The Poets

Em Dorman is a poet, comedian, activist, and the creator of Poets for Palestine, a monthly event "to share about the complexities of grief, love, and loss." In this feature Em shares poetry detailing their journey through self-discovery involving love, loss, sobriety, and celibacy. We discuss that journey, as well as family, queerness and gender, sobriety and celibacy, the divine feminine, motherhood, the death drive—even Jesus makes an appearance. Follow Em on IG @emz.records for information about them and their work as well as future editions of Poets for Palestine. Em's linktree can be found here.

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Side note - please forgive the buzzing, new mics who dis and all that. I will have it squared away soon!

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Questions? Comments? Want to be featured? Email [email protected]

Eli is a queer Colorado poet, parent, hiker, gardener, singer-songwriter, urban farmer, tiler and contractor.  They've had poems published in multiple zines and reviews including Spit Poet Zine, Dark Moon Zine, and South Broadway Ghost Society. Their book, Treat Me Like You Treat the Earth, sold out after publication in 2019 and is slated for re-publication this year.  Their self-published chapbook, Confessions from the Brink of Ecocide, came out in 2023.  Their new book, Better Ways of Being Human, is currently being submitted.  They are lead singer of "Eli and the Hypotheticals" and  yes, they will help you build your garden bed.  (More punk than Brice since 2016)

Follow Eli on IG @elithewhittington and follow their band, Eli and the Hypotheticals @eliandthehypotheticals

Eli's book, Treat Me Like You Treat The Earth, published through Suspect Press

Eli's poem, Treat Me Like You Treat The Earth, featured on the Punketry album by Black Market Translation

Eli's poem, Languishing, published through South Broadway Ghost Society

Soundcloud for Eli's band, Eli and the Hypotheticals

In this episode:

Songs

Poems

Faith Diaz; event host, performer, story teller & writer, originally born in Bronx, NY, has spent most of her life moving from place to place. Her hope is to continue sharing the stories that matter, from people who do even more so. When she is not petting her Corgi, Sunny, she can be found lying in the sunlight, attempting the continued discovery of self, or just eating Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream.

Find Faith on IG @withinlovebloomed2

In this episode:

Tony V is a streamer, stoner, and self-proclaimed local poet based in Denver, CO. Tony appears at the Friday night open mic at the Mercury Cafe, and has two collections in the works, one of poetry and one of short stories. Find Tony on Instagram ⁠⁠@tony_v_poetry⁠⁠, and TikTok ⁠⁠@zanaro420⁠

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Questions? Comments? Want to be featured? Email [email protected]

This statement is false: the Pseudobiography of M. Derek Pauls
Paul Derek is dead. Long live Derek Pauls.
Paul Derek had an exquisite if brief existence, beginning with his birth in Denver. Born mulatto to a dead mostly White dad in a mostly White city, Paul Derek was socially programmed, like everybody else, to see Blacks like himself as Lesser and Other. And his experience of familial molestation didn’t help a motherfukcing bit, either, serving to convince him fundamentally that he was unloveable. (Queue world’s smallest violin.)
But Paul Derek was also really fucking smart. All book sense and no common sense, admittedly, but he tested well and got scholarships. And fucking loved music, but let himself get pushed towards conventional academics instead.
As such, although ultimately bound for abject spiritual poverty, Paul Derek amassed access to vast amounts of intellectual wealth. He collected letters after his name. He wrote songs and songs and poems and songs. He delivered babies and sutured wounds. He fathered a daughter.
He saw himself as an Impostor.
And Paul Derek fell into an inexorable slough of despond upon coming to believe that his chosen mate found him repulsive, however subjective that belief may have been. Paul Derek was convinced that his marriage was over before his daughter was even born, and blames himself for lacking the courage to end his stillborn marriage at its inception — on his own terms — rather than accepting mere terms of surrender, years later.
By the end, both Paul Derek and his spouse agreed that each marrying the other was the worst mistake of their respective lives, their child aside. Ironically, Paul Derek could still honestly write a glowing personal ad about the mother of his daughter, a sentiment sincerely unreciprocated.
Bereft of love and comfort, self-absorbed and consumed with loneliness — and apparently whining like a bitch — Paul Derek tumbled from the sky in flames like Icarus, endlessly falling ever deeper in darkness, crashing to the bottom of some yawning abyss, cratering and splintering like obsidian.
Paul Derek died in guttering fire, having lost absolutely everything.
Derek Pauls is choking at the bottom of a pit of phoenix ash, weak as a newborn, but reborn all the same.
Paul Derek is dead. Long live Derek Pauls.

Questions? Comments? Want to be featured? Email [email protected]

Stone (they/them) is a poet based out of Denver, Colorado. They can be found on social media as @persephone_stone, but they can also be found wherever there are disco balls and mocktails. They explore themes of sobriety, queerness, and love in all forms. As well as a poet, they are a photographer, comedian, and cat parent.

Instagram

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Questions? Comments? Want to be featured? Email [email protected]

Welcome back to the show, the one and only Sleepy.

Sleepy is a dreamer the spirit world has decided to keep wide awake. With no other options to escape reality, he’s infiltrated the poet community in Denver to talk shit, build community, and help create a world that doesn’t need escaping from.

Learn more about the Blackbird Renaissance: Instagram Youtube Discord

Picture by @absolutemoment

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Questions? Comments? Want to be featured? Email [email protected]

Ryan is a poet who was born someplace, lives somewhere else and writes primarily about some things but not other things — and most of all, he absolutely despises any sort of mystery or vaguery. He doesn't have patience for that sort of silliness. Not one bit.

In this episode:

1. Speechless (0:22) 2. Milk Soap (2:38) 3. Note to Self (2:47) 4. In Miami (8:26) 5. Swimming in a Tar Pit (10:11) 6. Oh Broken Wishing Well (11:31) 7. Hello to This New Future (12:12) 8. I Was Always Like This (12:33) 9. A Tent (15:37) 10. To Plant a Poem (15:48)

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Questions? Comments? Want to be featured? Email [email protected]

Grim Vorhees is a Chicago Born, Denver Based Creative that is exploring and experience art in whatever form manifests in his present moments. A community leader that strives to curate evolutionary environments that promote love, respect, and courage to be authentically yourself. His brand Good Vibes Only is one of the many platforms he uses to connect with people of all backgrounds who share his passion for community excellence.

Check out Grim's music here

*Recorded on February 23rd, 2024 but I took forever to get it done and ready.