Friday, October 28, 2011

Portrait for Alisa

"Memories of you are the glue that holds our broken hearts together."

Just over five years ago the World dimmed, as one of it's brightest lights was extinguished. A few days before Halloween senior year of college, Alisa Naret, one of my close childhood and high school friends, was taken from us in a freak car accident. Alisa was a beautiful, bright, funny, loyal and caring young woman, headed to Medical School to study obstetrics. We pray that she is in a better place now.

With the fifth anniversary of her passing upon us, my heart and prayers go out to her friends and family and everybody who was fortunate enough to have experienced the radiance she emanated on a daily basis.

Last year, on the fourth anniversary of Alisa's death, I asked my friend Jason Kanel to fill me in on what Alisa had been doing in those final weeks leading up to her untimely end. I took the information and put it together to form the following poem.

Rest in Peace Alisa. We will never forget you.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

First Kiss (Video)


Sometimes a kiss is just a kiss.
                                                Sometimes, it is so much more...

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Welcome to the world of "One Man Gang" Poetry...


"You are Entering a World of Inspiration"

When I first moved to New York City just over two years ago, it was as an incoming graduate student studying the teaching of English.  Two short years later, I am teaching part time and trying to make a go of it as a professional poet.

Up until now, Facebook and Youtube have been the core avenues I have utilized to reach my fans.  I post live performances on youtube whenever I finish new pieces and I update my Facebook Fan Page often.  Recently, I got back on Twitter and am planning on using it often as another tool for reaching people via my writing.

While I do not have my own full-time classroom this year, I have made stages across New York State and California my classroom over the past two years.  I spend time teaching creative writing workshops to future teachers, for use in their classrooms.  I spend time leading workshops for students in classrooms across New York City.  And I spend the majority of my nights in front of microphones, spreading the words and emotions seeded deeply in the fibers of my mind.

My goal is to one day have omgpoetry.com be an all-access, full media hub.  A place where friends, family members and fans alike can come and see all of my photos, writing, videos and products for sale in one place.  Until then, I decided to start this blog as another way to reach people (especially those not on Facebook).  In addition to posting my writing and my thoughts, I also plan on posting at least one video a week on the site.  This will either be a new piece, or a "Throwback Video of the Week."  (Any articles that I write will also go up on this blog, instead of on robbinsrants.com, where they have been going up until now.)

I am currently embarking on one of the most exciting periods of my fledgling poetry career.  I hope to use this blog to keep you all posted on my progress and announce new project launches as they occur.  One day it will be the media hub I have been dreaming of.  In the meantime, I hope you enjoy everything you see posted up here.

In the poem, "Dear Principal," I wrote the line, "My classroom comes with the disclaimer:  You are Entering a World of Inspiration."  I will do everything in my power to justify the same disclaimer for this blog.

Thank you all, for all of your continued support.

-Joseph D. Robbins-
a.k.a.
"One Man Gang"