My Word!... I Am Poetry

I performed this piece recently and reminded myself how much I liked it myself... I think it's one of my most creative... If you have ever heard my poetry, you would realize that my style incorporates a flow resembling the delivery of hip-hop. I don't often write the type of poetry to be published in books... Quoting myself from 'Speak'... "Truth is in the spoken word, that's why I'd rather not be read but instead be heard..." My goal in writing this poem was to combine the colorful imagery of written poetry with the delivery of a spoken word piece...

I Am Poetry (Poetree)

Let me start by thanking my Mother... Earth... to my Father
For planting his seed, cuz indeed it was fertile
So I succeed in growth...
In the form of reeds
So you could read the quotes
And feel the notes as I come to be what I wrote...
Poetry...
In my roots, written on the loose leaves of the birch
Where the birds and the bees never leave
And the ink from the pen is like the sap of the tree
Cuz it lives in the wood that would be...
A piece of paper later...
If the lumberjack brings me down then he could be a player hater
In either form I'm getting pissed on...
Put it like this, I probably wouldn't exist
If the originator didn't send his only son
To make my leaves go and come with the seasons
As I need them...
To chlorophyll me up with the nutrition
From the light of the day shone in the forest
Before I'm chucked like Mr. Norris for deforestation
I'll be a scapegoat for the landscape
Portrait of the art representing the heart they put into me
The oxygen I put into them so they could breathe...
Now everybody wanna do me
Use me to fight for... what is right
Or write for what is wrong
Hear me tonight on stage at an open mic
Later I'll be in a song that I hope you like
Hopefully I'll take us all to a whole new height
And in the heat of the day, in my shade you would stay
And I might bear the fruits of your labour
So that you could savour the taste of my flavour on your tongue
And due to the nature of this one...
I came from the underground
Now I bow when the sky claps with the thunder sound
And the greater that would come out of me
Will make you see what I see
Feel the joy I have brung
Sing the songs that I hum in the wind for freedom
Til, no one is hung from my limbs
No pain, and now I'm stained in your brain
And in the sign on your Timb's
And you wondering my name
How do they call him?
And the answer... you probably already know it
See... Navy's the master, but me
I am Poetry

My Word!... Empty Barrels

This is my most recently completed poem (new shyt!) and is the second piece I wrote as a follow up to "Speak". One incident in particular served as the main inspiration for this poem. One of my professors heard me perform "Speak" for a debate team we were hosting. He was surprised, to say the least, and made it known that I hardly ever spoke in (his) class. A friend, who also heard me then for the first time, shared a similar sentiment. I'm usually very low-key, not to be confused with anti-social but I choose carefully when, where, and with whom I am more vocal. This is my response...

Empty Barrels

People always used to say I was not like most boys...
Growing up I was a shy kinda guy
Quite quietly reserved to myself
Ask me why and I'll tell you...
Because empty barrels make the most noise
Most toys don't make you much smarter
So I play with words
Because it is much harder to win
And I like the challenge
Of getting my barrel almost full to the brim
So if you want to describe him as quiet, think twice
Cuz his words are strong enough to incite riots
But... but I just don't want to start one
Smart ones know that those who have the least to say
They talk the most
And those who talk the least, when they speak
You should listen close
So it's not ironic that I'm not quite sonic
Unless I see a stage with a mic on it
Or if there is something to address
That is when I feel like my tongue cannot rest
None the less, all the more
When I was in form four
I used to speak on behalf
Of the boys in the class that were labeled delinquents
Cuz they were relinquent to the taunts from my teacher, unjust
Trust that "class lawyer" was the title she gave me
Still speaking, but now they know me as Navy
And to me there's a difference between
Speaking and talking
Just like creeping and walking
One takes less courage
The next, should be encouraged some more
Therefore... the next time you take the floor
Make sure that your words are the opposite of poor
Cuz my tongue is raw
So don't make me draw my lyrical pistol
And have you running to the door
I'm not above the law, at all, at all
But I would Empty Barrels on all of y'all
Make you fall from your poise
So call all your boys
And tell them what I said about making old noise

By: Yvan 'Navy' Mendoza

Why "Navy Speaks"

Audiences hardly ever get to hear the stories behind poetic pieces, whether at open mics or in books. We poets never really have the opportunity to talk about our pieces while on stage. So since there aren't any 3-4 minute time constraints or "no intro" rules, or print limitations here, I shall delve briefly into the personal insight and inspiration and even history too often hidden in the background of poems...

"Speak" is my self-defining piece. It is the poem that took me to a new plateau. I had been writing and performing in Trinidad for just about 1 year at the time that I wrote this. Without a doubt it was thanks to the (then new) creative energy with which I had surrounded myself by joining the Poetry Club in my first semester at Monroe College (New Rochelle). Shoutout to the President at the time Shawn Bolden a.k.a. Shawn B. This piece is my equivalent to the "Why I Write" pieces that just about every poet has. It is what I advocate...

SPEAK

They say SPEAK!
When you are spoken to
But I SPEAK cuz from my sleep
I was awoken to...
Write a piece
Just for a chosen few
So I could unleash the beast
And I have chosen you
To give my lyrics so tight
They be choking you
And I be up on such heights
I be provoking you
To think...
Cuz that's what I'm supposed to do
I'm trying to get into the minds of most of you
See through this ink...
Some get their rage out on a page
And then put it in a book
And there it stays...
But not me
I get my rage out on the stage
And let that aforementioned beast out of its cage
See I SPEAK to get my word out
Describe scenes you've never seen but mighta heard bout
At times might seem obscene but keep absurd out
Your contradictions, cuz when I speak I leak the conscious diction
See a lot of us just want to do the writing
But not much of us want to do the bright thing
And SPEAK, and bring forth something exciting and
Enlightening, inciting fighting for the right thing...
TRUTH...
Is in the spoken word
That's why I'd rather not be read
But instead be heard
To get the message across
This is the method preferred
So I break a piece of bread
And I feed it to the birds...
Food for thought...
They say, SPEAK your mind
But, mind what you say
And it's less about the what
But, more about the way
So I, reach my mind
And I touch what I pray
For when I'm day dreamin
Like my name is Lupe...
What good is a radio if you don't have a speaker? SPEAK
Through these words, how else I'm gonna reach ya? SPEAK
Tryna learn but you don't understand your teacher. SPEAK
Little boy being touched by his preacher. SPEAK
Concerned, not gettin much from your leader. SPEAK
You miss your babygirl, love her and you need her. SPEAK
Your sister hungry and you got to work to feed her. SPEAK
Daddy not at home, Mommy isn't either. SPEAK
All these problems make me feel the need to SPEAK
To somehow seek the way to solve them
But...
In the end the choice is yours
So just open up your mouth
The voice is yours
SPEAK!

By: Yvan 'Navy' Mendoza

Because I SAID SO!

So... I was wondering what should be the very first post on my very first blog and came up with a question unanswered on the blog's page or by the blog's title (which, for those who don't know or didn't realise, contains a Haiku).

Why Start a Blog???

Because everybody and their auntie has one...
Because that first reason should be my last reason...
How 'bout... because I like to share things I find interesting
Because some people may be interested in those things
Because some people would like to read my poetry
Because I have shit to say!
Because I think a lot about things
Because sometimes my thoughts take months before they materialise into poems
Because if I kept all those thoughts in my head for so long, my brain might explode
Because we don't want that to happen
Because some people don't know my funny side
Because some people don't know my serious side
Because I've been wanting to do this for a while
Because I should have had one by now
Because it's about time!
Because I SAID SO!