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interviewed by Aquaila S. Barnes
www.honie.com/aquaila
when did you know that you were not from this planet?
funny you should ask that...i use to feel like an alien, only because i'm an artist. and in a way, all artists are aliens. the artist exists in three worlds: - the one in his head
- the one under his feet
- the one beyond the clouds
most artists are so eccentric and eclectic and completely different from the rest of the world that we often feel ALIENated--or we often ALIENate ourselves. but lately, i've been really feeling this planet. i'm working on a poem about that right now.
sometimes, when friends and kinfolks don't understand your choices or value your commitment to your art, it can make you feel misunderstood and lonely. your ideas are so unusual and your beliefs are so exceptional that you may feel like you're from another world. but in this poem, i am exploring my rightful claim to this planet as my home, regardless of how unique or ridiculous my truths are.
i breathe its air, i eat of its fruits. i climb its mountains, dance to its rhythms and bathe in its sun. i am a physical compilation of its dust and debris. "this is my planet, god damn it"...so goes the poem. it's not quite finished yet, but yes...this is my planet too. oppression can cause you to forget a crucial thing like that. remembering that gives me great power.
what makes you pick up a pen...more than anything?
frustration. i am an emotional writer. my writing is inspired by my feelings. when i am angry, the words just flow like fluid. everything i write is a result of my excitement, happiness and pain.
if you could be any superhero (actual or made up), what superhero would you be? how would you show your heroism?
i would be WONDERWRITER, floating across the cosmos at the speed of light to deliver the sacred word. no mountain too high, no river too wide to stop the deliverance of truth and beauty to the masses.
drop a poem at the drop of a dime. spit rhymes faster than a speeding bullet. leap over pussy poetry in a single bound. see exploiters of the word with my x-ray vision. able to quiet the chaos of a nightclub in a single breath.
"sing, rap, dance in just one show..." HA! HA!
as an artist, what is the difference between your responsibility to the world and your responsibility to yourself?
there is no difference. my self-responsibility is to be responsible for my world.
what things in life do you know for sure?
i know that GOD is real. when i say GOD, i do not refer to any mysterious person, sitting on an imaginary throne in the sky. to me, GOD is not one particular man, but every man. GOD encompasses the everything and the all (and even the nothing) of the entire universe. GOD is the universal spirit that connects all things. we get into spiritual trouble when we personify GOD--limit GOD to our own human images and human manifestations.
when i think of GOD, i remember that the true power of GOD is emphatically unfathomable and far greater than the limitations of my mere human imagination.
what else do i know for sure? i know that i am a poet. i know that poetry is my reason for being here.
if you could sit by the water and have a face-to-face conversation with god, what would you tell her?
i think that would be the one time that i would just keep my mouth shut. what do you say in the presence of god? even "thank you" seems insufficient.
this question is so poetic...sitting by the water, face-to-face with god...sounds like im looking into the water at my own reflection.
what most frees you?
watching my daughter discover things for the first time...like, twisting a top on a bottle or unzipping a zipper. i can lose myself in just watching her.
does it get hard sometimes? being who you are, doing what you do...in this time and space?
oh heavens yes! in this time and space, you can not simply wake up and celebrate your life. to be considered viable, you must give all your time and energy to a cause that does not ultimately benefit you in any way, except give you just enough money to keep you longing for more.
in the society i dream of...food, water and shelter are absolutely free. it is automatic, a birthright. and every person is free to do whatever he likes with his time. crime is obsolete because resources are abundant and everything is free for the taking.
to me, this idea is not far fetched. crime exists because of the disproportionate distribution of the wealth in this land. but seriously, those of us who revolve our lives around our jobs have very little time for self-discovery, and those of us who insist upon self-employment have very little money to advance us into further research of ourselves.
so yes, it is difficult trying to pay rent from selling books and cds. but on the flip side, you do earn strength, resolve and integrity. you get a little bit closer to freedom everyday--and you encourage others to celebrate life too.
what are some of the common themes in your artistic expression (song, poetry, prose, etc)?
freedom, revolution, love, self-enlightenment, oppression
what one thing do you still ponder about life?
death. i want to know where my mother went. is her spirit still whole or is she just, like, raw untraceable energy...
i wonder how life on earth began. did we truly evolve from single-celled organisms into homo sapien or did we come to planet earth from some other part of the galaxy? regardless of how we came to be, i recognize the absolute divinity in it all.
i often wonder about life in other places beyond our planet. surely, we mere mortals are not the only life in the entire universe. most certainly, there are other galaxies with planets that have the right conditions to grow and sustain life. i wonder if i will live long enough to see star trek come to life, where we coexist with different species from other worlds.
i wonder if they are already living among us or we among them.
if you could give any gift to mankind...what would it be?
peace on earth
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