blackgirl on mars: notes on a life in copenhagen (or how my alienation brings me closer to people).

This poem is for Caribbean Girls who have Considered Assimilation No matter where you go It never gets more beautful than the hills that surround your concrete- infested valley. No matter where you go, no Force is stronger than your grandmother's Hug. Nothing will ever intoxicate you quite like the scent of the lime-bud tea Forgotten on the broken-down washing machine. For Caribbean Girls who have considered Assimilation: There is only one home no substitute It is that house you climbed to get the yellow cherries to make chutneys It is the radio station that blasts music from your childhood providing a time vacuum where nothing has ever changed except the softness of your skin, the droop of your smile and that accent which you have not forgotten, but which has, from all accounts forgotten You.

This will probably be my last post from Denmark this month and since I won't have computer access in Trinidad, it very well might be all you hear from me until I get back! The countdown has begun--we're off in a couple of days and I need to get packing. I'm doing something very un-Trinidadian on this trip: I'm packing light! As my grandmother will undoubtedly say, "She come here with two hand swinging!" Yes readers, wish me luck, as far as I know, no other Trinidadian have ever attempted this feat (well, perhaps that is why I am the Yankee Girl!) The reason for traveling light is easy: I need to trek across London with my son and I figure the less we have to carry, the more we can enjoy our trip. Also, I figure that as long as I take my grandmother a gift, I won't be in doghouse. Gift giving is really deep in my culture where the perception is that if you are coming from abroad you should bring presents for family members and friends "home". Yest...

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing Ms. Badu in concert. Now, I don't really keep track of the music scene cause, well, I got enough on my plate as it is already, but Ms. Badu has always been an exception and the explanation is simple: She's fly as hell. Every since KG slipped a promotional copy of Baduizm in my hand and said, "Check this out", I was hooked. One of the true marks of brilliance is making seemingly transparent art: Creations that seduce us into believing that the process of creation had been seemless. We don't experience the heartaches of the creator, the frustrations of the band, we don't hear all the many ways the song didn't work, or all the other ways it could. What we hear instead, is a seemingly effortless collection of the essence of her process. Just a while back, I was checking out Ms. Nina Simone on youtube. One of the wonders of modern technology: Being able to check out the High Priestess of Soul from my cramped desk in Copen...

LESLEY My sister heals with her pen carefully placing words on our family's wounded spirit like a poultice with pen and paper she orchestrates the story of our silenced past to find the beauty in the music that was our struggle her pen fills in the beautiful notes that our father could not play for US to bring us harmony where there was none

Last Friday I had the honor of reading with some very inspiring and talented women & the evening was quite a success. There were some breathtaking performances by a variety of women from all over the world, lots of laughs and in the end, lots of camaraderie. I loved it. This past Tuesday I took part in a 5km run. It was my first effort at running a race and I have to say, it was quite a lot of fun. Since I only had 3 weeks to train, I didn't focus too much on speed--I figure I could take a few elements at a time and the first variable to tend to was ensuring my body even knew what running 5km felt like. I didn't run the whole way though, I broke it up with some walking, but it felt really good to have gone through the motions of what 5 km feels like. It was an all-women run, and I participated with some women from work. We all went at our own pace and it was really inspiring for me to set out to do something I had always wanted to do. I'm slowly but surely preparing for...

Bandit Queen Press is Proud to Present The first edition of the zine Bureau 39: The Ultimate Weapon This is an Open Call for Complete and Utter Submission: Bureau 39 wants your creation: Writing (creative or otherwise); illustration, photography. Send in your creative response by July 31st , subject line "Bureau 39" to submissions@banditqueenpress.com. Be sure to include in your byline, any websites or creations you want others to know about. Bureau 39 is spearheaded by Brooklyn born writer Lesley-Ann Brown and NYC writer/musician Claudius Pratt. Visit www.blackgirlonmars.blogspot.com for more information on Bandit Queen Press. Bureau 39 will be published in Copenhagen, Denmark and at a website near you…

UltravioletUnderground: Indiefied- Lesley Ann Brown's The Organist's Daughter (Bandit Queen Press)