currently manifesting everything I believe in…

poetry

Light Breaks Through

Light breaks through

Spiral high

she will reveal soul

in the

key

of…

YOU.

Imagine Africa dreaming in quicksand
Her tint and glow clinging to feet resting
On stone and tomorrow
Hopeful for joy to follow

See sunsets serenade her hidden sorrow
Like a heart startled with flame
A copper tone solo raises her vision
Concrete appears on soft skin

Her light breaks through
She sings in slow motion
Moving forward with her melody
Pulling closer to the harmony of the earth

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affirmations in the key of transformation

(song)

Way Up in the air

Is Where I go.

WILL I come down?

Nobody Knows.
Like a wave to a sandcastle
Moving me to break and follow
How far will i come down

(poem)

I seek to maintain the grace of my transformation-
On the harvest moon of a positive nature

For within my deepest core there is a little girl

Devoted to gravity that floats with hope
Invested in everything beautiful

She is fine tune sensitive to the arc of a rainbow
A delirious vision in her sequence of blue skies

Spinning green from lavender to opium
Her shine -bling-blings- on the wings of paper airplanes

Her skin catches resurrected raindrops
Falling to reach the full effect of her illumination

She collapses illusions
Becoming one with the movement of life and breath

Through her eyes and heartbeats
I have already experienced an impossible transition

Emerging from a simple implant
That she can suddenly animate the horizon

Lifting the breaks of the indigo line
I am spending time guiding this light

Crossing the maze to shape shift into another perfect sunrise

………..-Iyeoka Ivie Okoawo

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My imagination has a spirit of her own…

My personal recognition of happiness becomes connected to the actions of my imaginative spirit.  She seems to have the ability to ponder future. She feels the presence of a road that can take me to doubt and a road that can turn me directly into excitement. She is aware of the rivers that could lead me to disappointment and unhappiness. She finds me an ocean that can export me back to the source of all that I consider to be joy and freedom.

Affirmation:

Today I promise to exist peacefully and welcome no overflow of immediate disturbances.

I will create a peaceful space for my mind to remain open and calm to the experiences around me.

Poetic Offering:

The power of my imagination tornadoes me into

Believing

I can build kingdoms and tribes with you.

Every vision displays a beautiful landscape

With impossible dimensions and

heaven’s fruit.

I will happily assume this view to be true

Until a new glimpse of our kingdom I am issued.

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General Introductions to Magic and the Art of Choice

If You Make Magic LONG Enough,

It WILL Find A Way To Swallow YOU Whole.

I Would LIKE To Know what IT Feels Like…

To Be Swallowed Whole By MAGIC.

-Iyeoka Ivie Okoawo

Shaping The Pulse Of A Moment

If she looks like she’s searching for magic, she probably is.  Part of the MAGIC in my journey comes when I am able to recognize the bluest of blues and identify which moment is the GIFT in a given circumstance.  More gift can be your next breath. More gift can be the feeling of being understood right down to the grooves and the splinters embedded in the driftwood.  The PULSE moves on as a day to day journey of learning, remembering and connecting the dots to heighten the signs you believe in that show you just how clearly you have found the right one.

The Art of Choosing My Current

My current has taken me to Big Sur where I am completing an Artist-In-Residence at the Big Sur Spirit Garden in California.  Here I am processing my 18 months of touring and transition, of testifying and transformation. I am updating my poems. I am documenting the new songs that are still producing music inside of me.  I am reflecting on my extraordinary experiences at TED and the 2 weeks spent in Venice CA to complete work on my album after returning from my Fellowship and the conferences in Oxford, England. I am working on my STAY POET book. I am gathering a collection of my finest spoken and page poems for my very first book of poetry.  All this, while my heart still travels with my TriBe of family and friends in Boston, my family in Nigeria, my global TED Fellows fam, my Boston Poetry SlamTeams and all the rest of my fambots attending the 21st  National Poetry Slam competition taking place this week in Saint Paul MN full of poets making choices of which poem to share for 3 minutes and 10 seconds of a magic moment.

At some point, you may wonder how I got here…wherever “here” becomes.  I am simply following the current. From here, when I am at peace with my choices, it is a lovely ocean that stretches from the tornado to the rainbow.

To my Word Speaking Tribe I recommend a further depth of reflections regarding the art of choices and I guide you to TED presenter Sheena Iyengar. She is one of the women I enjoyed listening to at TED Global in Oxford and one that I was grateful to reference once I settled back into my residency in Big Sur CA.  I enjoyed her mention of Robert Frost in the end and her shout out to POETRY. In my opinion, Sheena offered an interesting group of different thought processes under simple names and references we could understand. As a poet, I appreciated her offering.

Iyeoka Ivie Okoawo is an internationally acclaimed performance poet, a guest Visiting Teacher at the Esalen Institute and the current Big Sur Spirit Garden Artist in Residence. Her month-long residency will conclude in a theatrical performance of her poems and songs from her upcoming Album on Saturday, August 21st at 8pm.

Aug 21, 2010 8:00 PM Big Sur Spirit Garden Big Sur, CA
i
Big Sur Spirit Garden Artist in Residence, 2010 TED Global Fellow and Recording artist IYEOKA presents a collection of songs, poems and LIVE music with special guest musicians. Tickets $15 All Ages

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She Does Not Know Her Beauty

Poem written and presented by Iyeoka Ivie Okoawo. This poem will be included in Iyeoka’s new book release of her poetry scheduled to be published alongside her music album Say Yes this fall.

“My name is Iyeoka Ivie Arabomen Okoawo
My father named me after my grandmother.
My name means I want to be respected.”

She does not know her beauty
She thinks her brown skin has too many flaws
If she could see her image in the Unogbo River where her mother was born

She would know…

But the city holds no clear streams
West side streetlights shade the sunset’s miracles
And the concrete covers the soft memory of the earth’s unborn seed

Black is the color of her press and burned hair
She thinks her curls are too tight and short
If she could feel her natural birth locks blow in Arimogija’s fresh breeze
On the hill her father once stood
She would know

But the girl does not know her own beauty
She thinks her lips are too thick
If she could hear Benin men whisper thoughts across the Atlantic ocean
Praying to touch her heart to win her for just one kiss
She would know…but
She thinks her eyes are dark and troubled
No one told her ebony was the color of the universe’s wings
She thinks her nose is too flat
Her breasts too small
Her legs too long
She never learned how to dance you know…
Never learned how to run naked on the bank of a golden pond
Embracing her existence guided by the light of a tropical dawn

She forgets her name means
Precious child who harbors the beauty of an ocean pearl
She forgets she received her soul from her grandmother
Adopted the spirit of her mother
If she could recall the celebration they had at her birth
she would know…

If I could reach her
She would know
I would make it so there was cause for her to know
That she is more than a motherless child
Victim of an impressionable fate
Helpless before an inconsistent society’s interpretation of what beauty stands for

But I cannot reach her…

If she chooses to be blind
Only she can choose to see

But the city holds no clear streams
West side streetlights shade the sunset’s miracles
And the concrete covers the soft memory of the earth’s unborn seed

TED Global Conference
Oxford, England

Nina DudnikIyeoka Ivie OkoawoAdital Ela 2010 TED Global Fellows

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THIS IS MY MEDICINE

Prescription: Think of a time when your heart hurts
WARNINGS: Fill this with love ONLY
IMPORTANT: Imagine a beautiful person singing this to you…
Do not use if the seal is punctured or broken and the heart does not belong to you rendering the said heart no longer visible.

TO OPEN (verse):
Pretty, pretty please
When you are ready for me
I will send you a song
So you know that I’m here

Believe that all of my focus
Keeps pulling for you
I’ll sing you these words
To lullaby your moves

USUAL DOSAGE (chorus):
I can love you…
I can love you
Oh..Oh..Oooooh-Oh..Oh..Oooooh
Oh..Oh..Oooooh-Oh..Oh..Oooooh
I can love you…
I can love you

verse:
When your moon hits my light
Like a river in the sky
And a GREEN full of
blossoming seasons

You will feel me
You will feel me
You will feel how our world
Is changing….

chorus:
OH! -I can love you…
I can love you
Oh..Oh..Oooooh-Oh..Oh..Oooooh
Oh..Oh..Oooooh-Oh..Oh..Oooooh
I can love you…
I can love you

I can feel when the world is spinning around
And all of our dreams lead to making more

brilliant musical interlude
created by him

chorus:
OH! -I can love you…
I can love you
Oh..Oh..Oooooh-Oh..Oh..Oooooh
Oh..Oh..Oooooh-Oh..Oh..Oooooh
I can love you…
I can love you

lyrics by
Iyeoka Ivie Okoawo
future music with
Underground Sun

This is my Medicine. New song lyrics from 2010 Ted Global Fellow Iyeoka Ivie Okoawo who was a practicing CVS retail pharmacist for 10 years before quitting her day job to become a full time slam poet and one of the hottest new recording artist to hit the underground music movement.

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chorus:

Suddenly your love has taken all this time to be

until i get there
i’m standing like a redwood tree
and there’s no place i would rather be
Than shaping a ripple and a seed
we’re making everything so much closer to stronger

i bridge the corner
Shaking the leaves of a memory
I’m skipping a rope on a dangling breeze
It doesn’t matter if you come for me

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The heart truly blossoms through the human enchantment of being in love.

(TODAY. because the eclipse happened
and i missed it because i was busy
loving you.
)

I may have missed the partial eclipse
that
passed
through us today, my love—
But I was THERE
For your voice that
Swept me spiral like fertile roots of earth
Floating
On
Thunder.

Your stream of light
Is dangerously gifted and
Glorius— in
a WAY that
Doesn’t want to hurt you
Because it traveled too far
To find you
and just turn
Away.

-iyeoka ivie okoawo

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Cupid’s Arrow (chorus)

Maybe a HUG will be enough
To brighten up your day
Maybe a HUG will be enough
To send your tears away

Your a star just as you are
A light that falls upon my heart
And just like Cupid’s arrow
Your life has brought me all
The love I thought I lost

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another loVe poem

When my journey pulls me closer to away from you–
You will paint us a new canvas with your brush & my heart, my love.
You
Can
See our next chapter
With your eyes closed.
I
Can see it too.
It
reminds
Me of a poem spoken of summer’s first
twilight
When the mind will only believe what is illuminated and spectacular.

I can miss you.

But I will choose to stay

on your mind
Guiding you
Back to life in between

our spontaneous
fits of busy labor.

We will heal for the same reasons the moon must
Make magic happen capable of rising above the same horizon
every night-

I will make it back to your side where we will breathe in unison like we do.

Our unison will be better than a total eclipse–
A
Moment
That will maKe more
Sense to us then physics
Or politics
Or permaculture.
We know why we’re
Falling this way, this fast–this time–
Time waited for us.
Time wAited for us.

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A Love Poem

And now the thunder and the beautiful sound of lightening coupled with raindrops. This music Is my favorite.

If We could write another love song
Together
that would
trigger the memory
of my body
moving
beside,
beneath, and on top of your gift–
This song would be
Recognized
By a thousand lovers
Of all
Seasons &
Colors
Separated
By distance
Working to the bone
For a chance to be
Reunited under the
Stars. Full moon. Fire and night dancing on tempo bridging ritual & rain–passion follows us always. Kiss me. Your touch is beautiful–tender
feather soft,
Like Truth
–I know LOVE, and we are so much closer to YES
Than almost–
I know tonight I am far away from you. Perhaps too far for u to complete the taste of my lips full and catch
My heart ready
My fire lifted by
moonlight–
just know that I know you lover. For now, More in spirit than the details.

Temporary distance will not cause me to forget how to come back to
The melody of our new
Song.

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Say Yes (lyrics)

Say Yes

Verse

I’m a traveler
Making my way around the world
Airplanes and automobiles
Carry me away

I got my whole life ahead of me–but
I want to make you my priority
I got my eyes on you
I might be ready to settle down real soon

pre-chorus

Oh love! I see you up in the air
Love! I know how much that you care about me
But if you stay up there for too long
Then when the morning comes
I know I will be gone

Chorus

Oh–
You said you love me
But you wont come down
So I’m leaving tomorrow

You said you love me
But you wont come down
So I’m leaving tomorrow

You said you love me
but you won’t come down–no
But If you say yes
To anchoring your heart
Yes! To keeping me on
Your mind and in your arms tonight
Where I can almost celebrate
The day that you will ask
For me to stay

oh—oh–oh-oh
oh-oh-oh……..

Bridge
And when the long road is calling me
Like a smile that comes
With a summer breeze
I know somewhere down here
There’s a place for you and me

Pre-chorus
Oh love! I see you next to the moon
Love! I know you care if I move on
But if you stay up there for too long
Then when the morning comes
I know I will be gone

Chorus

Oh–
You said you love me
But you wont come down
So I’m leaving tomorrow

You said you love me
But you wont come down
So I’m leaving tomorrow

You said you love me
but you won’t come down–no
But If you say yes
To following your heart
Yes! To keeping me on
Your mind and in your arms tonight
Where I can almost celebrate
The day that you will ask
For me to stay

oh—oh–oh-oh
oh-oh-oh……..

Say yes—ooh–say Yes
Say yes—ooh–say Yes
Say yes—ooh–say Yes

If you say Yes–
To anchoring your heart
Yes! To keeping me on
Your mind and in your arms tonight
Where I can almost celebrate
The day that you will ask
For me to stay

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YOU GOT ME INTO THIS

song lyrics-Iyeoka Ivie Okoawo

Verse 1
I heard a rumor
That you
Were looking to come steal my heart

You came with thunder
and lightening
Shining down your rays in the dark

Chorus
Oo–oOh oH-oOh oOH-ooHYou,
You got me into this
And I’m gonna get you out

You got me into this
And I’m gonna get you out

Oo–oOh oH-oOh HoooOH-ooH-oOh
Oo–oOh oH-oOh HoooOH-ooH-oOh

Verse 2

I heard a rumor
That you
Would run into the rain for my heart

You came in with guns and roses blazing
Shooting down the stars in the sky

Chorus:
Oo–oOh oH-oOh oOH-ooHYou,
You got me into this
And I’m gonna get you out

You got me into this
And I’m gonna get you out

Oo–oOh oH-oOh HoooOH-ooH-oOh
Oo–oOh oH-oOh HoooOH-ooH-oOh

Bridge:
Did you really mean to say I’m the only lover
Who could Hit you with a reason
To diving Third Eye-blind
I can give another reason for the sun to rise
And I can send you another sign

Oo–oOh oH-oOh HoooOH-ooH-oOh
Oo–oOh oH-oOh HoooOH-ooH-oOh

You got me boy
You got me–got me
You got me boy
You got me—got me

Oo–oOh oH-oOh HoooOH-ooH-oOh
Oo–oOh oH-oOh HoooOH-ooH-oOh

You got me into this
And I’m gonna get you out

You got me into this
And I’m gonna get you out

Iyeoka Ivie Okoawo 2010 ©

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SUPER EAGLES (Shine Like the Lights)

song lyrics-Iyeoka Ivie Okoawo ©

Verse 1

Let me see you move with the team that keeps us dancing

Up and down the soccer field to tonight

This is the game that will CHANGE OUR NATION

Were gonna shine like the lights tonight

chant:

pass the ball—hey

make the goal –hey

pass the ball—-hey

make the goal–hey

oh-oh-oh-oh

oh-oh-oh—   x2

—HORNS—

Verse 2

Raise up your flag in the air

with the green white green

Everybody—- get ON YOUR FEET!

Show me the moves that will keep you dancing

Down the road to victory

chant:

pass the ball—hey

make the goal –hey

pass the ball—-hey

make the goal–

oh-oh-oh-oh

oh-oh-oh—   x4

oh yah—-

Shakee your flag–agaan-geey (AGAIN)

Ohya–shakeee again—agaan geeey

CHORUS:

Super Eagles–SHINE LIKE THE LIGHTS

Super Eagles–SHINE LIKE THE LIGHTS

Super Eagles–SHINE LIKE THE LIGHTS

Super Eagles–SHINE LIKE THE LIGHTS X2

—HORNS—Naija!

Raise your flag in the air

with the green white green

Everybody—- get ON YOUR FEET!

Show me the moves that will keep you dancing

Down the road to victory

pass the ball—hey

make the goal –hey

pass the ball—-hey

make the goal–


—drum solo–


vamp out:

How far can we go x4

oh-oh-oh-oh

oh-oh-oh—   x4

Super Eagles–SHINE LIKE THE LIGHTS

Super Eagles–SHINE LIKE THE LIGHTS

Super Eagles–SHINE LIKE THE LIGHTS

Super Eagles–SHINE LIKE THE LIGHTS (repeat)

How far can we go x4

Yeah!

My people raise your flag!

Rise up Naija!

Shine like the lights!

How far can we go!

—horns—


SUPER EAGLES

written/performed: Iyeoka Ivie Okoawo 2010©
music composed/produced by David Franz 2010©
UnderGround Sun Records
Iyeoka Ivie Okoawo is a first generation American recording artist and poet of Nigerian descent. Iyeoka wrote “Super Eagles” in January 2010 with great expectations to unite her favorite African soccer team as Nigeria approaches it’s 50 year anniversary of national independence from 160 years of British colonization.
The Nigeria national football team, nicknamed the Super Eagles, is the national team of Nigeria and is controlled by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). Nigeria won the African Nations Cup twice (1980 and 1994). More recently they took third place at the 2002 African Nations Cup, the 2004 African Nations Cup, the 2006 African Nations Cup, and the 2010 African Nations Cup.
eagles.jpg

On 14 November, 2009, Nigeria qualified for the 2010 World Cup after defeating Kenya by 3-2 in Nairobi.
The FIFA World Cup is the premier international football tournament. It is scheduled to take place between 11 June and 11 July 2010 in South Africa.

“Super Eagles” single, performed by Iyeoka

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lullaby- a soothing song, usually sung to someone before they go to sleep, with the intention of speeding that process.

His kiss lullabied my broken
Pushed me through my process
With speed so I could fly past
My ancient decayed grief
He songbird my freedom
Into weapons marked dangerous
I watched him catch my heart
Rebound over stars and cross-fireworks
He cradle rocked on my harmonies
Lifting me till i rediscovered the true composer
Of the sweet music spinning over the
Broken record of my heart

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Earth Quake

Earthquake looks like a storm that just rolled through town
And we discover the signs are all the same
The rocks have returned to dust
Fed-Ex trucks deliver right on time smoke to all exposed throats
I wonder if they wonder who’s watching
I wonder if they wonder who’s coming

And basic things will never COME anymore–you know
I have no garden
There is no river my lips can touch
That will quench my thirst properly
Maybe rain will fuel this empty water bottle.
What are we going to eat?
All of my cans are sleeping in the bottom
Of all the rubble I thought was only
Real in other places like construction sites
I get my apples from stop and shop
My bannanas from Trader Joe’s
How many mailbox’s will I need to drop my note
To guarantee it will be delivered to somebody
My note is VERY important
It’s a matter of life and death
The note says
HELP US PLEASE
are you here yet?
And nothing changes
Silence last longer than it’s supposed to

Who’s gonna come to deliver me?
It’s getting dark now.
Where’s the electricity?
Who’s in charge here!
Let me speak to your supervisor!
Who’s in charge here?
Where’s the POLICE?!
Shit! They NEVER show what REALLY happens next
When this scene happens in a hollywood movie.
At least no scene that I wanna take part in.
Wha…! Hey!?! What??!
Are we supposed to be looting?
God did NOT just hit the reset button.
Is the sky falling all over the entire COUNTRY?
How will they know what happened here
If this happened everywhere?
How far is everywhere?
Does everywhere also mean everybody?
IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE I CAN SUE?
VERDICT PLEASE:
YOUR HONOR…WE THINK the UNIVERSE IS…(dramatic pause)
GUILTY!
UNIVERSE, AWARD THIS GIRL HER SILVER LINING
Better yet…
What’s mine?
Where’ mine?
How do I get mine?
Wait! Who’s got mine!?
EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF!!!
Ok–yeah that won’t work.
Hey you-!
Yeah you…! Let’s form an alliance.
We’ll call ourselves the Alliance State of Unimerica!
With liberty, and justice…………………………………..for all.
I wonder if they will wonder how this started.
I wonder if we will remember who was guilty.

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commission this poem please. pledge on kickstarter.com

I see YOU.
shine amazing like an Olympian Warrior. Bring the BALANCE and the artistry. Bring the FOCUS and determination. Research the LEGACY of the WORD. SPEAK THE LANGUAGE of Corinthians possessing the UNBREAKABLE intention to embrace the unpredictable LOVE long enough to allow the miracle of the MOMENT to settle in from DUST to untouchable RAINBOWS. BE AN UNTOUCHABLE rainbow. The kind that will INSPIRE a thousand AVATARS of you. Let this illusion resemble your memory of anything struggling to be permanently GOLDEN.
Bring on the flow of a perfect
run
on
sentence.

Moon-LIGHT down on the STAGE every time the NIGHT SEEMS TO COME.
Remember how quickly the night will come.
Replace the CHAMPION you are with the CHAMPION you are likely to become—and so on.
The EVOLUTION of you becomes a CHAMPION every single time. a perfect 10 will answer none of your questions but the one you needed to believe before you chose to speak anything into the silver glare of that microphone.

You will become your anthem. You will become your anthem. You believe your anthem. You will remember you anthem. You will create your current anthem every time you speak the word.

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Until i overflow: (a song)

i feel closer to you now
and i know how far away you really are
like the moon that hangs down tonight so low
no one knows why you appear to rain down until i overflow
inside me like the light that dances around my soul
i hear music now in ever room you used to be
city lights chase the sun ray you gave me on our last days
everything we were
i still believe we could be
and no one has to know

no one has to know
no one has to know
no, no no—
until i overflow
no one has to know
no one has to know
no, no, no
until i overflow

ooh…

how long you have loved me
how long it will take you to let me go
how long it will take for me to find you again
somewhere far from this place we used to know

until autumn traces these tears falling on Beacon Hill cobble stones
until we remember how softly winter comes and goes
until i can breath as freely as the sweet spring that carries on
until a summer rain sings a song to cool me down

until i overflow
ooh…

the wind will follow me now
take the break to glide on your own
remember me being somewhere believing in you
somewhere closer to god
i will send you a prayer to find your way
cut up the moon and replay every moment of our yesterdays
this time i will let you sail away to that place you will soon call home

and no one has to know
no one has to know
no, no, no…no one has to know

no one has to know
no one has to know
no one has to know
until i overflow

ooh…

until i overflow
ooh…

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poem after breaking down again

part of me missed it
the intensity of the sleepless
the 4 hours or less
the getting up to the daily
the drive that gives everything
the unfamiliar
the insomnia
the exhausting fear of anything heavy lasting longer than I can carry
the solitude
the missing something that wasn’t happening
the missing someone who wasn’t here
the breaking
the breath that shapes the smoky cold wind
i feel myself overcoming
sometimes not too often
then returning to the birth of believing
that part of me misses this
letting go
letting my words
change me
taking you there
taking me there
taking us anywhere
that lifts us beyond this
i’m so ready
for the melody
for the spell to be broken
for the next time
the next song
the next reason to collapse on stage
to be real and vulnerable
and embarrassed that i’m doing it again
the letting go
the breaking
the breath that shapes the smoky cold wind
the poem that turns it all back into sunshine
_IGP6093

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sparks of creativity. productive productivity. the next idea. i could go on forever with this. i think i farmed 7 harmonies today. Honestly, I have no idea what makes the perfect combination that completes me. What I do know is that Life doesn’t end in December–just the calendar year. Leads me to believe that new years have new meaning and “meaning” is a big deal. FIND IT in the moments you choose to invest in. Take this as your calling—your OMEN of good things coming, your vision of a beckon. You can begin again. Not quite born again. But close enough to taste the wind like it was your first time flying.

(THESE WORDS born FROM A BLOG I WROTE HERE) because i gotta trick myself into writing sometimes.

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I sculpted my spirit a perception of love.

I beckoned my heart to look upon this image daily

and return with word of the vision the heart felt.

The heart confessed that her eyes were hungry.

Distant was the memory of her last love’s feast.

Lost was the promise of a love labeled new.

The heart replied lovingly to me,

“This sculpture reminds me of you.”

Iyeoka ivie Okoawo 2009 ©

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Brand this sacrifice beautiful

When the night comes
and your moment has a feeling of homeless
Identify the part of you that suffers

And remove this

Brand this sacrifice beautiful

Move on to the next
Find the extension that flows across the
Parts of you that would rationalize drowning
If drowning was the circumstance attached
To the obstacles keeping you from living

This is how the body TESTIFIES
Becoming the means to serve the purpose of the dance

Capable of identifying beautiful
You put on your black sequence dress
And you dance

You find salvation in movement
Each synapse reflecting a new lift
a relevant twisted teasing action
You breathe in your human

You mold your fingers around a mound of clay
And label this place home

And your house is stronger now
Recognize how efficiently loneliness cuts you
Brand this sacrifice beautiful

Move on to the next
Find the extension that passes like osmosis across the
Parts of you that would rationalize the white noose
As if hanging was the circumstance attached
To the obstacles keeping you from living

This is the price you pay for illusions
Imaginary miracles sweeping you off your feet

If nothing you promised yourself includes PEACE
Move on to the next

Find the extension that passes like oxygen across the
Parts of you that would rationalize the act of voluntarily holding your breath
As if suffocation was the circumstance attached
To the obstacles keeping you from living

In the light of forgiveness
Remember who she is
Imagine yourself walking past the barriers together

Visualize the limitless
Forget everything that never was

Move on to the next
Discover the art of this ritual

Brand this sacrifice beautiful

Find the extension that passes like fire across the
Parts of you that would rationalize the flames
And how amazing the sun feels so close to us
As if ash to dust was the circumstance attached
To the obstacles keeping you from living

Iyeoka ivie okoawo 12/09 ©

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poem from MASTER WORKSHOP @ WELLESLEY COLLEGE

Here, Iyeoka Journeys to Wellesley College one week after presenting a concert at the Multi-Faith Center. She guides participants into a free write collaboration that introduces the first three sentences of this poem. She challenges herself along with participants to accept an invitation to create a current anthem.

Impractically, water becomes roses.
Roses create vessels for spontaneous collecting clouds.
We slide in-between—effortlessly.

And perhaps this is why we come
Bending in these rituals
Finding joy in the trees that appear
As dark shadows in the backdrop of a grey sky
Finding joy in pretending there is a grand piano
creating music somewhere in the distance
Finding joy in believing ANYTHING is possible
That ANYWHERE is exactly where you can find yourself
Knowing that this time—THIS time…
I will find my way.

-Iyeoka Ivie Okoawo

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