She lives in coffee stains
She picks brains
Intertwined with hearts burning blue
And passions fulfilled in ink
Wispy, boundless, in the vein of butterflies
Yet grounded like a silk worm
Weaving webs soft to touch, and
Stroke
Akin to a cat
Sassy yet tolerable
She breathes in rotten eggs
But manages to breathe out conscious acceptance
Tooth picking out the inhospitable
In search of truth
Many doors have been locked
Leaving behind only a chalk drawing, of
Portals and thresholds of ancient knowledge
The tree of life still has branches growing
The tree of death leaves
an acrid perfume
Its strange fruit
Still... ROTT I NG
Horus relieves his father from duties
Allaying him to retire
Slumbering in the eternal sanctuary
Isis flirts with Amaunet
Hathor arm in arm with Pan
Dance their merry ballet
To Egyptian Greek rock
She drank the mead
Intoxicating indeed
Mingled with the divine
Never noticed the time
Raced with the clock
But the chalk had been erased
Still tasting the bitter sweet
Embrace of blithe on her lips
In eternal existence
She lives in coffee stains
She picks brains
Intertwined with hearts burning blue
And passions fulfilled in ink
Wispy, boundless, in the vein of butterflies
Yet grounded like a silk worm
Weaving webs soft to touch...and
Stroke,,,Akin to a cat
Sassy yet tolerable
Sullen also known as Misty Boldish was Home schooled her entire life growing up. Her mother is a righteous individual who encouraged her to get involved, think for herself, and always influence others to do the same. Growing up Sullen didn't like to read or write poetry. She found it mundane. In 1998, Sullen, a frustrated teenager was doodling and writing her frustrations out in rhyme, when she realized she had written her first legitimate poem. It inspired her to aspire. The more she wrote, the more she wanted to write. She decided to check out her first spoken word open mic in 1999. She visited The Dallas Slam Team at their old venue called the Red Room in Club Clearview. She was hooked! Like a drug her addiction grew.
In March of 1999 Sullen was a victim of a horrific car accident. She broke her hip, fractured her pelvis, bruised her kidneys, and popped her bladder. She was expected to never, or forever have difficulties walking. Subjected to numerous surgeries Sullen was in the hospital for many months recovering. To pass the time she wrote, wrote, and wrote. In the end she proved everyone wrong and after two years didn't even limp when she walked. Her poetry also had improved. A friend at work with the same interests encouraged her to join Dallas Urban Art. This nonprofit organization hosted open mics, and hosted spoken word events at festivals such as Fair Park's Kwanzaa Fest. With the new found family Sullen took to the stage. Eventually DUA closed, but Sullen's passion moved on.
Sullen entered her first Slam in 2001. "I was as nervous as a mouse in a rat race" She recalls. "I cried during my poem in the first round. Luckily no one really thought anything of it, because it was a sad poem."
2003 Sullen went from venue to venue. Her friends knew she was on the lookout to perform anywhere she could. She performed at open mics, Slams, parties, for friends, and at festivals. She got friends of local hip hop groups to let her steal the mic and feed the audience deep passionate poetry. She spoke her words to anyone willing to listen.
In November, 2004 at the Cougar Den on the Preston Ridge Campus in Frisco, the first CCCC SLAM was held (hosted by Rock Baby of the Dallas Slam Team.) There were not a lot of people "slammin", but there was enough to keep the full 2 hours going. There were three winners: 1st place Misty Boldish (Sullen), 2nd Devon Boyd (Lyrical I), and 3rd Karena Simon. After the SLAM was over, one of the advisors, James McMillan, approach the slammers and asked them if they wanted to join the Collin County Slam team. A few of them were not students of CCCC and another did not find interest. But there were five students that had more than enough interest whom gladly joined the team: Brandon Jordan (Fallacy), Terri Silva (Lil' Terri), Devon Boyd (Lyrical I), Misty Boldish (Sullen), and Karena Simon. These five members united to form the first SLAM team at CCCC!
Forming a close bond, in February 2005 they all travel for the first time to the ACUI tournament in College Station at Texas A&M. Despite the fact that this was a first time experience, these students place second against big universities. They were the first community college ever to be the runner up for the highly recognized Rice University. After gaining such a victory, James McMillan and this new SLAM team came to the conclusion that they should form a student organization. After sitting around and pondering, the team came up with the name S.O.A.P. (Sounds of Articulate Poets). The students brought that name to James, and with hard work and effort S.O.A.P. was formed, but not yet members of the RSO (Recognized Student Organization).
May 5, 2005 S.O.A.P. hosted "Spit it Out", their first unofficial (still not RSO members) open-mic. With more hard work and dedication the group was finally recognized as a student organization. Unfortunately soon after, Karena could no longer be in S.O.A.P. because she was transferring to University of Houston. They were happy for her, but sad that she couldn't be with them at the first official open-mic, once again titled "Spit it Out", hosted by S.O.A.P. on October 6, 2005!
Rice University invited the Collin Slam Team to be a feature at one of their Slams that was going to be held on January 20 2006. But unfortunately, Rice cancelled this event due to lack of participants and organization on their behalf. Though disappointed the Collin Slam team was kind of relieved because of the short notice.
About a month later S.O.A.P. hosted yet another open-mic on February 7 2006. It was probably their biggest and best one that they've had. Why? For one, they had a bigger crowd than the previous "Spit-it-Out" events. Also there were several students that got on stage for the first time and read/recited poetry. Helping students overcome stage fright and express themselves is one of S.O.A.P.'s goals. S.O.A.P. also recruited 3 members that night (Jenny, Alexis and Richard Green)!
Later that night the hosts [Brandon (Fallacy), Misty (Sullen), and Devon (Lyrical I)] were informed by James McMillen that they were going to be able to attend to this year's ACUI. They didn't think they were going to be able to go because of lack of funds, so they were excited to here such great news. With Karena gone and Terri not being able to make it left the three in a bind. The ACUI Slam tournament required teams of four, not three! The team asked many people who attend their open-mics and slams but most were not able to make it. There was still one guy who had a pending decision that came through with a "yes I can go!" This person was Richard Green also know as Mr. Green.
A couple of weeks later on February 25 2006 the Collin Slam team competed in yet another ACUI Slam tournament held at University of Houston. This time there were more teams competing making it a challenge for the Collin Slam team. The team did not return with a victory like the previous year, but they all enjoyed themselves in Houston, Texas. Just like the previous year, if the team would have gotten 1st place they wouldn't have had to pay the entry fee for nationals.
The team was determined to go to nationals. They struggled to come up with ideas that could generate funds for this trip. So a representative of S.O.A.P. (Misty/Sullen) went to one of the SAFAC meetings to present a proposal why they thought SAFAC should fund this trip to nationals. They were not going to get an immediate response. So while the days past they came up with the idea of selling the DVDs from the previous open-mic and cookies. SAFAC has a certain amount of money, which they disperse to student organizations every year. So SOAP was hoping SAFAC would fund some of it and they would do the rest. While they were thinking there was no hope, SAFAC came through and funded the entire event. SOAP still had their fundraiser and made about $80, but most of that went back into the group's account.
The ACUI National SLAM competition was being held in San Marcos at Texas State University. Unfortunately Richard a.k.a. Mr. Green couldn't join the Collin SLAM Team this time, but they went to San Marcos with a poet/hip hop/ rapper they recruited named Kyle a.k.a. Molekular. Once again the team did not return to Collin County with a victory, but they had fun and learned a lot by attending the conferences, workshops and meeting Slammers from all over the USA.
One of the most exciting parts of this trip was when Sullen and Lyrical I performed as the opening act for a famous poet/Slam master/philosopher Saul Williams.
After resting and recuperating, S.O.A.P. got together to organize their next open mic. S.O.A.P. hosted yet another "Spit it Out" open mic event April 20, 2006. They had a very great turn out! Actually it was bigger than their previous open mics… Just like they hope for! At least 100 people in audience and there were about 30 people that performed. S.O.A.P. was nominated for the "Best Student Organization" award.
April 22, 2006 Misty (Sullen), Brandon (Fallacy) and Devon (Lyrical I) represented S.O.A.P. at the first annual Urban Arts Festival. Hosted and sponsored by Ericka Badu at South Side on Lamar in Dallas, Texas. They got on the mic several times and introduced themselves to many people by networking. Brandon (Fallacy) got in the emcee battle that was at Urban Arts Festival. His loss was motivation for improvement.
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In June, 2006 S.O.A.P. and its members were featured in the city of Frisco's (Texas) magazine called "Frisco Styles." They had a full color picture and two paged article written by Heather Darrow. Every resident of Frisco (Population: 52,076) received a copy of this magazine. The members of S.O.A.P. have been in several poetry-SLAMS and hosted many open-mics, but have never hosted a SLAM. On June 15 2006, SOAP hosts their first poetry SLAM. As usual they promoted in advance with flyers, e-mails, and word-of-mouth. But unfortunately they were competing with the Mavericks vs. Phoenix basket ball game. So as a result the turn out wasn't as great as they hoped for. They still brought a nice size crowd, and most importantly, everyone had a great time. S.O.A.P. seeks to expand on this group and obtain to new ideas, thoughts, and faces!
Sullen graduated with her degree in American Sign Language Interpreting. Lyrical I and Fallacy are also no longer with Collin County Community College. They have taken S.O.A.P. to new levels and venues. At the moment Sullen and Lyrical I volunteer for the historical Black Forest Theater in South Dallas. Here they are learning behind the scene work involved in events. You can still find them on stage at The Black Forest Theater on Sunday's from 7- midnight at "Bless The Mic" open mic.
The group as well as individually are currently working on a CD and Book. Up to date information will be added as it comes. If you read this whole bio (and didn't fall asleep) I applaud you! (Gold star!)
