you where i've been. let me tell you where i've been. i've been places you couldn't imagine. places you think i couldn't been -- have been the places you thought you saw me but that's not where i was. places here and there, places you hear about on the news or on the air. i've been there. even if it was yesterday's tomorrow i've been there. all i go to -- do is go to school and straight home. guess i haven't been anywhere. everything changes one day. soon i can say i've been somewhere the soon i can go somewhere by air the somewhere you wouldn't dare. going to school will get me somewhere. then you will look back at me with a fake grin because i just told you where i'm going and where i've been. >> because this is a writing

community for writers who have been with writers corps for a while and the program is no longer available, i am going to truce them all at once and then they're going to just do their poems. so first i'd like to bring up sandra. sandra? >> hi, how are you, everybody. i home you're enjoying the show and that -- i'm nervous. so -- i think i will cry. i'm just acting. don't worry. and two years ago i came here at the same place and i was reading poetry, but the difference from then to now is that i couldn't speak english. so i read my poem in spanish and i think i missed a lot of

the audience because not everybody can understand or speak stash -- spanish. in restless night that i was thinking how good my professor has been to me. she has given -- given me support without even using hard words. when i'm struggling she holds my hand, letting me know that i can count on her. whenever i feel sad or share a broken tear, she asked me for a hug and it is there in her arms that i feel protected like nothing that dares to touch me could hurt me. there is a power that grows inside me. when i find myself under her wings. under her wings i am calm.

and she calls me mija, as if she were saying don't give unon account of stupid things. don't you see how strong you are? and my pain turns into a sincere smile and my soul doesn't feel hurt any hor. -- more. thank you. [cheers and applause] >> yay. and next up we have annie. annie yu, i'm sorry. annie yu. >> it's ok. so the poem i'm going to read is book of lives. my name is a book of lives. i press leaves inside, scraps of the city, one crumbled bus ticket, a number -- numb washed with rain, a torn photograph of two little girls.

my name settle map of the world. a body of continents and stars. on an airplane i look at the map. flights intersect. travel miles and seas, hours and clouds, a window bird trills by my bed. power lines crisscross streets like threads in the sky. a book of lives is a month of saturdays, a sea-- seahorse from per ru, perfume at my neck. look inside a red suitcase. you'll find letters to no one, objects found and lost, a plastic white fan, contradictory j. -- jade green, city grids, the last bite of an ice cream cone. these are all my names. i savor these words on the tip of my tongue. a book of lives lived in my right hand.

i caught your pen in the other. all the rivers flower into the sea. thank you. [cheers and applause] >> next up is -- next up is marcela ortiz. >> ok. this is the first time i'm reading in front of people. ok. all right. this is a poem to my mom. you're nothing but a group of coffee klatching women. 19 years and the only image that i can think of what i hearl my mother's voice is rosie the riveter with her hand balled up in a fist and her hand underneath her face. coffee klatching women? a bunch of old grandmothers who

sit in sewing sirgles and talk about the best blueberry circles. we banned my mother from the kitchenen -- because of an incident where she had burnt water the the only person who cooked was my father. please keep your peace, mom. yes, my mother say woman but coffee klatching? the term was worse than nails on the chalk board. oh, yes, a coffee klatching woman who has raised three children and never taking shying from anyone. you sure do act like a coffee klatching women with your boots and jeans on, arriving to run a crew of obnoxious men's, because 50% of the men's brains skiptd -- consist of their oh

so glorified junk which doesn't even work right. most of the time. coffee klatching women? sitting around talking nonsense? the same nonsense that finally changed the 19th amendment. yes we can vote. i can see abigail adams sitting and clutching her scorching hot cup of joe, john adams saying sit down and drink your damn coffee, woman. she really was the brains of the outfit. my mother is overworked, tired, but her still solid body stood hard as a rock. i'm not going to cry, as a tear falls down from her face. don't cry, mom, don't cry. [cheers and applause]

>> that was her first time ever. yay! and up next we have indiana telepenova. >> a recipe for water. start with the color magenta, a burning asphalt, of beach ball sighing out its life, a garden grown on accident after accident, add a father painting shelves on the cove, a pinch of guilt, statues of isabella butter flisse -- butterflies, and extinct alpha betts, a teaspoon of autumn leaves, a

shepard playing with the winds, some animal begging for snow. mix vigorously like the mountain mixes up its slopes. preheat the bed of a star to -- 240 light-years away. thank you. and next is -- [cheers and applause] >> next is robin black. >> hi, robin! >> oh, ok. i had to know. this is called "eviction notice." the police turned us away. 11 years old eating baby food. days warm like the occasional free matsoff from next door.

no plates the cups were yoplaits. i stepped on a nail taking my sister through the yard the drinking from beer bottles that tasted like warm quarters the i caught fleas from cookie puss sleeping on my stomk keeping us both warms. at that age i lost the comfort from lies. stranded on a crescent move, floating in a sea of ash littered with diamonds the i swallowed past lives to spit these alternate futures. >> one more big round of applause for our very talented apprentice program. fantastic.

>> the person i am excited to meet her. her book is called, my

miserable, lonely lesbian pregnancy. please, partake our free pens. andrea. >> thank you for wearing my buttons. it comforts me to see sad faces. my miserable, lonly lesbian pregnancy. tonight i am going to read, to snip or not to snip. >> conception. i drive to the california cryo

bank. there's no waiting room. just a glass window. a woman changes me $350. a vile half the size of my pinkie encased. this way up. i head to the clinic. i carry the sperm box inside. it's unwieldy. this is my second attempt. so i know the routine. the first time, i brought my

friend. even some crouch shots. most people don't get good shots of conception. i feel confident this time, like i'm doing my part in the world. the war in iraq started. may be this kid will be a piece maker, a modern day jesus christ as this jew understands jesus. i don't know what does. week 21, everyone thinks i'm having a boy. by everyone, i mean the waiter and my grandmother and neighbor across the street. i was getting out of my car and

she yelled "your having a boy". week 22, my family is involved in an all out campaign on the names i'm considering. she mocks the mothers calling after their sons, sebastion. i didn't realize lisa is racist. makes me like the name more. i say good, because i'm hoping for a fag. week 25, it's 4:00 a.m. and i'm

give up for an hour. who do i do for circumcision. it's a covenant with god. it seems like they feel plenty of pleasure. may be we should reduce a man's pleasure. may be this was god's way of reducing a man's libido. may be my son is not going to study the torah. we need to identify proudly. but then, am i imposing my will

on my child? i can't have a child. week 30, i have an appointment at the hollywood birth center where i will have natural childbirth, which i don't recommend. alex is my primary caretaker today. i read your medical records, do you want to know if it's a boy or girl? yeah, but don't tell me. i ask if she had children. not yet i said. i said it sucks. then i try to be funny. do you think epidurals have contributed. she opens my chart.

is says you're having trouble holding urine. i pee every time i sneeze. may be i should wear depends. are you doing your cagels? let me teach you a way that will be fun. i think she's about to make a joke. as you squeeze, save, i love my body. four counts hold. notice your vaginal area tightening. i love my body. squeeze a little harder. i love my body. good. that does make it fun, i say.

alex presses on my belly and says seven pounds. how am i going to get it out? i am hoping for a super wide vagina. i will have one after the birth. i know this is not sexualy, ideal. i think lesbians like a super wide vagina on their partner. the more she can shove in, the more

sexual. you shouldn't sircumicize. do you have any articles about the benefits of circumcision marks a jewish boy. i know she's not a lesbian. then you don't understand. week 31, i'm not going to sircumicize. i heard on the radio that thomas jefferson owned slaves.

he bowed to cultural pressure. some things are just wrong. week 32, i make the mistake of telling my mom i'm struggling with circumcision. i don't think so. i think of the stuff that can get caught in the vagina. that's not nice. andrea. if this child is jewish. he needs to be sircumicized. you don't want your boy to feel

strange. that's true. i think my anxiety is fear of having a boy. i am terrified of boys. they are wild and smelly. i said, there is no way to know that. well i know for a fact you don't need it. like i wanted to talk to my dad about his penis. week 34, i don't have the double wide vagina i was hoping for. with just six weeks to go. instructions for peroneal

massage. lock hands. apply lubricant. extra virgin olive oil. hold the thumb in place for two minutes or until it becomes numb. slowly massage over the vagina. it's best done with a partner. instead, i take a back door approach and use my finger. i have a lot of stretching to do.

week 41, 3:45 p.m. it feels like i have to pee and poo. she says long contractions indicate early labor. she says call in a few hours. >> dana comes over. she feeds her tea while i'm having contractions. i am in active labor. i am surprised you're so calm. i say, i'm surprised you're so calm. 11:30 p.m. dana drives to the

birth center. i tell her right now i am not sad to do this. this is a solo expedition. i dark brown blob of slim e falls out. the mucous plug has to fall out. it's the mucous plug. i am in awe of dana. 1:30 a.m. i am naked. i modified downward dog. i think of the view everyone is

getting. no one cares. 4:00 a.m., i am nine centimeters. i am pruned and exhausted. you are doing great dana says, i am not interested in being great. it's still nine centimeters. it's not time yet. she says me to blow out with my mouth. i say i might barf. 5:45 a.m. still nine, i hate dana. dana breaks my water. after 15 hours it's time to

push. when you are this desperate, it's almost over. push, your pushes are excellent. 7:17. i can feel the baby's hair. you see your baby's head. 7:40. i do what she says. we rehearse. dana is guiding my baby's head. this is called ring of fire. okay. push hard. i moan like a walrus. my vagina tears to my ass. but i don't care. dana puts the baby on my chest. the cord is still attached. i am still shaking.

the baby's eyes are wide open. i cry, the baby cries. i have a baby. it's a girl. [applause] that was wonderful. that was really great. don't you all want to be her best friend name. emanuel, queer spoken word poetry. pbs's in the life. an online journal. he's the author of the year

poetry. as well as his first spoken word. it's a recipient of the masha a gomez award. please welcome manual xavier. >> hello. okay. there we go. how are you doing? first of all, thank you so much. it's such a great pleasure to be back in san francisco. i love this city and it's always a pleasure to be here. i want to thank mishell t. one is new. it will give you a back story. a few years ago, i had been attacked on