Spoken word reading of Casting Spells:  a poem about the here and now of living on the Space Coast of Melbourne, FL.  

Casting Spells

poetry, war, politics, peace, minecraft, alladin

Dance with Alladin

A spoken word and jazz fusion collaboration between poet Byron King (Melbourne, FL, United States) & composure Damien De Polignac (Paris, France)

FOLY 43 WITH BYRON KING & DAMIEN DE POLIGNAC

Music by Damien De Polignac.  Words by Byron King

Foly 38: Dragon Breath

Farming Consciousness:

a deep sorrow
grows inside
the human heart
as it echoes 
centuries of war.
of fighting for.
something we can 
never achieve.

a liberty
a justice
a freedom
a peace

we seek together
to relieve the revenge
programmed deep 
inside our DNA.

birthed in far away lands.
pyramids slaved out of
rock and sand
throughout the continents.

where our prophets were born.
where logic and algebra
were formed.
where stars were
observed and obeyed.

we worry together.
for we carry with us
a hunger that can not
be quenched.

a fever that can not
be wrenched
with any government
solution.  

for the tribes are deeply divided.
as we once looked for the
internet to tweet our revolution

now we seek to hide
our internet connection

knowing our IP address
is being recorded 

each transaction
each wi-fi station
each family relation
each credit card verification

we are enslaved to the
new pyramids
of data.

where we are all
locked inside the strata.
as servers farm 
consciousness

Foly 20 with Damien De Polignac : Serving Consciousness

The Note:

describe. describe. describe

paint a picture with your words.
never hide. 
be brutally honest.
over share.
do not care. 
make them blush. 
make them think.
do not blink.

my eyes closed. 
as i hold onto this note.
my last heart beat timed.
my last words.
DO NOT HIDE.

letters written before. 
delivered to loved ones after
battle. 
write one now.

i wish i was there. 
i wish i could see you graduate.
i wish i could see you marry.
i wish i did not have to die.

describe. describe. describe. 

the world with you is better.
you are all we lived for. 
you are the upgrade the world needed.
you will grow up not seeing color. 
not seeing race. 
you will treat the environment
like you treat your body.
no garbage in.
no garbage out.
your mind is the future.
you will see what I only dreamed of. 

i am whole because of you two.
total opposites.
you complete each other.

you taught me more
than any class could.

your mother and i
never quit thinking of you.

not now. 
not ever.
wherever my energy goes.
I will be seeking you.
where i can help you view.

describe. describe. describe.
when i close my eyes, for good.
I WILL NOT HIDE.
i am half of you.
helping you.
as i close my eyes.

survive. survive. survive.

Survive Survive Survive (Damien De Polignac)

Open Hand Covers Closed Fist:

Om. The deep universal hum. Open eyed. Wide. Tattooed on backs. Etched on urns. Memorized character by character. Thought as a threat. Scrolls smuggled and burned. Hunted, for millennium. The awakened threaten all power.

Secrets kept in open breath. To inhale long. To exhale from tongue, through active mouth. Hot breath to warm hands. Cold breath to cool tea. Belly full. Centered inside you. The knowledge - guarded by stoic lives to see through, three eyes. To live The Way. The journey, we find each day. There are no coincidences. Open hand covers closed fist.

As the trail drifts from mountain top to village. River to stream. Soft and hard one team. Master word and staff. Master sword and craft. Practice for that one moment. To add ones breath to hum, when death comes. Open arms. Release breath. Om.

Open Hand Covers Closed Fist: Foly 63

they are telling me
i should care.
about another country.
about another civil war,
in a place i've never been before.
where peace activists are
being squashed like bugs, again.
in their independence square.
that's where they hide.
behind barricades.
that's where they'll die.

The United States points.
see the violence.
see the malignant
growth of revolution
budding throughout.

The U.S. shouts
see the lack of human rights.
West versus East
all should seek, peace.

America sits on top
of the economic mountain
milking cheap labor from
all countries, where workers
are slaved to death
where workers jump off towers
to find their peace.
where their flesh meets concrete.
to find their freedom.

America jails and beats
its own activists.
Police spray mace
in the face of female students.
An 84 year old nun serves time
for activism against nuclear annihilation
for every nation.

Who does not have blood
on their hands?
How could we ever comprehend
what it's like to be the Ukraine?
America, an adolescent country
not able to pass any bills
not able to come together
for the citizen's will
for jobs, jobs, jobs
before another 
revolution will 
Occupy Spring

Foly 68 03 2014 Civil War (with Damien De Polignac)

On the Waterfront (1954) - Quotes - IMDb
www.imdb.com/title/tt0047296/quotes
Terry: You don't understand. I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let's face it. It was you ...

Coulda Been Somebody

More Human

I am a human, husband, father, vegan, bike commuter, disabled veteran and a brain cancer survivor. Much of my work revolves around my awareness of leaving a legacy for my children.  I strive to make the right choices as a consumer in order to be a good example for them.  I attempt to be aware of America’s foreign policy blunders and successes in order to be an informed American citizen.  Themes in my work often revolve around environmental activism, war, peace, politics, the technological singularity and the human condition.

I began making art using painting as my medium of choice. I defined myself as a painter for over fifteen adult years while working as a web and graphic designer. After my first awake craniotomy, I lost a bit of awareness in my left hand.  Months later I realized my creative interests had changed from drawing/painting to writing. I have found poetry to be much like painting. Through poetry I can paint with metaphor and cadence and my studio is within.

My current focus is mixed media poetry and exploring the boundaries of blogging and social media as an art form. I’m not sure what I’ll be doing in ten years but I hope to be actively creating every day. I am extremely passionate about the creative process which in return has helped me feel more ALIVE, more AWARE and more FREE.  Through this process I hope to become more HUMANE.