downtown bronx Cafe

Today I went to the downtown Bronx Cafe to catch Jessica Torres and Rich Villar feature as part of the first Wednesdays reading series from the Bronx Council on the arts. Jessica and Rich maybe you shouldn't read this.

Its been a few years since I first saw each of them read but probably no more than three years. I was really impressed today by what I heard from them. Perhaps it is because everything is so surreal in my life right now that I am able to look at things more clearly than before. Jessica's voice on stage was so confident and brave. She really has become comfortable on stage and her use of language and layering of imagery was really alluring. Rich was the second feature and he just continues to wow me. All of the pieces that he reads about culture or history seem to be so honed, so carefully assembled. It really is a pleasure to hear him read.
It actually seemed that everyone on the open mic was so notable. Oscar, Fish, Eliel, and Xelo. It really struck me tonight how far everyones writing and artistic identity had evolved. Oscar read a beautiful pantoom, Fish read a really moving piece about prison, Elilel read some really great short pieces ( I really liked the one about solitude, although I didn't care for the narcissist one), and Xelo read a fantastic piece about her family that I think has been building up in her for several years.

I read a piece about the strange times this year with all of the natural disasters and such, I have read it at a few other readings lately. I wrote it for a benefit for the Pakistan earthquake. I will post it tomorrow.