Arte Soy

Wife, love of my life,
Tenderness is your name
When love’s your game

Would that you tame
the flame of your pain
And I the shame
that drives me insane

Let them wane, and we’ll wax
Wise with the main idea
C’mon, it’s so clear
We’ve got to hear the call

And see over, under
And through the wall
To what lies beyond
Like a pet turtle
Returned to the pond

The years of tears
Give way to a joy
That falls like rain
And we are united again,
Washed of our sin

I say enough
Let freedom ring!
And you and I sing
Sweet harmony

No Comments » Posted by admin / Joshua Mapp Weiss and Poetry and Uncategorized

The blue Bird book beneath the paper I write on
spawns the dawn of a new day for yours truly.
I’m on my way home and yet to parts unknown.

We have grown.  We have grown apart.
Such great despair that we may share
this mending of heart.

I start and I stop.  Allow this to pop
And drop way down, ’til it comes back around
And the us that is found is like kids
on a merry-go-round.

Let it be, let it be!
If it’s one step at a time the pleasure is mine.
If it’s in a great leap, give me Hanuman feet,
and we’ll all reap in the joy.  Oh boy!

No Comments » Posted by admin / Joshua Mapp Weiss and Poetry and Uncategorized

Robust respect for self and other,
brothers, sisters, father, mother.
Here and there I am aware
of things I can do to clean house -
to organize, contribute, and pay tribute
to my folks and to myself.

So I glean, the spaces in between
are getting lean.  I mean…
Well, I concede, I’ve done some dirty deeds.
It’s a shame how fear breeds fear
and anger with ones so dear.

I am calling on the forces of love and action,
imagination, collaboration…and INSPIRATION.
Give us, one and all, the increase,
the raise, the elevation!

By the way, God save this nation.
If it’s to be my station, then let me state:
My allegiance is to the united sates of consciousness — one nation,
under (and all points) God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

The Americas and every bastion of hope
on this great sphere and beyond.
Here this call:  United we stand,
divided we fall.

Now is the time for the time is Now!

No Comments » Posted by admin / Joshua Mapp Weiss and Poetry

What I have to live for
is so much more than a mere poem
could possibly capture;
we’re talking rapture.

No Comments » Posted by admin / Joshua Mapp Weiss and Poetry and Uncategorized

If this were a song,
would you sing along?
If you felt it in your heart so strong,
no amount of fear of being wrong
could contain what your soul does long
to express?

Confess, you would, if it had a groove
that made your body want to move
and took you on a mystical ride
to where your spirit did reside,
and you found yourself transcending time,
where all was love…supreme, sublime.

No Comments » Posted by admin / Joshua Mapp Weiss and Poetry

There’s a move to make,
a step to take,
your life’s at stake
for heaven’s sake.
Out the door
of the house of pain,
jump in the car
and catch a plane.
Hop on a bus
then board a train,
ride a bike
down a windy lane,
hike the trail
with a trusty cane
under blazing sun
and driving rain
’til every deamon
has been slain
and you are born
anew again.

No Comments » Posted by admin / Joshua Mapp Weiss and Poetry and Uncategorized

O distant star
wherever you are
You are farther now
than before

Yet you are always near
You are always here
Until you’re not
Or so I thought
For I have bought
and I have sold

What would you have me do?
Are you in me?
Am I in you?

Yes you are said the no I’m not.
What is the meat and what is the fat?

Does the one come undone
without the other, brother?
Well, said the mother to the sister
The sun is one and he’s a star
and the moon is one
and she’s without par

No Comments » Posted by admin / Joshua Mapp Weiss and Poetry and Uncategorized

It’s been a while
this life on trial
for crimes so vile
I’m in denial
so full of bile
no amount of style
nor attempt at guile
will change the dial
Where oh where is the little chile
who beamed a big and bright, white smile?
I’ll go the extra, extra mile
if only you will expunge my file

No Comments » Posted by admin / Joshua Mapp Weiss and Poetry and Uncategorized

It’s Saturday again, which means it’s been a week since the inception of artesoy.  Woohoo!!

Today I explored more of the same part of Coconut Grove as last week.  Little did I know what was in store for me this time out.  I headed down Tiger Tail, took a random left, and at the end of a block or two I stumbled upon the very same tree that I highlighted in my first blog.  Cool, I thought, this is a good sign.  I got to say hello to my new friend, which also served as a guidepost for what was to come.  A turn or two and I was heading down Seminole street.

Right from the start, with the corner lot, I was enchanted.  And as I continued down the street and began taking the whole thing in, I darn near fell under a spell.  I doubt the photos I took can do it justice.  Let’s upload them and see…

I’m afraid not.  At least you might get an idea, though.  Try and imagine the rest.  Or go see them for yourself!

No Comments » Posted by admin / Joshua Mapp Weiss and Uncategorized

I am fortunate to be able to say that I have several friends who play music and who cut a mystical figure, as it were.  I suppose music tends to bring out a bit of the mystic in us all.  I mean, anytime we’re feeling the energy and the rhythm, and we instinctively want to move our bodies…well, that’s mystical to me.

Yet if there’s a person in my life who has earned the title, it’s Erik Thompson Green.  By day, Erik is a trusted and time-tested Production Assistant extraordinaire.  He’s got years of experience — far more than most in a role generally seen as a stepping stone on the way to more glamorous, albeit compromising, ones.

Thing is, Erik has an addiction, er…calling.  He loves to tap into the current, or the ether, or whatever it is that sweeps him up in it.  Whether it’s rolling around in the surf, contact juggling, playing his bamboo sax or his cans, or engaging in a number of peculiarly creative pastimes, Erik is all about going for it with his entire being.  And the more kindred spirits who are ready to get in on the fun, the merrier, so long as they’re respectful and conscious of one another.  If you check out a full-moon jam on Miami Beach, chances are you’ll find him there, doing his thing.

2 Comments » Posted by admin / Erik Thompson-Green and Joshua Mapp Weiss and Music