So, when I was invited to perform on 19 April 2024 at Speak n Spoke, a spoken word event held at Station Ten in Sydenham, I sensed that I would be in for a fun evening of sharing poems, with opportunities to mingle and network and generally have a great time; I didn't hesitate because I was keen to get back on track.
I read three of my poems (summarised below) from Hair Power Skin Revolution (2010), an independently published anthology of poetry and personal essays by women of African and Caribbean heritage, edited by myself and funded by an Arts Council England Grants for the Arts award.
'My Hair' - depicts my hair journey from early childhood, of not having any control over my hair, to my 1970s Angela Davis style afro — "My natural hair grew wild and free" and then - "The curly perm took the eighties by surprise" followed by a battle with relaxing - " ... the most unnecessary of all my hair stresses," settling for a while with braids - " ... with human wavy hair of blonde, beige, and brown shades," and then growing my hair into locs - "to a natural free and liberating style."
'Lost for Words' - depicts the time when I brought home my first black boyfriend and introduced him to my grandfather, whose first words spoken to him were, "You've been in the sun along time," and how "he was/ the one and only real/ boyfriend that/ I ever introduced/ to my grandfather."
'Skin' - depicts how our skin has its natural uses, "For protection against the unknown /armour/ against disclosing dreams/ Skin, carries your spirit within /Skin acts as a barrier to whether I let you in/ on/ my portable journey/ Adrift with its unnecessaries."
So, on 29 May 2025, I went to the monthly Open Mic Night at The Gallery Cafe, St Margaret's House, in East London, a free event held on the last Thursday of each month (no event in August or December) hosted by singer and guitarist Olie, which offers 8 slots of 8-10 minutes, and welcomes musicians, poets, and comedians.
As this was my first visit, I was initially going to just watch how the event unfolded. However, when I met Laura at the bar, she encouraged me to put my name down for the open mic slot, telling me that I could change my mind if I wanted to. I was sixth and last in the lineup; I had plenty of time to decide.
Earlier in the afternoon, I considered performing 'Brixton Revisited; Brixton Remembered' since it hadn't been aired, so to speak, with a public audience, although it's live on the Art on the Underground website.
This event turned out to be a welcoming, low-key, and mellow vibe, the perfect atmosphere to ease my way back onto the stage! I was more than ready by the time my slot arrived and really enjoyed sharing and airing my poem.
When I left, I was feeling uplifted, so I decided to return on 26th June, this time without any hesitation about signing up for an open mic slot. This time, I felt much more settled while I was waiting for my turn, fourth and last (again).
I read two poems: 'Night Drive' (2013), which expresses those joyful moments of driving through the night, when you have the road to yourself, and 'Home' (2017), a prose poem that describes how at the age of 13, I missed London so much when I moved to the Midlands, that I returned to live with my grandparents for a few weeks but missed my mother.
While watching the previous performers, I got chatting to singer and guitarist Lieke, who was understandably nervous as this was her debut open mic performance. I know exactly what that feels like. My debut was in 1997 at a spoken word event called Dennawadis, hosted by Cuban Redd (aka Shirley Mason).
On this particular night, there was a full house of over 50 people, not just facing me but to my left and right! Talk about nerve-wracking. Afterwards, I told Shirley, "Never again." Shirley's advice was to "do it again, and soon." She insisted that I push through my fear and read at the next month's Dennawadis, paying me on this occasion too.
Shirley was right about breaking through 'stage fright' because the same thing happened to her, and she was encouraged to perform again, otherwise, she might have given up. What I learned from her is that we all need support when transitioning our poetry writing from the page to the stage.
Lieke's debut open mic went well, and I encouraged her to sign up next month and do it again!
