Monday night I took a trip out to Long Branch for an open mic hosted by Damian Rucci.  I haven’t been to Long Branch in over ten years; back then I was dueling against some solid writers trying to make a NJ team. Currently I’m just performing- I do have a long term goal in mind, but I don’t think slamming will be apart of it.  I feel after that performance (I performed Cracked Mask, more on that later) I achieved what I was looking for, which was to get back in regular season shape- with that I identified which parts of my design needs more work than others.  

                I still very much enjoy the look poets and audience gives me when I go up on the stage, especially because I usually just try to blend in and not do too much until my name is called – the look is something similar to “uhh what is this?!” whenever they hear me for the first time – it is a combination of a breath of fresh air and how is this possible, which continues to occur because I enjoy going places where the more established poet no longer has time for. 

                I was fed well at the event, in the currency of strong poets and meaningful conversation. Currently I am in the bat cave thinking of the next move(s) as 2022 approaches, I’ve began to think about this year and what I did as far as my artistry is concerned (I’ll speak about it more in whole in a later post) 

                The main thing is growth- no more putting my foot on the gas then slowing down – in order for this to work I need to be fully committed