Greetings spirits!

Phaentompoet has returned for another installment of phaentom’s haunt.

Once again, I really took my time! And once again, I find myself running away from social media, including this newsletter as a social medium. My last newsletter was about March and April events so I wanted to do one mid/late April with updates and more invitations, but here we are in late May, nearly June. My apologies for writing a newsletter that is more recapping my events rather than inviting you as I had originally intended. For better or worse, instagram is the platform I use most to share my events, and when I remember, my website often will have my upcoming events with ticket links (*runs to go update my website*). And you’ll notice this newsletter is full of links as kinds of reference/citation, stuff you can explore immediately or revisit at a later time.

All that said, I don’t think any of us should be so hard on ourselves about our relationship to social media. We live in a fascist state in the midst of economic recession (or worse…) and murderous warmongering, and social media platforms are actively finding news ways to slurp our time and energy and sell our data. Ideally, we all get to a point where we liberate ourselves from these platforms (this very platform included, whether I’m talking this newsletter platform or this email platform), and so, in many ways, any time spent off the applications is good time spent, even if it becomes “shirking” “responsibilities”.

Grief Song

I’ve been singing the grief song again.

Here is my poem “Grief Song” published by Voicemail Poems in November 2021.

I wrote this poem in trying to process the various griefs I held in my dad’s passing. As I age and as the poem ages, it has become a grief invocation, a grief invitation, to feel the grief in whatever form it may currently be taking. I think when grief shapeshifts, we often mistakenly imagine a shift in distance rather than a shift in relationship.

I recently finished Green of All Heads by Aracelis Girmay, one of my absolute favorite poets. To me, the poetry collection is about the constant exchanges that are happening between the living and the dead, their interconnections. I find myself constantly returning to this untitled poem (or perhaps a poem that is contained in another poem– there are many of her poems in this collection that slide into each other in ways where it is hard to tell if it is one poem or many) about flies. I like hearing her read it, hearing her voice. It is a beautiful poem that contains so many layers as you really dwell on it. This poem, too, is a grief song.

I notice when I read my grief song, there is at least one listener who begins to grieve in a way that I can sense, where I did not previously notice. It is a poem that calls out to me from time to time, asking to be spoken aloud from time to time, both privately and publicly.

I find often that I am more a vessel for this particular poem rather than reading or performing it. It often feels channeled. It is often channeled with eyes closed, hands out, open, palms up, loud breaths before the start, at punctuation points, and at its close. It is a poem about breath, its heaviness, its lightness.

I read this poem a few times during April, at the Ralonda Simmons Scholarship reading at the Auraria Campus as well as at the Pillow Fort collaborative interactive poetry event. Both of these were really lovely events, and even more lovely was the time spent in community, community that includes invoking the names of our loved ones so that they are present within our practice of presence. I know recently a poet passed away in community, a poet I never met in person but whose presence and poetry have reached me regardless. I’m always thinking of Ralonda, Leo, and many other local poets who have transitioned– and I know I’m not alone in this. Grateful for local poets like Mir-I-Am and Suzi Q. Smith and others who create altars and candles and poems and spaces for the memory of poets past/passed.

When I read this poem, I am reminded of how our American society doesn’t offer space to grieve. When I read this poem, I can sense griefs in various forms, if only briefly, step out into light. There is so much to grieve, indeed, so any time spent feeling grief is healing. When I am called to read this poem, it feels like a kind of medicine– hopefully for someone listening, but certainly me, invited once again into grief.

—-

I find myself in strange time portals. I’m stuck in moments in time. I am frozen in the moment of the strike upon a girl’s elementary school in Minab, Iran, on the figure of 40,000 deaths or so from Gaza before the media stopped reporting the numbers. I’m stuck dwelling in history, the parallels of bomb strikes, of famines, of trails of tears– the gravity of genocides and their afterlives.

Unfortunately, when you are frozen in time, time nevertheless continues as you freeze frozen.

Those numbers continue to add up– in Gaza, in West Bank, in Iran, in Lebanon, in Cuba, in Congo, in Sudan… as well as across the USA. So many other atrocities continue– in prisons, in immigrant detention centers, on islands, in workplaces, in private. There was recently a massive chemical explosion in California, and “official accounts” are *already* saying things are “safe” and “handled”. I grieve so many people, those who have lost their lives to these ridiculous wars, and those who continue to live in unthinkable conditions.

There is so much to grieve: much that we know and much that we do not. Covid19 continues to mutate as our society has collectively agreed to not mask and roll the dice at the expense of everyone including and especially disabled and immunocompromised people. Other diseases have advanced, precisely because of how Covid19 affects the immune system, but also not helped by an anti-vax administration that seems to intend to deliberately maim and sicken populations across the country as well as around the world.

I grieve my sensibility any time I’m in public without a mask, with all the silly excuses I give myself despite always having at least one mask on my person. I grieve the societal safety nets, so many clipped and cut away. I grieve a sense of collectivism that we once had, that we could still have.

May this grief move us toward deeper commitment to care work, to the work of dismantling systems of war.

—

I just felt like before I did any recapping that I recap the grief that always feels like its tailing right behind. For the real grief song is breath itself, each and every breath tinged with some grief. Let’s take a moment to take a deep breath. Inhale. Exhale.

The Era of BODYPOLITIC

I have to begin with gratitude. I have been so surprised and delighted by the BODYPOLITIC launch and it is all because of the support so many folks, very likely you reading this right now, have given to this text. Each of the reading events for the chapbook were unique and special moments with friends and poetry lovers.

The BODYPOLITIC tour was basically me reaching out to people to see if they would be down to host a release party where I’d bring the poems, the poets, the books, and the people if they would bring the space. I got yeses from Counterpath and Lighthouse in Denver, and Trident in Boulder. And then, serendipitously, West Side Books reached out to do an event, so I got to add them to the list. So these places, plus the readings I did in Baltimore constituted my little home-made local book tour.

I was a little nervous about AWP (an annual writers conference, this year held in Baltimore, MA) for many reasons– the prospect of spending a bunch of money, the prospect of being in a new city alone, the prospect of increased chances of transmission of some virus or otherwise (and while I didn’t get “sick” I did have a weird rash that appeared for a week after my time in Baltimore). But overall, it was a very nice time, getting to see many familiar faces (so many particular and interesting stories I could tell!) and meeting new people and making new connections.

BODYPOLITIC in Baltimore was so lovely– I performed at a few offsite events and it was super cool to read with so many brilliant poets from so many different places in the country as well as world. It was also really cool to see that the poems were received well in these new settings. So cool to build mutual respect and admiration for my pressmates at Abode Press as well as the Abode Press team (shoutout to Diamond in particular! Thank you for everything!), for example, after reading together (shoutout to M.K and Angelica and Osmani, was so cool to meet you all!). I also had book signing[s!], which I thought was a funny idea and didn’t actually expect people to show up and brought Bananagrams to play, but a few people did indeed purchase copies and ask me to sign the book and everything.

And then the release events back home in CO, oh my goodness! The first one at Counterpath was so lovely, thank you to Counterpath for always giving my work a space! Tyler and Suzi and Nate and Crisosto gave such moving readings, and it felt so good to *read* (as opposed to perform memorized work) the poems and to allow old poems to play in new ways.

In particular, I think of my poem “Laminar Flow” toward the end of BODYPOLITIC. I wrote this poem in a series of poems called “Stasis”, a concept that really moved me at the time where I envisioned myself in a kind of cocoon period in my life. It’s a poem that looks pretty cool on the page (I like to think of it’s form as an elemental contrapuntal, where an element is repeated as the counterpoint. I also like to think of it as a concrete poem that visualizes a kind of laminar flow), and so to match what is going on on the page, I wanted it to have an audience participation dimension.

Something I think of often is a performance in which Diana Khoi Nguyen, author of Ghost Of and Root Fractures, had the audience make buzzing noises to symbolize the bees her brother kept hearing but nobody believed. I can’t remember if she recited a poem atop the buzzing or not, but the way the audience began to buzz was so moving, so haunting. I never read Émile Durkheim like many did in other SoSC courses in my college (the common curriculum / core classes each student is made to take in addition to their major in order to graduate) but everyone kept talking about “collective effervescence” and I never got it. I still don’t quite get it, but if I did, the buzzing was something to that effect. I’ve always wondered if I could create an effect like that in the poems and “Laminar Flow” does this. I ask the audience to say the word “water” as they feel, with the intention of filling the room with water. I ask the audience to be as a choir, where a note gets held but singers do staggered breathing so that everyone can breathe as the note is held– similarly, to fill in the water where you hear it lighten. I then float the poem atop the water, though what inevitably happens is that the water takes over the process, with some words remaining buoyant as others drift away. Eventually the poem fills with water, so much that toward the end, I find myself saying water after every word, sometimes repeatedly. The poem ends like rain, with the water trickling down to drops, then, silence.

I think that poem/performance is a perfect little memento for the evening.

The next stop was Trident in Boulder. I always say, semi-jokingly, Boulder is a place on Earth (derogatory). Frankly, there is no adequate way to explain this except through experience. That being said, it’s also a really lovely place in small doses and brief time periods. And many lovely poets exist and live there/in neighboring cities. And so I wanted to have an event easier for them to attend. This was also an opportunity to share the stage, share poetry, and share conversation with my dear friend Liza Sparks. It was a lovely night, and while many in attendance were just cafe patrons trying to do school work, there were plenty of familiar faces in the crowd who I am grateful were in attendance.

It was a particular treat to hear poems from Liza that spoke to the poems in BP and to be in conversation about process. I also really loved the conversation aspect to it— I love getting to hear about background, context, and process, and I love talking about it too. Some poets say that talking about their poems is hard and or unpleasant, but for me, I could talk about a single poem all day. I could talk about all my choices and inspirations, from diction to syntax to perspective to form to lines to drafts to performance styles etc etc etc. Conversation is the platform for my poet laureate residency and I think this event helped shape a later event that I’ll talk about as well as future events to come that prioritize conversation and exchange.

I really loved my reading at West Side Books with Crisosto Apache for a similar reason– Crisosto suggested that, rather than have 2 separate sets, we select and read poems based on the poems the other poet read. It was so cool to actively listen to the poem, and then when it was over, consider if a poem of mine came up– perhaps in response or association, perhaps just as serendipitous summoning. I read poems I don’t normally read and we had the chance to talk about the poems with each other, their context and dynamics, and our audience had a chance to engage in the conversation as well. I loved this style of poetry reading and I want to do more of it and/or facilitate space for poems. Okay, so, possible names for a series in this manner: Double Time; Couplet Poetry; Gemini Poetics (lol). Anywhoooo, major shoutout to West Side Books– it is the only book store that currently carries my work, so if you are still looking to get a copy, that’s a place you can get it (I think?? My friend said they were actually low on stock [!!!]).

The final leg of the tour was at Lighthouse Writers Workshop – thank you to the folks at Lighthouse and especially to Marissa. It was so so so nice to have Meca’Ayo and Emily and Teri and Marissa AND Jessica (a late addition to the roster, but I’m so so so glad she was able to come and share her BEAUTIFUL poems). I was super surprised about the attendance as well, a pretty full audience of unfamiliar faces. It turns out a local professor of poetry found out about the reading and offered extra credit for his class to attend. WOW! Shoutout to that professor and those students!

I sold out of copies of BODYPOLITIC for the tour! And like I said, WSB may not have stock, so there are only two places to get a copy. The first is from Anythink Libraries, who has generously ordered many copies of the chapbook that are available across the branches (!!!! I truly cannot express how cool it is for a chapbook to exist in the library, and especially so many copies!) They have at least 10 copies in circulation along with a few copies of MISEDUCATION as well. Thank you to Anythink!!! (and soon enough, perhaps, Denver or Aurora or Boulder!? I tried Denver, gave them copies of BODYELECTRONIC and MISEDUCATION and I have no idea what they did with them, very disappointing, especially considering that physical copies of BE don’t really exist anymore… sighhhhh). And the second place is, of course, directly from Abode Press, which is what I always recommend, especially because it is so important to continue supporting small indie presses.

Let me say here: just because the tour is over doesn’t mean the era is over. In fact, the era has just begun. The era of BODYELECTRONIC continued even after the publisher disappeared because of ELECTRIC NOBODY (computer programmed remixes of the poems, I’m surprised the site is still up, I thought something was happening with github. Also I do want to note that it’s kind of a misnomer to call this AI, especially because it is a contained set and the sample exclusively coming from the text of the book. Such a cool bonus project that continues the ethos of the project) as well as the audio version of BODYELECTRONIC as well as some visuals for some of the poems like DISTANCE and GARBAGE DAY.

Lowkey, the era of MISEDUCATION doesn’t quite want to end (even though the New Delta Review site is down??? Hopefully they address that…). I was so pleased with its release, and the performances were, well, performative as always (I think I did all of the readings wearing a cap and gown that I dramatically disrobed from). I was surprised and delighted about it getting reviewed as well as getting opportunities to talk about the collection. But best of all has been working with Angie to put it to music. I actually recently uploaded the full version of our performance at Counterpath (pretty much last year exactly) to youtube, so you can experience the whole thing there until we are able to professionally record it and upload it to streaming. Until then, we do have a single out from the project that you can stream or even download called Reasons Why I Left.

And so, given this, I know the era of BODYPOLITIC will continue, and arguably, it started a long time ago whenever I first started doing Body Poetics workshops. As anxious as I am to have any of my collection manuscripts become physical books, it needs to happen in a way that feels good and right to me, and so until then, BODYPOLITIC. I have ideas for what I want the audio version of BODYPOLITIC to sound like, so I’m excited to work on that. But these poems have been so flexible that there are actually a number of versions of these poems with musical accompaniment. There are a lot of things possible– I would like to make poetry posters of some of the poems, for example (I’d prefer broadsides but there are so many barriers to getting broadsides made…). I’m hoping to have some opportunities to have this book get critical attention and podcasts and that sort of thing, but overall, I’m truly already so grateful for how these poems have been received. Thank you all so much! Thank you to my family, my mom and sister and my cousins Molly and Selene especially, for supporting me and coming thru to shows and always having love for me.

And as a last note on “eras” I want to mention an opportunity I had to be a guest for the Poetry Collective at Lighthouse Writers Workshop. Because this happened after the book tour proper, I asked what kind of set they would prefer to hear: 1) A BODYPOLITIC set; 2) A full set of new poems; or 3) an Eras Tour through my collections so far. They chose number 3, and it was a cool opportunity to read a poem or two from each of my chapbooks as well as a brand new poem I had never shared with anyone before. I got to answer questions about the writing process as well as being a poet laureate. PLUSSSS one of the people in the collective brought a homemade strawberry key lime pie. So suffice it to say, this was a really sweet reading.

And so here we are. The BODYPOLITIC era continues!

NATIONAL POETRY MONTH 2026

If it wasn’t enough to have a whole book tour, I also got to celebrate my first NPM as poet laureate. For the month, I had what I liked to think of as Poetry Thursdays, where each Thursday evening I would facilitate some kind of poetry programming across various branches of the Anythink Libraries. PLUS I got some more of my poetry friends involved to do even more poetry workshops across the branches (on days that were not Thursdays). I facilitated THREE different poetry workshops in the month (one a generative writing workshop, one a presentation/workshop on poetry publication, and one a spoken word performance workshop). We also had a [packed] open mic as well as the premiere of my special series of events called The Exchange, a poetry salon kind of event also with food, unique interactive activities, and collectible posters. The Adams County team has been making lovely video recaps of some of the events we’ve done, and I think the video can sum up things better than I can write, so here is the link (and/or an embedded video posted right here).

Best of all, everything that has happened has created space for more inspiration and innovation. What I mean by this: the idea I have for the next The Exchange is so cool!! It’ll be a very unique poetry event indeed– I’m imagining interactive poetry exhibitions, so we’ll see what we can make materialize from that seed-idea!

It’s truly been so lovely getting to spend time with the poetry lovers of Adams County– all of the workshops felt good to me and it sounds like they were well received as well. And it just feels cool getting to share resources for free in ways both that I never got to experience but also in ways that I did experience and get to pay forward (I’m always thinking about how crucial that period of lockdown and virtual events in 2020-2022 was for my poetry– so many free opportunities to engage with poets around the world. Some of those opportunities do exist but they are fewer in number and harder to find than they used to be, it seems.). And while I found The Exchange really exciting to create as well as perform in (and I’m so grateful and admiring of Franklin and Angie and Suzi for their participation– and also my thanks to the Anythink team for holding the space so warmly!!!!), the open mics continue to be the beating heart of poetry programs and it is always so so so cool to hear everyone’s poems and to be in space together.

Displaced reading and May Day reading

In addition to all the events that I talked about, there were two toward the end of the month that were both collections of communities toward activism through art. I’m always grateful to be invited to collaborate and contribute poems, but I am especially honored and elated to do so when it can be a vector toward social justice. I think there are a lot of ways to get involved or to lend a hand toward efforts, and every little bit counts.

At Redline Contemporary Art Center there was an exhibition on display called UNSEEN curated by the Sumud Artist Collective that featured photography and installations that explore Palestinian life. It shows photography of Colorado Palestinian families as well as a display of a home with a television, tapestries and rugs, chairs, a backgammon set, and juxtaposed next to these, the center installation of rubble and personal ephemera interspersed among the rubble like tea cups or teddy bears or clothing. The Displaced reading encouraged folks to engage with the exhibit, and also worked with the Sumud Collective to curate a selection of poets to speak on displacement in the various forms it takes. Poets spoke of various peoples of the world like Native Americans, Palestinians, and Irish peoples among many more. I shared a poem about Auraria, Colorado, and was surprised and moved to encounter a group of women who, too, were advocating for the history of Auraria and all the people displaced by the universities. It reminds me: you never know who is in the room, and you never know what rooms the poems will take you to unless you share the poems and allow them to take you through the doors. The issues we see around the world are far closer than we may think, folks from global diasporas are our neighbors, our friends, our family, our community.

Dystopian Times, a locally created magazine as well as activist collective, held an event for May Day that brought artists and organizers together to exchange information, art, food, and space. The poets who read for the evening were encouraged to speak on politics pro-workers, pro-union, anti-colonial, anti-capitalist. And while the event was super cool and, again, I can’t express enough how amazing the Colorado poetry scene is, I think the magazine itself was the real gem of the evening. In a time where adults continue to pontificate about their own nihilims and fears, there are local youth collectives that are doing research, making art and poetry, and finding creative as well as tried-and-true ways of sharing work. There is much to learn and much to do and many ways to get involved.

Return to the Clocktower

Early May I got to make my comeback to the Clocktower– I hadn’t performed there since spring 2025. I’ve been performing poetry at the Clocktower Cabaret for a few years and it’s been great overall. I got invited to do a few gigs there over May (as well as some during June as well!)– first was a burlesque variety show called Off The Clock and the second was the King Penny Radio Hour, which is an improv comedy show in the theme/styling of 1940’s radio (with commercials and sounds). The variety show is always great and is one of my favorite places to perform my poem “Breasts” not just because it is oh-so relevant and topical in that setting, but also because people are more willing to react in that setting for some reason. Maybe it’s the time of night, maybe it’s the alcohol, maybe it’s the setting, maybe it’s just the show, but it is far easier to get laughs and responses than a typical poetry audience. Maybe because I’m so accustomed to the poem at this point, to me, it is more a 5 minute comedy set and I’m always looking for laughs. But of course, the thing that really make the poem is the balance between humor and earnesty (is that a word? It is now). More often than not, folks will approach me after the show and express that the poem made them cry– and so I love that we can go through all of the emotions together, that’s what poetry is about. I meet audiences where they are and I’m not necessarily looking for any reactions or even attention in particular, so it is always especially meaningful to me when folks express that my work has resonated, especially in the setting of a burlesque show. A good burlesque show should take you through all the emotions as well (I can recall my own times crying at performances: a performance where a woman tied and suspended herself in air– so moving and surprisingly emotional! Also, an aerial performer doing a moving set to Party 4 U by CharliXCX (this is Dazzling Drake who is one of the co-hosts for the the Alphabet Mafia burlesque show series for Pride at the Clocktower, so hopefully there will be a repeat of this performance or perhaps something even more incredible!). So if you have a chance to come see me, or really any show at the Clocktower, I recommend it!

Then there was the King Penny Radio Show. I’ve never done improv before but I’ve always wanted it. I still didn’t really do any on the show– I was there as a guest poet and did a 10 minute set of poems. BUT! I did get to rehearse with the troupe and it was cool to go over the warm ups and games and see the process behind the scenes and meet and talk to the players. It only confirms my thought that improv is something I could do– I’d just need more practice. I found myself overthinking and getting really shy, so I think if I got more comfortable it would be a great time. And the show was great, both the version I got in rehearsal as well as the day of show– totally different, it was amazing to see. So cool to be involved in the show and to be inspired to either take improv classes and/or attempt poetry freestyles.

On Music Eras

Yep, there’s still more! Especially because I don’t really have anywhere else to express this, but in addition to everything, I also got to go to the concerts of some of my favorite musicians right now. Both of the musicians are European (British and French), so it is an amazing and special thing that they had tour stops in Denver.

Something bittersweet but necessary about me going to concerts anymore is that I no longer go to be among the crowd, up front to see the artist, and fully immersed and dancing. Anymore, I am *always* masked, I am toward the back, I am near seating, I am near an exit, and I’m still singing and dancing, but not quite like I would if I were closer, not quite like I’d like to. While I don’t have plans to see Purity Ring (They came to Denver and very very recently, like last week, to Boulder) I highly respect their practice of making their concerts mask-mandatory and having distribution of masks before the shows.

Okay so the first artist is FKA twigs. I went to see FKA twigs on her BODY HIGH tour and OMG IT WAS INCREDIBLE. If you know me, you likely know FKA twigs is one of my all time favorite artists and has been pretty much since I first found out about her music back in my college years, so like 2012/2013. I can still kind of remember the feeling of encountering her music, only really having two songs to work with at the time, Ache and Hide. I had never seen or heard anything like Hide before. That there was a main beat, but then this clock-ticking sound that warps the feeling of time, that there was this guitar that also felt warped but also had this real groove. And the anthurium flower. I grew fascinated with it and its floral fleshiness. And I grew into a musical relationship with twigs that still continues.

Twigs kept releasing more compelling songs, more gorgeous visuals, and I found myself more and more pulled into her universe. I remember writing a short review of her song “Breathe” from what would later be known as EP1 on the music blog that I co-ran with my friend Jorge. I remember being obsessed together with my friend Ashley, over songs like Pendulum. I remember LP1 was my album of the year in 2014, that Ashley and I collectively created a life rule that still applies today tbh: If you don’t remember the last time you’ve listened to LP1, it is time to listen now and again. I remember when I moved back to Denver from college in Chicago, freaking out at work when she dropped the visuals and the full EP for M3LL155X, watching it in the bathroom immediately instead of working (lol). I remember, when I lived in Santa Monica, CA, watching her Pitchfork performance live streamed, seeing her perform new songs (that remain unreleased to this day, I can imagine for many reasons…sighhhhh) and freaking out to my roommates, who were mostly uninterested. I remember finding out that she would be coming to Colorado in 2019 and immediately finding a way for my sister and I to go, with my sister gifting me some of her T Shirt merch that I only wear for ~special~ occasions. I remember being in lockdown and learning the dance to her song Jealousy and trying to learn the hand motions to Darjeeling. I remember walking off the train in Lakewood, CO to be a workshop facilitator for Twenty Bellow’s Colorado Creative Writing Retreat, with the single of Eusexua playing in my ears– Do you feel alone? You’re not alone. And so seeing the moment where, in her Grammy winning speech, she is holding on to the anthurium flower as a nod to her eras… I dunno, it just hit hard as a symbol, it made me remember all the previous me’s and their relationships to the previous hers.

OKAY SO WHEN I SAY IT THE SHOW WAS INCREDIBLE, PLEASE KNOW I AM BRINGING ALL OF THIS HISTORY WITH ME. And so did she. She did have an opener, but mostly, it was her performing from her catalogue for 2 ½ hours. Solo and group choreo, pole dancing, wushu sword word, a ballroom moment for voguers and crumpers, as well as guitar-singer moments, cool projected visuals, and like 5-8 new songs, a whole new album basically. It was so good that I rewatched it on both weekends of her Coachella live streams this year (and while you can’t see the whole performance, there are plenty of songs from the set available.) She had teased a song and I wasn’t too into it, but that same song is the one I’m replaying on youtube all the time now. I liked Eusexua (honestly, there were some skips– and wildly, she made an alternate version of the album where those skipped songs are switched out to better songs, it’s like she knew! In fact, the “alternate” version is actually closer to her original demo, so it’s interesting to consider the decisions one makes to create a label-backed studio album), but I LOVE Eusexua: Afterglow, it’s sister album. And I’m ready for whatever comes next!

OKAY! So the second artist is Oklou. I forget how I found out about her, but she has been collaborating with a lot of artists I listen to. And so when I checked out her music video for Family & Friends, I felt deeply moved, a particular kind of feeling of doom and simultaneously, gratitude. I like her song Obvious too, the cute little dance her and her friends are doing to this song that is just a vibe. And so I listened to her album Choke Enough and found the music so unique, so peculiar, so inspirational– as much as I love percussion in music, I loved how this music really didn’t rely on percussion and let other elements of the music hold that space instead. The album felt like a party for introverts, like dancing outside to the echoes of distant sounds. Even the songs I didn’t like at first grew on me and now the whole album is a no-skip, including the interludes that make music of those strange siren noises that come from parking garages when the little handle goes up (to me they sound like birds, maybe like prehistoric pterodactyls or futuristic electro-vultures). And when I saw her performing on ice with ice skaters and live instruments, I was like, yep, I’m locked in. She even has a song with FKA twigs, go figure!

The live show was super cool– I was a little curious since the music is so peculiar and light on percussion. But she actually had added percussion sections for many songs for the live show to really make it more dancey. She mostly sings using autotune, and so it was cool to see how her soft vocals were still able to mix well with the loud concert setting. And idk if you have ever used autotune, but if you fuck up, it’ll still sound fucked up but autotuned, and so there still requires significant vocal ability to sing live even with autotune. And I loved all the live instruments– guitar solos, live keys, and of course her recorder.

I just find myself so inspired by musicians more than other artists– to me, the best musicians combine all the arts into one: poetry, audio, visuals/fashion, dance, film, photography, etc. As I move forward as an artist, as a poet, as a musician, I learn so much from these shows and continue to imagine how and when I could do something like that myself.

So long story short, go stream FKA twigs and Oklou. And also go check out my current musical obsession: Kiss Facility. Here is a song called Cheap Poetry.

I’ve finished yet another music project demo. Music is so frustrating– I wish I could share any or all of the project now, but it needs time now, likely years, to simmer and develop and become. So this make 3 music projects I’m sitting on now: The reproduction of 2018 a cappella album SORROW SONGS, the album/double EPs of PARALLEL (1one and zer0)- the demos finished in like 2023, and the latest album demo I’m calling FINITUDE, based on my Infinity Plus One poem series. Maybe one day I’ll share these projects publicly. But if you are interested privately, let me know. I’d love to share and talk about these songs. I am quite enjoying living with these songs, humming the melodies randomly, being on the bus and listening to drafts and imagining new versions.

It’s funny, one of my friends *just* sent me a snippet from an a cappella concert from college (fun fact, I was in an a cappella group, you know, like Pitch Perfect). It was pretty cool, though lowkey messy lmao. I was just thinking recently, I wonder if ppl are looking for my poems on youtube and find my a cappella shows. It’s fine, only mildly embarrassing! Something endearing about seeing young me, though. I’m sure that young Aerik would be delighted to know I’m making original music and living as a poet. Anyway, please notice that of all the links I have provided, I have not shared links to those performances :)

UPCOMING EVENTS

Okay I know this has already been a loooong newsletter and a lot of words and time, so thank you for making it this far and I’ll try to make my invitations to you all for these events brief:

Denver Poets Day

Sunday, 31 May

10:30-6:30

Belmar Park Ampitheatre

Lakewood, CO

“Gather with the local poetry community for a free, open-air celebration. Bring friends, a picnic, and settle in for a day of readings and connection at the Belmar Park Ampitheatre.”

Alphabet Mafia: A Celebratory, Powerful, & Joyous Burlesque, Drag & Variety Show

(text copied from the site description)

The Clocktower Cabaret

1601 Arapahoe St,

Denver, CO

“This year, the parade leads right to our doorstep, and we’re celebrating with some of Denver’s best queer talent! Alphabet Mafia features burlesque, aerial, drag, and variety performances that showcase queer joy and its many expressions.

Psychopomp Productions is made up of Dazzling Drake (they/them) and Eve Addams (they/them). Drake and Eve met and became friends through performing at the Clocktower. They are both queer circus and burlesque performers who teach and perform throughout Colorado.

June 12, 27, 28”

Adams County Pride

Saturday, June 13

Noon-6 p.m.

Riverdale Regional Park

9755 Henderson Road

Brighton, CO

(text copied from the site description)

“Adams County is proud to celebrate love, family, and community with our fifth annual Pride event! Join local artists, musicians, drag performers, and vendors for an afternoon filled with excitement and passion. Plus, experience joy-in-motion through art, live DJs, and roller skating with Denver’s own Rainbow Dome!”

Gazebo Stage Schedule

3-3:30 p.m.: Adams County Poet Laureate Aerik Francis

Thornton Juneteenth

Thu, Jun 18 2026, 5:30 - 8:30pm

Harley Brown Amphitheater

3498 E 112th Ave.

Thornton, CO

Commerce City Juneteenth

Friday, June 19, from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m.,

Pioneer Park, 5950 Holly St.

Commerce City, CO

(text copied from the site description)

“Join us for a vibrant Juneteenth Celebration filled with food, fun, and festivities for all ages! This free community event honors the significance of Juneteenth with a day of connection, culture, and celebration.

Enjoy:

Free food and tasty options available for purchase

A variety of informational and product booths

Kid-friendly activities and face painting

Live performances, including Poet Laureate Aerik Francis

Music from a live DJ

Crafts hosted by the Cultural Council

Bring your family, bring your friends, and come celebrate freedom and community with us!”

Lavender Lyre

Thursday June 25, 2026 at 7:30 pm. Beacon Hall, Lighthouse Writers Workshop, 3844 York St, Denver, CO

Friday June 26, 2026 at 7:30 pm. United Church of Broomfield, 825 Kohl St, Broomfield, CO”

(text copied from the site description)

“In celebration of Queer joy, resistance, and resilience, join the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado and Lighthouse Writers Workshop for a special evening of storytelling and music, with two performances. This collaborative event will feature readings by local authors and Lighthouse faculty members Dino Enrique Piacentini, Aerik Francis, and Sasha Geffen and five musicians from the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado. Together, we’ll honor the rich legacy of the LGBTQIA+ community through the magic of poetry, short fiction, and the beauty of Baroque music.

—-

There is more stuff happening in July and August, but I am going to delay mentioning that here 1) because there is already so much going on and 2) hopefully it will give me a reason to send the next newsletter sooner than later. Perhaps I’ll update the events tab on my website as well… Perhaps…

END

I keep seeing robots. They want us in the robot cars that stalk cul-de-sacs. They want us watching robots dance (it’s the crowd’s silence as the scene plays out that does it for me).. They want us praying with the robots. They want us to own robot dogs. They want us to rely on artificial intelligence until we have no natural intelligence. They want us to close our eyes to the smog, close our ears to the sound of generators, and to drink the poisoned water just as they demonstrate. As Orwell wrote in the book 1984: “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”

And sometimes it feels like we are the ones becoming robots. I watch more live streams than tv shows (do we still call them tv shows? Streamed through our screens shows?) and I’ve noticed how quickly “entertainment” has devolved to thoughtless and careless provocation and spectacle. With every foul, there is a double down.

But more of what I am seeing is refusal. I am seeing mentions of AI turn into shouts of boo, as they should! I see people still hungry for poetry, poetry of the vast and complex human experience. I see artists finding ways to connect even as the rent continues to be too mfkn damn high! I see communities finding ways to stand up and fight back. I see people wearing masks, and I see people seeing people wearing masks and then putting on a mask themselves.

As this era of US [techno]Fascism continues, so does the era of grassroots, so does the era of poetry, so does the era of collective movement work.

To you, to me, to us, let’s continue speaking out, loving one another, and working for a better today and tomorrow for all of us.

This era of care continues, too.

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