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I'm a street poet. I sit in public with a typewriter and compose poems for passers-by about anyone or anything.

WHAT I DO 

I sit in public and private settings with a 1917 Corona typewriter and a sign that reads, "Poems about anyone or anything". People come and make their request, and I type a poem for them.  I call this process of writing, Poeming.  I started poeming ten years ago.  It started as a party game, a way to flirt, a way to make people smile.  Now its a lifestyle, a passion that has saved me from deep depression and isolation.  It is a unique way of sharing love, of providing blessing.  It has given me the greatest sense of peace I've known; despite that I've been living in a van and basically homeless the whole time.

I'm very good at empathizing with people and space.  So many of these poems dont get posted online because they draw so much nuance form the moment, that you "had to be there" for the beauty of it to be fully felt.  If you read it you'd think "What?", while the person it was written for would be in tears. This is why ultimately it has to be Video taped.  Please check out my website to get a sense of this work and know how this is true. www.poemswhileyouwait.com 

 
WHAT THIS PROJECT NEEDS:

A COMPUTER
   This project has accumulated well over a thousand poems and some twenty hours of video.  I do not have the basic tools I need to process all this work. A computer will allow me to create and maintain an effective website on which to share all this work, sell products and promote services.  It will allow me to create weekly entries on the wonderful life of poetry on the streets.  It will also allow me to start producing and sharing video.

VIDEO RESOURCES: Gopro camera, Microphone, etc
Ultimately this project NEEDS to be documented on video.  I can not emphasize this enough.  The poems that come out of this process are very good, it’s true, but the interactions that occur around the poems are real gold.  Most everyday people shed tears of laughter, love, and release.  I'm so good at giving voice to their personal sentiments, that many of these poems don't really stand alone, and are not posted, because they reference, and draw their nuance, from the conversation, both spoken and silent, between me and my audience.  IT NEEDS TO BE DOCUMENTED.

BOOKMAKING RESOURCES: Printer, Paper cutter, booklet stapler,etc.

Without writing another poem, I’ve enough material to make no less then ten books of twenty poems each, all of the quality found on my current site, www.poemswhileyouwait.com.  Most of the hundred plus poems on that site I would deem book worthy, and keep in mind I have several hundred more to go through. I've not even gone through all the poems from two months of poeming in Portland (summer 2010), or Burning Man 2010, I've gone through little more then half the poems from Paia this past winter and only just cracked the nut on the summer collection from here in Boulder, Plus a bunch more from various places and times.  There's a lot of work here.

Having a computer, printer and proper book making supplies will give me the ability to create endless quick-books, hand-made chapbooks, and greeting cards.  I will also make two hundred stab-and-stitch books of fine paper, cloth, photos, and decorated with love.


This project is my heart and soul. Thank you so much for your interest.  


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8
Backers
$215
pledged of $3,750 goal
0
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Funding Unsuccessful This project reached the deadline without achieving its funding goal on November 3, 2011.

Funding period
Sep 24, 2011 - Nov 3, 2011 (40 days)

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  • Pledge $10 or more

    1 backer

    Choose twenty poems off my website, or let me pick my favorite twenty, and I will make you a custom quick book of quality paper, with a personalized thank you haiku.

    Estimated delivery: Jan 2012
  • Pledge $25 or more

    3 backers

    A signed chapbook of twenty poems, hand made and custom selected by you or by me, you can give me a theme to work with in selecting the poems, i.e. romantic, family, friendship, or a more personal theme. Plus a half dozen greeting cards (you can choose the poems and the images form my website, or let me) and a very sincere thank you on my website

    Estimated delivery: Feb 2012
  • Pledge $50 or more

    0 backers

    A high quality, hand-made, chapbook with fourty poems including one poem about anyone or anything you choose. I will send you the hard copy of this poem, along with a video clip of me typing and reading it in a very interesting setting. Plus one dozen greeting cards made special for you.

    Estimated delivery: Mar 2012
  • Pledge $100 or more

    0 backers

    I will hand make a stab-and-stitch, hardcover book of sixty poems, including three poems about anyone or anything you choose. I will make this with love especially for you, of quality paper, cloth, and from the heart decoration. Three dozen greeting cards. Plus a dozen video clips of Poems While You Wait every month for three months, some of which will include me and costumers thanking you.

    Estimated delivery: Mar 2012
  • Pledge $300 or more

    0 backers Limited (10 of 10 left)

    Same as above, only a book of one hundred poems, including five poems about anyone or anything. Plus every month, for six months,I will send anyone you choose a gift package; this will include a chapbook of twenty poems, a greeting card with personalized poem, and a twenty minute DVD with best of clips including one of me typing and reading their poem in some appropriate setting. Plus I will send you a DVD at the end of the year with all the best of Poems While You Wait

    Estimated delivery: Mar 2012
  • Pledge $450 or more

    0 backers

    I will write poems, at any event you choose. After the event I will create a book of all poems written and include photos the folks who requested those poems. If travel expenses exceed one hundred dollars, you will have to pay travel costs.

    Estimated delivery: Mar 2012