the tickets sold will be donated to the Sudan Relief.

The United Nations estimates that as many as 10,000 mothers, children, wives and husbands are dying each month in Darfur as a result of violence, disease or malnutrition. More than 2 million people are displaced within Sudan, and another 200,000 have fled to neighboring Chad.

With Katrina’s aftermath plaguing our southern states, we are sadly forced to share experiences with countries who have been facing displacement and other challenges for years.

I feel obligated to attempt to make a difference, one show at a time.

Tickets are twenty dollars.
The event producers have been selling tickets in advance and have informed me the event may sell out.
So be there at 8pm or let me know you're coming so I can set tickets aside for you at the door.

Spread the word!!!

Thanks a million, stay blessed, and I hope to see you on saturday.
information on the Sudan relief effort