If you have had the pleasure of sifting your fingers through the paper-made-gold book The Alchemist then you would know about the “personal legend.” If you have not yet treated your soul to this piece of literature, please do so, it will change your life.
In any case, the Personal Legend talks about one’s own telos or their purpose here on earth, what God has set them out to do. I am almost certain many people on this planet are not following their heart let alone the heart of God. In fact I am not certain if I am but every time I read a poem, recite a poem, write a poem I am filled with a metaphysical explosion in my being.
It starts from my eyes and tingles to every molecular portion of my body. I feel it around me. Perhaps I have stumbled upon something which fulfills my heart and mind or I am just really happy doing it, listening to it, or the universe is conspiring to tell me to keep on this poetic path of mud, metaphors and stories.
Like most immigrant parents, mine don’t have the appreciation for the art of poetry (any many other forms of art) like I have acquired. So choosing to be a poet was a tougher decision for them than it was for me.
I began writing poetry at a young age but never really thought of it as a career choice until 4 years ago, when I began to slam. The competition of spoken word (slam) has introduced me to a myriad of talent, a plethora of characters whom I would have never encountered in this life and has given me a platform to speak my mind and heart. I am certainly grateful for the blessings this art form has provided.
“What does it mean to be a poet?”
I think the answer to this question is different for everyone. For me, it means your senses have become altered, permanently. You see the world, interactions, language (spoken or unspoken) through a new pair of lenses. The subtle dance the wind and a snow flake rehearse every Winter becomes inspiring, the sound of rain on a rusted garbage tin reminds you of a past life, the faint whiff of Britney Spears’ latest perfume reminds you of righteousness, weird I know.
Sometimes this new sense of sense can become daunting, a burden. When your dreams become a philosophy, your vernacular entrenched with hidden meanings, it is hard to speak without tangents, connections or straight forward answers. All becomes one. Everything is beautifully ugly at the same time. Time. Don’t get me started on time.
There was an article I read by Frank L. Samson at the Sociology Department, Stanford University. He was analyzing the text of Saul Williams. Samson described the art of spoken word as “Conjuring Culture.” He wrote, “conjure is a magical means of transforming reality. Here the term “magic” is best understood as one system . . . for mapping and managing the world in the form of signs.”
So in essence (in a sense/in a sence) poets are magicians creating “spells” to create a new reality or a perception of reality. I do not view magic as tricks or deception of the mind but rather a re-interpretation of reality. And if magic is applied to poetry, it is understandable as to why a metaphor is crazy or a well-crafted simile can leave you thinking for days, “How did they do that?”
In a similar context the magic of poetry extends to the “power” that poetry possess. A poet is able to create worlds that were not there, conjure ideas physically impossible, act as a ventriloquist for people without a voice.
The pen is mightier than the sword, they say.
I’ve been practicing magic as a job for the past three years with various groups; The Recipe, Atomic Wednesday, Daughter’s Of The Revolution and many more musical/poetry entities. I have chosen to work with the aforementioned wordsmiths due to the passion and talent each one has for the craft of creating “spells.”
For the past year and bit I’ve been working on a solo album which fused music (also magical) and spoken word poetry. I searched around for a while, trying to find collaborators who can compliment aptly the words I had scrawled in my book of spells. It was not an easy process but now it is done.
The album is called Lessons From Planet Earth (Re-Evolution). I am 26 years old and do not claim to know the answers to the lessons I have been taught from Mother Earth. Nor do I prescribe solutions to problems around the world. This album however, is a journey into the heart of a poet struggling with this new found “lens of senses.” What does love look like for this poet? Injustice, peace, God?
I added Re-Evolution to the title because the lessons from this universe are never stale, never permanent, they move and adapt just as all living creatures do. So this is the interpretation from this poet, in this particular time. It contains what was in my heart the moment it was written.
Through working with various artists, I realized “The Lessons” are not confined to my soul but rather the soul of humanity. Each musician and artist brought about a unique interpretation of the lyrical context of a song and painted over, underneath and through the words, creating an even new interpretation. This is why I love collaborations, it gives listeners a multi-layerd approach to embracing the art.
Lessons From Planet Earth (Re-Evolution) the debut album from Ian Keteku will be available on Nocturne Records September 2011.
Lessons From Planet Earth Part I
Treepot TV video
Check out this video I found. Also featuring the amazing Hodan Ibrahim. Nice.
Versefest
As part of Versefest I got interviewed by YourOttawaRegion. I don’t agree with how they attempted to create a divide between page and stage poets. But nonetheless, here it is.
http://www.yourottawaregion.com/news/article/961584–vanier-poet-poised-to-launch-inaugural-event
El Amor Mata – Video
Valentines Day can be disgusting with sappiness.
Introducing…
El Amor Mata (Love Kills)
Spoken word artist Ian Keteku and flamenco guitarist Balam teamed up to create this piece specifically for Valentines day. The video is directed by Pascal Aka and features Farafina Rojo.
Premieres February 14th. Make sure you invite your friends, family and ex-lovers. When the video drops, help spread around the link.
With your help, we can set an end to the cutesy, fabricated image of love.
Stay tuned Valentines Day for the video..
Love
Ian
Winterlude
Slam Poetry Performance by Ian Keteku
Canadian Museum of Civilization — Outdoors
Friday, February 4, 8:30 pm
2010 World Poetry Slam champion and captain of the 2009 Canadian Poetry Slam champion team. Also known as “Emcee E,” he uses his voice to speak for the voiceless and to inspire messages of peace, action and critical thought. Upon accepting the challenge to write and deliver a slam poetry piece in honour of Parks Canada’s 100th anniversary, Emcee E tapped into his very own “call of the wild,” and gives a voice to a natural heritage that forms part of our country’s greatest treasures, Canada’s national parks and historic sites! www.ianketeku.com
In collaboration with Parks Canada.
Where: Canadian Museum of Civilization (outdoor)
Food Challenge
I am taking part in this food challenge.
Find updates here – http://ottawadtmc.posterous.com
* Choose to eat a diet based on the lived experience of members of our Put Food in the Budget team that rely on social assistance benefits. Maintain this diet for between three days and one week.
* Will start by taking the Do the Math Survey, an online tool designed to help folks create a minimum adequate monthly budget and compare that to the real-life earnings of low-income people in this province. In fact, everyone is encouraged to Do the Math, it’s a great tool and eye-opener.
* Report their experiences on our campaign blog. Talk with people in their social and professional circles about the Challenge as they experience it.
That being said, here’s a list of the star Ottawans who’ve agreed to take on The Challenge thus far :
Paul Dewar, MP Ottawa Centre
Mathieu Fleury (Councillor Rideau-Vanier) and staff
Dave Bagler, Green party candidate (Provincial) for Ottawa Vanier and his partner
Kevin O-Donnell, Green party candidate (Provincial) for Ottawa Centre
Greg “Ritalin” Frankson (spoken word artist)
The Recipe – Emcee- E (Ian Keteku), OpenSecret (Ikenna Onyegbula), Poetic Speed (Komi Olafimihan) and Brandon Wint (spoken word artists)
Catherine Langley, Head chef at Whalesbone
Tarek Hassan, chef at Savannah Cafe
Jill Zmud, local musician
Michelle Nash, reporter with Metro News
Simone Thibault, Executive Director at Centretown CHC
Jack McCarthy, Executive Director at Somerset West CHC
Rachael Goodmurphy, Registered dietician and Good Food Box steering committee member
The Executive of the Carleton University Graduate Students Association (and we’re already on their website ! )
Jocelyn Kula, Manager at Health Canada, Good Food Box Steering Committee Member and Foodie About Town
Dragon Fli
Dirty, golden, dragonfly wings.
That’s what she thought pennies looked like
after being hugged by the railroad
and kissed by the train.
There is an art to these wings.
The coin must be placed right in the middle
The train cant move too quick
Lest the wings fly away
They are warm on first touch these wings
As though set to die from a long journey in your palm
Its noon and pitch black
Distant Christmas lights and a lit cigarette are the only illumination
From the sky – railroad tracks resemble the slit writs of robot arteries.
High school princess, prettied up pageant queen
Every morning painted on her mannequin face
Each brush a disappointment,
Cartographers stoke
Carving a map on her face misleading
Lost boys with no sense of direction
Varsity – letter jacket wearing jock-strapped jocks
And if the price is right – any John could capsize her back and baptize her forehead
Dressing up in articles of the New York Times obituary section and Cosmo
All she holds in her fake Gucci clutch is a lonely stick of double mint bubble gum 9 pennies and a promise
That tonight she will sail her own seas.
Fly amongst dragons, and be free
She writes in tiny capital letters “something about LOVE, something about DISAPPOINTMENT, something about DRAGONFLIES”
10 pennies on the track
9 made of copper
The other of sugar and spice
Once lost hoping to be found
Once crooked hoping to be straightened out
The smell, of coal, burn and asphalt, smells like home
She hugs the rails tighter
The ground is shaking beneath her quivering body
She prepares for a kiss with a train conductor named God
cigarette butts and Christmas lights
The humming, the buzzing sounds like a sea of dragon flies coming to take her home.
Squeeze knuckles so tight she hears the squeaking crick of dislocated cartilage, one after another: single file fire crackers
Our Father who art in heaven halo be thy name…
something about love
something about Dirty, golden, dragonfly wings.
ianketeku
Nominated for award
Found out I was nominated as Ottawa’s hero of the year (Xpress) didn’t win but cool nonetheless. I personally think a hero sandwich has more qualities of a hero than I do.
http://www.ottawaxpress.ca/dossier/bestof/xpress2010.aspx