Hand-to-Hand Haiku for October

Sigh... I am feeling downtrodden, fresh kid turned rotten lately, but still pounding away at the cracks that are exposed to me, wiggling my middle finger inside of them to try and make it all come tumbling down in my grandchildren's lifetime hopefully. Crazy shit going on in this world, and I've felt more compelled than normal to disconnect as much as possible, because not sure what we're connecting to is healthy for us as individuals. That being said, perhaps let's discuss upcoming Hand-to-Hand Haiku tournaments.

OCTOBER 17 AT BON IN CHARLOTTESVILLE (7:00 PM SIGN-UP, 7:30 PM KICK-OFF)

I have said the theme for this one, being it's October, is Fighting Monsters. This means if one so feels compelled, they can come dressed to impress in a costume to further their haiku swordsmanship, or perhaps even create a character specifically for the event. Do what feels right/write. The above graphic, though haphazard and hand-scribbled while in a moonlit fit of frenzy, does speak truths, such as the dragon being an obtuse motherfucker, and how you must slay the dragon. There have been many dragons in my lifetime, though I came to realize how they were all tentacles of the same dragon, and I hope to share a story about the dragon's effect on my life and how I've done battle in my own personal life. The tentacles of the dragon are exerting themselves in abundance right now, and learning how to positively do battle with these dragon assholes is important for survival.
It should be noted that BON recently got themselves an ABC license, which means they now offer local microbrews in abundance to go along with their already fresh ass selection of caffeinated beverages. It is a wonderful spot, and this has been a wonderful event these previous months, and I hope that Charlottesville will continue to grow its support for whatever the fuck it is we're doing.
As always, come equipped with 20-some haiku to take part in the tournament, or just come with lounge in your heart to enjoy the festivities. It's always some sort of a thing or another. And do not be shy if you are like, "Well I don't know about stepping up and sharing haiku with other people in a public place," because I keep it chill, keep it safe to share, and if anyone's gonna look stupid at these things, that will only be me. Trust me.

OCTOBER 22 AT BALLICEAUX IN RICHMOND (9:00 PM SIGN-UP, 9:30 PM KICK-OFF)

And after our first very fun haiku event at the RVA Zinefest benefit at Gallery Two Three last month, we come back to Richmond on a Tuesday night to get wild at Balliceaux. I'm very excited about this, because Charlottesville is a very calculating place, where it has to think about doing something for a long minute before it jumps in and does it, whereas the vibe of Richmond has always been very much, "Fuck it, let's do this." I saw that at the first one, and am hopeful to see that again at Balliceaux, where we can hopefully build a regular home. We're throwing out the theme of Exercising/Exorcising Demons at this one, which means that you can come decked in costume if you want, to further signify your haiku style or exorcise/exercise some demons. I have exercised a ton of personal demons in Richmond over my lifetime, and only exorcised them once I was outside the city limits, having walked backwards down Monument Avenue smeared in catfish blood to conquer the native curse put upon the city. I am looking forward to this one a lot. One of the main goals of these Hand-to-Hand Haiku Tournaments is to have different styles of writers/people/human come together and inject each other with their different flavors, cross-pollinate each other, and hopefully not only respect the diversity of motherfuckers but cause it to become more diverse due to the cross-pollination of personalities. At least that's what I hope. But if we just have people show up and share and bring a little hope to all our jaded black hearts for a few hours one night, that'll be more than enough.
Again, bring 20-some haiku to compete, or just bring your self with lounge in your heart to enjoy the festivities.

Both of these events have a Facebook event page which should be publicly viewable, so share that shit with your robot friends inside the Snitchbook net. Also, I am hopeful I will hustle together the money somehow to have some new One Thousand Feathers pamphlets for both of these events. If you are so inclined, please visit my Workingman Shop and get something or other, which will enable me to print pamphlets to give away at these events. My business model is fuck business.
Also, I'll always have copies of my Beerbox Haiku book on hand for sale for $10, should have a new book called Vehicular Tankacide available next month as well. Plus, there's always other shit in the works. I am always working. I don't put it out here inside the cyberweb any more, at least not in one collected space, but I'm always fucking working. Life is work. And that's what's real.