Artist Poetry Books Are Now Available!
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ANDY CALDERON
Andrew Isadore Calderon, aka The Poet AIC, is a creative spirit and has always listened to various works of poetry. Growing up on the West Side of Buffalo, Calderon gained an interest in rap and hip-hop music through family members. However, years later, Andrew’s interest in art really came to the light when he achieved the fine arts award at Bennett High School for taking all the art and music classes that the school had to offer, graduating from Bennett with a local diploma in June 1993.
Calderon attributes his success to the members of the creative and poetic community, especially his writing mentors, Robin F. Brox and Elizabeth Mariani. Calderon currently attends Starlight Studio and Art Gallery, an art day program at where he creates poetry and other, various visual art.
Prior to the concerns of the last year and a half, The Poet AIC performed any chance he got including at Starlight Studio art openings and Spot Coffee’s open mic night. Calderon contributed to two anthologies, In Starlight’s Genesis: An Anthology and (Dis)Integration. Livin’ God’s Crazy Dream is Calderon’s first solo poetry book. He currently resides in North Buffalo and continues to write poetry.
Praise for "Livin' God's Crazy Dream":
Andrew Calderon’s words fill the page with the intensity of a rap anthem. His rhymes are both playful and finely crafted. They leave the reader smiling in wonderful amazement at both their creative flair and their depth. Like a pop song that has become a timeless classic, Calderon’s poems evoke nostalgia tempered by the gritty reality of the past.
- Michael Rembis, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of History Director, Center for Disability Studies and Co-editor of (Dis)Integration
The words in Calderon’s poems seem to punch off the page in a tense rapping style with a balanced mixture of power and poignancy. They are often angry but it is not the kind of anger that leaves the recipient cringing or feeling guilty. In A Teeny Tiny Bit about Myself, the litany of hurts and insults: “I was the slow one at school A retard An idiot A dim wit – A fool” ends with a positive burst of certainty and self-esteem: “Nowhere near Where I am Today.” This is a writer with astute observations about life around him and a solid grasp of emotive language. He takes his experiences, “One heart ache at a time,” and uses them to recognize his own worth “From The First To The Very Last Event – Reciting Out Loud The Poetic Words I Meant.”
-Jennifer Gold is an author of children’s picture books Top Leaf and Yes! I Knew the Queen and a radio and magazine journalist.
So That Is Where I Am
Not Even Awake As The Wheels Turn
Got Up Early The Fyre Started To Burn
Got On The Bus To Go To The Place I Heal
Got On The Bus To Go To The Place Where Art Is Real
From The First To The Very Last Event
Reciting Out Loud The Poetic Words I Meant
So That Is Where I Am
Anxiety And Nerves Become Adrenalin
Now I’m Ready To Jam
There Are Big Thangs Comin’ And Comin’ Fast
Through It All Got To Be Sure I Can Last
The Time Has Come To Tell The Story
A Production, A Book, Good Times And Good People
Constantly Making History
Through It All Just Livin’ God’s Crazy Dream
Happy On The Way Home After It All Happens
Then I Will Be Ready To Scream
Unexpected What All Were Unexpecting
Perfected Personal Performances
All Part Of A Production That The Genius Girl Was Perfecting
Between People The Name Of The Production
That The Genius Girl Was Erecting
Not Even Awake As The Wheels Turn
Got Up Early The Fyre Started To Burn
Got On The Bus To Go To The Place I Heal
Got On The Bus To Go To The Place Where Art Is Real
From The First To The Very Last Event
Reciting Out Loud The Poetic Words That I Meant
Holy Wednesday
On Wednesday morning took the bus to see GOD
Got the holy ashes put on my forehead
“We all came from the dust
To the dust we all shall return”
Are the words that The Almighty GOD said
For the forgiveness of all my sins
Is the reason why The Almighty GOD bled
The almighty GOD died on the Holy Cross
Three days later The Almighty GOD rose from the dead
Falling On Tha 4TH Day
Ash Wednesday
In the afternoon
Ice on the Ground
Is when I went down
I fell
And my bills went flyin’
I was not tryin’
Nor denyin’
Nor was I cryin’
I felt like a
Big, Injured, Grizzly Bear
With Shaggy, Brown Hair
That fell
Mad as Hell
Got up holding its arm
Growling and snarling
After Tha Turbulent A.M
Calmin’ down after a turbulent morning
Nothin’ was boring
Touring many creative laboratories
Clay and jewelry makin’
Typhoon, thunderstorm and earthquakin’
In 2005 art hit me like a lightning bolt
Gave me a burst, a shock and a sudden jolt
Started to burn like a ragin’ fire
Started to flow through me like a live wire
Through my art
My craft
A passion
I thank the Lord that this is lastin’
Takin’ a big swig
Like a Poland Spring
Cold chillin’ in the library
Doin’ my thing
But at the end of the day
Not makin’ a fuss
On my way home
on the 2:30 bus
Deep Thoughts
Pink and purple polka dots at Easter
Springtime with Edmarie
Nice weather makes me happy
Peace and tranquility
A nighttime sky in summer
Mideastern graffiti
A man with Bob Marley looks
A mass for all that have passed away
To the next life like Evelyn
Still, I see the next day
No product
KELLY EVANS
Another Light Brightens Buffalo: First solo book of poems & drawings published by poet/artist, Kelly Evans.
Starlight Studio & Art Gallery, 340 Delaware Ave., Buffalo, NY, is pleased to announce the release of Another Light by Kelly Evans. Writing mentor, Michael Rembis, UB Assoc. Prof., says Evans’ work “provokes both thought and emotion. Its beauty and complexity make the reader demand more, with each new reading calling forth deeper meaning.” The black and white renditions of nineteen original drawings by Evans counter-balance and open another window for her light to shine out. Kyle Butler, Visual Artist, Curator and Adj. Prof. of Fine Arts remarks that “Evans work tends toward two moods…a sort of performed cool…(or) tenderness and vulnerability.”
Previous work by Kelly Evans her involvement in Between People, the Affirmative Project, a freestyle play, directed by Galia Binder at the Jim Bush Studio on Buffalo’s Westside. Three of Evans poems were accepted for (Dis)Integration, a juried 2017 anthology of writing and artwork by community members with special needs. Evans’ poetry and artwork are included in Writer’s Block (fall 2015), Daemon College literary magazine. She has had artwork in numerous shows at Starlight Studio and Art Gallery 2015-present. Evans collaborated on artwork for Co-Artifact 2014 and 2018 with artists, Cathy Shuman Miller and Pam Glick, respectively.
Evans currently spends most of her time creating art and poetry and enjoys being an artist/poet at Starlight Studio and Art Gallery in Buffalo, NY. Evans, who hopes to get back to regularly read her poetry for art openings, etc. at the gallery, resides in the Buffalo area.
-17 original poems & 19 original drawings by Kelly Evans
-Printed locally with Keller Bros & Miller Inc
-Funding from Erie County and through Learning Disabilities Assoc. of WNY
Praise for "Another Light":
Another Light is aptly titled. It is a collection of sparks, insights into the self, underbellies revealed, vulnerable, a fast paced glimpse at the soul. The poet illuminates dark corners then whisks the light away and lets the shadows settle in—loss, love, sadness, joy, celebration, and realization. They speak truths.
-Lorna Czarnota MacDonald, author of Breadline Blue; Legends, Lore and Secrets of WNY; and Dancing at the Crossroads
Kelly Evans' drawings tend toward two moods. One is of a sort of performed cool, as in her renditions of musicians like David Bowie and Marc Almond. The figures calmly pose, as cool does, aware but not flaunting. In other drawings, the mood is more of tenderness and vulnerability. The figures seem to dwell in thought, their body language more slack, eyes more alert. Even in non-figurative work, this combination of matter-of-fact cool and pleading openness seems present in the mix of stern lines, thinly scratched-in detail, and sparse or absent backgrounds. In their pairing, these two moods illustrate distant but related mindsets: one of projected confidence and one of reflective reservation.
-Kyle Butler, Visual Artist, Art Curator, and Assistant Professor of Fine Arts,
Villa Maria College
Kelly Evan’s poems beg the reader to not make assumptions, to observe, to go deeper and realize that we are all capable of being loved, being in love and of being hurt. These poignant poems are full of surprises. In Blue Jay she asks bird to sing a song and show her the way. In I Was Wrong she berates herself and feels ridiculous as so many women do for trusting someone she loved. In Love is Pitter Patter Gone she plays delightfully with colors and questions. As well as writing poetry, Evans is an artist of some merit. Her well defined pencil drawings show us a complex woman who is strong, playful, caring and vulnerable. Evans’s poems and her drawings are brave in their awareness of the unpredictability and sometimes cruelty of life, “it’s a confusing, heartless world we live in” she writes in Room Slave. But we can be sure that Evans will never give up. Her words are honest and she has given us poems that we should all read to remind ourselves that we are flawed and that we need to have more compassion for each other.
-Jennifer Gold, author of Yes! I Knew the Queen and Top Leaf
Whether it is the sullen and mysterious tones of “Room Slave” or “Wooden Flies,” or the playful melody of “In the Middle,” Kelly Evans’ work provokes both thought and emotion. Its beauty and complexity make the reader demand more, with each new reading calling forth deeper meaning. Evans’ unique blend of hopefulness and deep introspection demands attention.
- Michael Rembis, Ph.D., Assoc. Professor, Department of History Director, Center for Disability Studies, Univ. of Buffalo, and Co-editor of (Dis)Integration
Blue Jay
Up way in the trees lay a blue jay that I see,
way up high in the deep blue sky.
She is singing to me that our friendship should never die.
It is no lie that we all get too shy and
like to hide our faces in disguise.
Show your face and your bright blue eyes.
Be sure to say hi without despise,
but with a caring smile we all can share.
So blue jay, blue jay, deep in the sky
show me the way, sing me a song that we all can sing along.
The shades of blue sea carry us away
where happiness is eternal.
Let our wings take us away where we may stay.
Take us to a fantasy land where we have the freedom to stand
in a big field of blue flowers
we’ll stay for many hours.
The dawn never becomes dark
the blue days are always bright without some kind of fight.
So blue jay, blue jay, deep in the sky,
show me the way, sing me a song that we can all sing along.
Wake up in the sight of the blackest night,
it seemed it was just another theme
of a dream in my head.
But instead soon the moon would be the sight of a new day.
So one last time blue jay, blue jay, deep in the sky,
show me the way, sing me a song that we can all sing along.
Change
Change is never easy,
but it is a new reframe
to start something new.
Change an ever growing face
full of grace,
a fashion statement always changing.
Technology always growing
not knowing what will come next.
Words are silent, never face to face
but may be ignored.
A change where people have a sustained view
of never stopping,
never looking to say hello.
Hidden words behind the screen
never see a face with expression.
Aggression is advised that
hurtful words can be troubling.
Malcolm Puppy
Malcolm puppy
sappy
always happy
to see you,
black as coal
but never a toll
for what he is.
Fast as a rabbit,
playful so never a habit.
Ready to hunt
with a grunt,
Curly
so dark and swirly.
In the month of May
eyes like a new born baby,
sometimes cranky
Do you need a spanky?.
Has a cute little beard
not so weird.
Always a lovable friend
every need to tend
Malcolm puppy
always full of energy
and a great memory
will never die!
You like to tickle
like a sweet sour pickle
You remain in my heart.
Young Eyes, Old Soul
Keys to another life,
to another light;
scenes to a world could have been.
Old eyes, young skin.
Keys of an old, soft song.
If I had a perfect body, perfect mind,
maybe I could have been born in another time.
Crystal balls, will I learn to grow old as been told?
How much time do we really have?
Today is new, but yesterday is old.
Why do the days fly by
but not enough time to cry?
A betrayal that she’ll never be
forgotten but claimed in time.
The glorious forest walls
Where has daddy gone?
He took a trip to Heaven,
always looking down under the hazy walls,
into a twisting maze of a winding forest.
The vines of time will cover me
and the walls of beauty for eternity.
Just like you daddy, forever young.
But you are not forgotten
and never lost your spirit,
for it lies within me.
Maybe in the next life
we can meet again.
In the Middle
A sandwich has two pieces of bread
with deli meat,
lettuce, tomato, cheese,
mustard, ketchup and mayo
in the middle.
That makes a good sandwich
when you put all that
in the middle of two pieces of bread.
An Oreo has two cookies
and frosting
in the middle
that makes a good cookie
with a glass of milk.
Sometimes you can have
a fried Oreo at the fair.
An Oreo has all kinds of flavors now.
Life can be troubling
in the middle of a heartless gloop
at the double.
If you learn to judge
how people love,
would you be afraid
with Cupid alone?
Pointing, thick, fat fingers
pull away.
Lingering anger
shouting stay away.
How are you
in the middle
when you always
know how to judge a
book by its cover?
Bellow like a big hyena
pockets full of cash,
but learn how to harass
with a lip not a fist.