insight november 2006

Welcome to the 14th edition of insight magazine!

Featuring:

Alma E. Davila-Toro: art, poetry “Miss [funky] Fresh”Emma Raynor: photographyChristian Reed: poetry “this is my city”Marja Lankinen: photographyMaria Simpkins: poetry “I found them”Coert Ambrosino: poetry “species in danger”Sean Dwyer: photography “Holocaust Memorial”Emma Raynor: photographyLevi: poetry “Let the dollars Circulate”Claire Forster: poetry “stream of conscious in art class”Sean Dwyer: photographyAdam Falkner: poetry “solstice in a natural: or “how come you don’t got no ‘i am from’ poem?” ”Myke Riley: music review “Lupe Fiasco, Food or Liquor?”Gerloni Cotton: music list “Funky Fresh Music “Warm Tunes to get you through a Michigan Winter” ”

Editorial Staff:Marja LankinenMyke Riley Founders: Atiba Edwards Alma E. Davila-Toro

I n s i g h t

poetry:adam falknerchristian reedclaire forstercoert ambrosinoalma e. davila-toro

photographysean dwyeremma raynor

under the needle:myke rileygerloni cotton

connecting the arts since day one

f.o.k.u.s.

alma e. davila-toro

Miss [funky] FresH as far as I can tell, you really are like a Makin my [soul] dance hip hop song… With ya dope ass [beat] one.love one.love Got me day [dream]in one.love Thinkin bout [U] one.love Everyday of the week .: PeacE :. [two] turntables Alma E. Davila-Toro Under a DJs light [mix]in a bomb tune

the world keeps movin as we move in slow motion with the almighty [moon]

singing ‘woman i need u’ like neva before [africa]n woman you’re the one i adore!

yo funky fresh style and yo beautiful smile got me [pop] lockin like beat street ayo, ima try to hold [US] down

can i keep u? graff’d on my [hearts] walls becoming the flyiest burner i’ve ever seen?

make yo hips move as my [boom] box drops the beat dancing into my world making my [soul] GROOVE into yo streets

this [rose] in spanish harlem wants to bloom into south central’s mighty [soul]child can ya dig?

emma raynor

This is my city, my loveIt makes promises and tells lies

And comforts with the presence of disclaimers

LikeLife, liberty and justices for all

orSubject to credit approval

Where outsiders scream as I laughWalking freely, safely only scared of

The clear and unfamiliarThose who slender forms once graced these streets

The City works Shaping an environment inside you

Making it recognizable, understandableof the ability to stand only alone with your

thoughts;Knowledge and potential to maintain

The art that is the creation of you.

Cold green morning mourningLooking forward to Thursday nightsBecause collective visions take time

Time that it takes for questionsBecause they are hard to come by

But they are thereLike the strangers

Who trust in Beautiful thingsAnd are people too….

But sometimes, I smile at themAs if they are animals, caged into monotonousthoughts, as if they are in a zoo, staring blankly

at the outside world.

This is my cityMy Lover

[Chris]tian Reed

marja lankinen

I found themWaiting for meWaiting to let me free

I put them onSecure and tightI spread my wings in that joyous flight

The wind came to whisperThe clouds came to kiss

I needed to go higherUp I flew into the mist

I broke free of the cloudsSpied the blaring sun

I was a diamond in the blueI knew what I shouldn’t do

I flew quite quickly, quite fast, quite swiftThat some feathers fell away

The closer I got the hotter it seemedI felt part of me twist at the seams

I looked back to see my wingsSo beautiful was my doom

From brightest white to darkest redliquid trails of fires dreadTrailing after

I flew down my wings pulled tightScalding feathers never far behindTo the silent blue below

I dived unto the depths unseenMy life my soul my wings floatingly fell away from meAnd I was left alone at the bottom of the sea

To my happiness and dismayI saw another careening downDestroying themselves in the very same way

Maria Simpkins

sean dwyer

species in danger

who among us stands threatenedbeneath a throng of spitting trees?mouths crushing cedar gumssplintered ugly with meaningless wordsdrippinglike saplike bloodfrom a nosefrom an insultfrom a lifetimeof pricks and cuntsand fists hard as redwoodshatteredlike bonelike trusthallowlike a trunk explodedthe image of a lightning strikerepeated inside a mindburnedlike a forestswallows violenceto spit it out beautifulbark scarred circulara single blade of grasspushing up through the chest of a cardinaldecayedlike culturebruised and crackinglike a stonethat knows nothingof healingor spring

coert ambrosino

sean dwyer emma raynor

They say money makes the world go round and that cash rules everything around me so maybe that’s why I’m getting so dizzy in the same spot where they found mecause I’m stuck to the ground seewhile everything else continues to move about meand progress is taking place without meI’m steadily trying to pull my feet from the concreteand vigorously shaking and yanking wildly-------------------------------------------------But I’m not the only one, cause when I put my head on a swivel I look around and notice that I’m directly in the middleof a crowd of individuals whose proud but just a little at the situation that shouldn’t fit themAnd that’s not to say that we all don’t have a choicebut when we speak to let it be known we have a voicethat choice to raise our voice above the noise is made voidcause someone figured it wouldn’t be good for him and his boys -------------------------------------------------So what else can we do but be left down here to wallow in our pain cause obviously down here no one comes to visit or take care of us at the bottom of the chain And of course we not just gon give up, or lay down and diewe do what we have to just to get byand sometimes it gets hard, as it was once said that we don’t die we multiply But the same could be said about the problems to which our lives apply-------------------------------------------------People dodging numerous pits trying to block the numerous hitstaking care of numerous kids but never seeing numerous dividends -------------------------------------------------See, I used to joke with my boy about girls, saying you can’t spell beat without eat meaning if she messed with one of us she’d get twice the treat But see, where I’m from, you really can’t spell beat without eat cause you gotta beat somebody’s ass just to get a meal that’s gon lastand no matter how fast you get itit always seems to leave faster than the method you used to obtain itso you have a tendency to forget it, as if it, didn’t, ever even happen

see, while you’re sitting here listening to me they’re probably dodging the pits, blocking the hits, looking after the kids, or placing the life of a man in their handsand all of this just to get something to eat -------------------------------------------------Fortunately for you there’s meand if you haven’t realized then peep notice the residue of concrete around my feetmeaning I was able to get loose, and put to you use, my creative juice, to produce what you see before youbut that’s just me cause there’s so many still left behindwho might just fade away with timebut just cause they disappear does not make it fine-------------------------------------------------I’m an illustration of the potential of those still trappedand when I’m in the position to provide, believe me, I’m going backcause like they saythose that come after us is where the future’s at So, because there’s no one around to help carry the weightit’s time to step up and participatecause even if it doesn’t buy love or happinesswe can mediate what’s happeningwhen we

let the dollars circulate.

Poem/Spoken Word Title: Let the Dollars CirculateArtist: LeviSubmitted By: Joseph McDaniel

stream of conscious in art class

i.we're supposed to philosophize onwhat we think belongs in the box labelled "Art"but i'd just like to tap my pen on lined pageand pointilatemy answer in waves of light and dark.remind myself that words cannot stand for everything

like the anxious nag thump i ty to mantra awaythe shaking stone my nervesso infrequent settledi must not worry i must not worry but shake/tapi cannot stay still pointilism.

ii.I would like to stop worrying inverted about my ^ reflectionin the back of others' minds it is not possible to know me.but thick boys that i slam into always at the wrong time...

how do i show me? I fall back @ the solidity of their chestimagine holding my weightlike a handstand over them palms flattened against pecs

i look down this is the only way i seefrom a distance i cannot wonder morewhat i look like upside down.iii. i write like crazy i write crazy never want to stop when i can finally letmy ink go i write crazy i will never know againwhat it is like to truly pay attentionto anything else we do not know who we are so why do we try

iv. I don't remember what it was like to see before I started wondering what other people were seeing.

claire forster

and bad-ass belly born detroit boy mischief spinning from grandfather’s lips. life lessons like “sing before you speak…” “dance before you walk…” “and cry prior to falling so you know what it feels like when you do son….because you will son.”

october:the walnut crumble of autumn under timbs, wind whips lung puncturing;bleeding heat of breath;arthritic, tickling trees into blushing.bus stop jive shit colorful then,funky then,like chilly morning woodchip-cigarette passin laughterat steam from chapped lips… i’m a group caboose squeezing from skin tone like sweat andaching to fit hand-me-down hoodies,two sizes too big too early toknow the smell of good weed like home cookin.one less way to see the world naked ‘fore it gets bitter like baby-mamas.still that kid on the playgroundbut starting to improvise covered slide into tunnels from teacher visionthis is the pull of my season,from red wagon to peer pressure.

solstice in a natural: or “how come you don’t got no ‘i am from’ poem?”

i’m a bluesbaby: cradled by my father speakerside on sunday morningsborn into the arms of a new hip, hop scotch picassos in danda-lined sidewalkstalkin shit early, i was that kid on the playground,first freeze to last bloom.i ride the swell of season in its cycle,rinse, repeat.

lingo twisted thick in a tongue i’d later learn to love by to live by to believe the bond of beat tie stronger than single parenthood…my coming of age through time is music,its melody pulls like red wagon to peer pressure,progression of it’s chord playgepetto puppets strings stuck to the sun sucking daylight and returning itto begin again when the encore fades like watercolor.

i am june:the sound of leather pounding in summer comes sacred till sunlight swallowed inthe mouths of cicadas hums a hymnal for the afternoon to erode like hairlines. splashing in drain pipesand muddy fights in waist high,bedtime yarn of class cut

i am january: firewood crackle in flame snap like fumbling rookie unfastening strap, stuckas fifteen going on virginity.winter feelsthick like air in waiting rooms,suffocating:a shepard of sheep whose ship he’s told could sink whiskey water,i am learningto double knot laces when shoes are too big to filland how to laugh at somber jokes – a cracking tenor tone held accidental after cut-off into silenceso still that breaking ash becomes gunshot.

i am april: when lemonade and lilacs gots attitude once again,till riverbed humidity licks sticky salt from skin.mosquito alley am-tracktin can rattles back:through dutch-doubleslaps on concrete as palms in congregation, racing back: through crawl space closet fortsand furniture tent kisses,first little league hit first beer, first Mrs.first real scar with ya first set of stitchesand ya first real job from jiminy-cricket wishes,

waiting for that long front rim rebound back:to that first highthat worst high to be young, in summer, untouchable high…when lip corners salivate,to bake on blacktopdrop with the radio loud. when tardy is on timethe days are molassesand the sound of leather pounding comes sacred…

…but until then i ride the swell of season in its cycle,rinse, repeat. step on its toes mid-waltz, drift, capsize, let it beach melungs heavingand begin again when the encore fades like watercolor.

Adam Falkner

Lupe Fiasco, Food or Liquor? Lupe Fiasco, Food & Liquor Atlantic Records by Mike Riley

One of the most well kept secrets among the hip-hop music industry for the last two years, Lupe Fiasco has been making his mark under the radar appearing only as a feature in places like Kanye West albums. He’s been acclaimed by record executives, music critics and other artists since he first started hitting the scene. Even Jay-z praised Lupe Fiasco as having talents similar to his own from when he first began. Yet with all this hype does his album really reach it’s acclaim? The debut album, “Food and Liquor” starts off by explaining that in life you have your good and your bad, your food and your liquor. I don’t think he was talking about his album because he definitely fattened us up with nothing but good. The only questionable parts of the album are the beginning and the end. The intro a spoken word piece that would make any Chicago native nostalgic for home leads gracefully to an underground beat, where he spends the last two minutes to describe his album. It drags a bit wasting a good beat, but is still entertaining. The weakest part of the album would probably be the outro, which is just a 12 minute shout out. Still the beat is nice, and out of 16 tracks they can’t all be perfect. As for the rest of the album the Chicago native brings a completely new sound to the hip-hop experience without recycled tracks from Kanye. As a matter of fact there are only two partially sampled sound in his entire album. Every track has a different sound than everything before it on the album, whether it has a rock beat, slow hip-hop sound or bumping club sound. The first real song on the album, “something real”, doesn’t disappoint. On top of having an interesting mix of a rock and hip hop sound the first song illustrates that he is not a lyricist to be taken lightly bringing the lyrical heat in the first track he spits on. The third track is were he takes a second to slow the album down a little with “Kick, Push”. This track highlights his ability to tell stories and keep the listener interested. Having a relaxing sound it had people all summer wondering why they were singing along with a song about skate boarding.

If your looking for the next probable singles from the album catch “I gotcha” and “Sunshine”. “I gotcha” has a real simple beat and is the first time where the album takes a break to just have fun and enjoy the sound. “Sunshine” uses new computer based melodies that compliment this modern day love song. “The Instrumental” is where we really get to see Lupe Fiasco’s versatility. Using an alternative/rock sound to tell another story; the hard beat sets a serious tone to the track. Also featuring Jonah Matranga to do the hook makes this a fresh sound. Another place on the album for an interesting sound would be “the cool”. The track “Pressure” had to be a lot of pressure for Lupe Fiasco, featuring the retired Jay-Z who had been comparing Lupe to himself in respect to talent. In the end Lupe measured up, preceding Jigga’ with two verses which in the end did sound like the critically acclaimed MC. On top of that “The emperors Soundtrack” sounds like something straight off the blueprint or The Black Album. What makes Food & Liquor such a good album on top of having an amazing lyricist and the backing of a major name in the industry is his ability to balance the album. This album has a little bit of everything, from old school to new school, hip-hop to alternative to rock. Anyone can find at least three tracks on this album that they like. And lets not forget that his abilities are indeed phenomenal, whether he’s telling a story of just joking around on a track. Food & Liquor gets four and half stars from us and Kicks and pushes its way up the charts. For the time being Lupe Fiasco gets to enjoy his time in the Sunshine. ***

-Myke Riley

Funky Fresh Music“Warm Tunes to get you through a Michigan Winter”

“Say Yes to Michigan” by Sufjan Stevens“Feel Like Making Love” by Roberta Flack“Magnetized” by Laura Veirs“Dust” by Van Hunt“Fidelity” by Regina Spektor “Make You Feel That Way” by Blackalicious“Care of Cell 44” by The Zombies“I Couldn’t Love You More” by Sade“Rocket Love” by Stevie Wonder“Good People” by Jack Johnson“Whatever You Say” by Little Brother“You Send Me” by Aretha Franklin“Unlovable” by The Smiths“It A’int Hard to Tell” by Nas“Send It On” by D’Angelo“Feelin It” by Jay-Z“My Old Man” by Joni Mitchell“Great Big Bundle of Love” by Brenton Wood“Love Me or Leave Me” by Nina Simone“Sunshine” by Lupe Fiasco

�ghting. obstacles. knowing. ultimate..success.

www.onefokus.org