Hi all! We had a great time at Bossa in October. We had a rare feature Pasckie Pascua, who was on an east cost tour with his new book, “Red is the Color of my Night.” We first met Pasckie at our Dupont Circle open mics years ago. He resides in North Carolina. We also had our usual band of GPIers along with some new faces sharing their words and bringing their spirit to the stage. The highlights:

You can’t keep Jess down with no pain, because we’re going to get it–we are.

Pasckie revealed his loneliness in the land of milk and honey, where he can hear his heart howl.

Catherine showed us the voices yelling at her to get her shit together, when she was 18 she had an excuse.

Chris freestyled about Barry Farm–people tilled their land and passed livelihoods on to the next of kin, the generation nowadays see corporate colonies sneaking back without rationalization; families being threatened by displacement, the most vulnerable people in DC now in a legal and political fight.

Amy read a Poem for Peace…if only every one of us will realize that we are the people, we are the peace poem.

Chip shared with us The Night the Carousel Burned Down, written while in prison in Cambodia. Twilight–all I see are severed petals falling from the sky.

Catherine said mom’s goal was to graduate college, but dad’s goal was mom.

Passkie was an activist in the Philippines. When he was 9 years old, he managed a baseball team. Didn’t have enough gear, and raised the money for uniforms and shoes. Then he lived in the mountains and covered war, the faces within the faces don’t wind up on paper. No one remembers war but the wind.

Shahid warned that agencies assume guilt by association…here at camp x-ray you will say we can’t apply the law equally; the thing you won’t find in any jail is justice. Welcome to the terrordrome.

Much more of that was heard and felt. What will your voice add to the mix? Hope to see you out at Bossa in November!