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Please join us on Monday April 29, 2013 as local artist, musician, and writer Sandi Horton features a poetry/word set at open mic.
Sandi Horton started writing and creating stories before she could read. She would dictate her compositions to her mom who typed them for her. She has loved to read from the moment she learned how. Sandi has been writing for over twenty years and first shared her work publicly in 2006. She draws inspiration from reading and listening to creative writers of many styles. Sandi lives in the Waco area and enjoys soaking up all the arts events her community has to offer.
I’m not sure I can imagine too many more sensually delicious combinations than food + art. I am also a firm believer in the notion that food is one of the best catalysts for gathering and deepening community. So on Monday April 22, 2013 The Word Gallery held it’s first potluck of food + art. All were invited to bring something to share whether a salad, entree, side, dessert, poem, story, or song. We enjoyed a B O U N T I F U L feast for the mind, body, and soul. This will be a new quarterly-ish tradition so if you missed out this time, please watch our site and calendar for the next one coming up in the summer.
So. much. delicious!
We enjoyed a feast of conversation, food, and art–what better way to gather and grow a community?! 
they called to tell me
that when I got home
there wouldn’t be a home
that I should pick up a
toothbrush
and sundry other things
I’d need right away
to the cashier at WalMart
I suppose I looked like
anyone else
did she notice my hands shaking
as I handed her each item
now the only items in the world
I owned?
did she notice how preoccupied I was
just trying to grasp
my new reality?
it wasn’t those things
I could easily purchase
or find in a donation bin
for which my tears trickled down
there was a scarf from my Gram
hand embroidered
given to her by my Grandfather
during a film excursion to Kashmir
and a stunning Hawaiian gown that she
had once worn to an elegant soiree
there was a print I bought
in a shop down some narrow alley
in the Jewish quarter of the
Old City
the new-to-me old manual
Canon camera
still with black & white film
there were years of poems
now turned to ash
and photographs melted and charred
cards and letters and pictures
from friends
an entire era of my life
licked up in flames
In the days following
I’d sneak onto the scene
late after dark
flashlight in hand
vain attempts to salvage
some relic of me
some tangible remembrance
of my life lived
I found a singed letter “P”
from my once well used Scrabble game
a few brittle remains of poetry
and a carved horn button
off a Bavarian sweater
I remember begging my Gram
to have
I told her when I wore it, I’d imagine her
hugging me
now neither of us enjoyed it
I winced to see that my tea tin survived
and a whole box of bright orange
fresh and untainted
goldfish crackers
who decides what is saved and what is lost?
the next day
my daughters—
of my flesh they were not born
but to my soul they had been knit
ones so wounded
left with so little in the world to their names—
gave up only sweaters
and sneakers
and blankets off beds
so I wouldn’t go without
I stood in line
for my Red Cross voucher
and a bag of essential items
soap
toothbrush
comb
tissues
I began to remember what I still had:
my person
my community
my passion and vision
my wild, hilarious dog Jackson—though his house burned too
my dreams
the poems written in my heart and
those ones yet to be born
my capacity to heal and to hope
my awe and wonder at the love and support of others
my ability to compassion, relentlessly
there are some things I still look for
and remember with an echo of sorrow…then sweetness:
there are things we lost in the fire
and there also,
things we found
~jenuine
4-17-2013
I wrote this about an experience I had in 2001. The unfolding events of the explosion in West, Texas–a town neighboring mine–stirred me to recall and reflect on my own losses and gains. I share this in solidarity with my neighbors, my community, who have lost so much. Light, hope, and healing be with you all. ~j
“From the small city of Waco, Texas, ApREAL always had big dreams. Poetry initially was just a hobby for her, but she has recently been pushed before a mic, in front of others, and for the Glory of God.
April says, “SINGWRITELIVE is my true story. If it wasn’t for music, the power of words, the gift of writing that God has given…I couldn’t live. I consider myself transparent. I experience LIFE and I write about it. I see LIVES or circumstances and I write about it. Writing F R E E S me and my only motivation for sharing is so that others are encouraged and freed as well. Whatever gift God has given to help you make it past/thru your situations and circumstances. SING, DRAW, DANCE, WRITE, STYLE, ACT, PLAY….LIVE!!”
April has competed at the National AIMS competition since 2006 and has performed at and with Spoken-Word Greats such as: Austin Neo Soul, Micah Bournes, Trojuan Soule’, & Quiet Storm Waco.” ~ApREAL
On Monday March 4, 2013 The Word Gallery hosted guest spoken-word artist, Alex Tha Great, for a feature performance. A spoken word artist, author, playwright, actress, and vocalist originally from CA, now based in Dallas, TX, Alex Tha Great is the author of five collections of poetry and has performed at various venues from California to Texas including Austin Poetry Slam, A Mic and Dim Lights, 2nd Verse, and the South Dallas Cultural Center.
She has shared stages with Natasha Carrizosa, Joaquin Zihuatenejo, BessKepp, Shihan, and opened for Billboard chart topping R and B singer Noel Gourdin. She placed on the 2012 Fort Worth Slam Team. When she is not perfecting her craft, she spends her time volunteering for P.E.A.R.L. Girls of Promise (a non-profit dedicated to uplifting and empowering young girls age 7 to 17) and engages with her church family Concord Church. Her one-woman play, “Passport to Womanhood,” debuts in March 2013.
Alex brought to The Word Gallery her stunning spoken-word talent, a gracious humility, and an unapologetic authenticity with which the crowd connected and engaged. A truly inspiring evening was enjoyed by all in attendance. Thank you Alex for sharing your work, your self, with Waco
…to read about writing! An important addition to this fantastic heap is Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird. What are your go-to can’t-live-without-them resources on writing?
Originally from California and now based in Dallas, Texas, spoken word artist, author, playwright, actress, and vocalist Alex Tha Great features at The Word Gallery open mic in Waco, Texas March 4, 2013.
[honored]
that I get to hear your stories
that I get to see a glimpse
of the inner most parts of your soul
that I get to live
just for a moment
inside your exquisite
ache
that you let me look at the world
from inside your eyes
seeing what you see
seeing how you are seen
that right before me
you peel back the layers of your heart
and show me the most
vulnerable places
that I get to be your witness
voice quivering
hands trembling
as you stand up
for yourself
speaking
and
claiming
truth
that I get to celebrate
with you
those mountain top victories
that crystal clarity of
having arrived into
your becoming
that I am invited to walk with you
down the path less traveled
a mile in your shoes
words blazing our trail
that I am beckoned to sit
quiet beside you
on your mourning bench
weeping the tears
you dare not shed
that I have the privilege
of attending an open mic
~jenuine poetess
Thank you Sandi Horton for the fantastic suggestion that we have a themed open mic one week a month. Starting this month, March 2013, the third Monday of each month will be our themed open mic wherein participants are invited to share songs, stories, poems, and more on a topic that is posted right here on The Word Gallery website and also on our facebook page.
In honor of Womyn’s Herstory Month, March’s theme will coincide with a theme the National Women’s History Project has chosen for this year: “Women Inspiring Innovation Through Imagination: Celebrating Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics”
So sit with this topic, maybe even do a little reading up on your favorite womyn innovators, and be ready to share your thoughts with us on Monday March 18, 2013!
Stay tuned here at the beginning of each month for that month’s theme prompt and thanks again Sandi for the great idea. Write on!!
