Lemon Andersen

November 18–24, 2013

Raised in Brooklyn, Lemon Andersen won a Tony award as an original cast member of Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry Jam on Broadway, for which he was also nominated for a Drama Desk Award. His staged memoir County of Kings: The Beautiful Struggle, produced by Spike Lee, premiered at the Public Theater in 2009 to rave reviews from The New York Times, The New Yorker and The Brooklyn Rail, among others. Since then, he has toured the one-man show–which took the grand prize at the 2010 New York Book Festival–at campuses and theaters across the U.S. and on three continents. More recently, Andersen was the feature of the internationally acclaimed documentary Lemon, screened in 2012-2013 at film festivals and performing arts centers across North America.

Edgar's Bird For when angerturns to hate . . .Hate turnsto scufflescuffle into brawlsbrawls,battles,battles into warsit is because of the raven.This salted mix of quail and crowwho descends upon our humble abodesdropping off its parcelof dauntingpadded room dreams,their haunting.Bring him here aliveplucklesslet us gather around in a corraland watch the screwsuntighten from its claws,ungripping the mindsminds freed of knotholes.Bring me the crown of the ravenso we can boil it in kerosene,take away its pridepainful scars,incinerate its lovesuffering burns,see its ebony blue stareturn pale in the black night.Allow it to never circle aroundand cipher the gods of madness.Nightmares are to be awakenedby the blaring star.Nightmaresno matter how gothic in architectureexist in a temporary façade,and yet the ravendeep bile of feathersborn of the melancholy seedpulls the blinds of the morning sunand keeps the new dayfrom turning the frownupside down.This bird,fowl of Hippocratesturning over graves with its gawking,perched upon the haloof a weathered saint,pecking away at the stoned pathto the heavens,waiting for the cue of the Reverendto give the last rites,crucifying the wind,waiting for the exodus,for the familiessoaked in sorrow to say farewell,so it can hover infinding follyin the pastel shadedgrey petals of our kin,scattering the bouquets to and fro.This symbol of a mad man’s smilereminds the sinnerto pillage the land and leave no fruitWork the children into a dry bosommotherless laborin the name of its maker,the great king apathy.So go forth with sword and shield,forth with gun and bow,seek its keys out of your solitude.For the loss of a loved oneshall finally have its rest,its rhythm finally beatingto the tune of time healing,once the talented ether in the skyhas come home to roost.Bring me the crown of the ravenor we shall find ourselvesfalling off the smokeless chimneys,head firsthitting the groundwith a thirstfor the murderousrivers of bloodcold heartedmurderous rivers of bloodand find peace,nevermore.

Tell us about the making of this poem.

I was asked by the good folks at SA Studios in California to help them promote a movie starring John Cusack as Edgar Allan Poe. SA Studios asked me to pen and perform an original piece and perform at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery before a screening of the film. So I penned "Edgar's Bird." Really wild experience.

What are you working on right now?

I am working on a play for the Public Theater and developing more television, although my first love is and will always be poetry.

What’s a good day for you?

Clocking in early hours of writing, feeling the sun rise on the imagination and going to see my girls. I have three daughters.

How long have you lived in Brooklyn? What neighborhood do you live in? What do you like most about it?

I have lived in Brooklyn all my life. My father was born and raised in Red Hook–it's where he met my mother who came here from Puerto Rico when she was a teenager in the early sixties. I grew up in Sunset Park/Park Slope and moved to the Williamsburg side for the next half of my life to pursue writing and performance art.

Share with us a defining Brooklyn experience, good, bad or in between.

Greatest moment I had in Brooklyn was walking into a poetry reading for the first time in Williamsburg and I saw all these honest diverse voices just going for it. Life-changing.

Favorite Brooklyn poet(s), dead and/or alive?

Miguel Piñero is the founder of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe and his book La Bodega Sold Dreams is untouchable, real mastery.

Favorite Brooklyn bookstore(s)?

None. Sorry, I don't buy books in Brooklyn. Too segregated in selections. Harlem and Lower East Side for me.

Favorite places to read and write in Brooklyn (besides home, assuming you like to be there)?

Atlas Cafe on Grand Street is my spot. I'm the mayor there and have been using that spot to work and read for years.

Favorite places to go in Brooklyn not involving reading or writing?

Chalk Gyms in the Northside. I love training and keeping a healthy body in tune with my mind.

Last awesome book(s)/poem(s) you read?

Lately all I have been reading are plays and scripts. So Lynn Nottage's Ruined is great piece of drama.

Fill in the blanks in these lines by Whitman:

I celebrate the Nuyorican Soul,And what I glorify you should respect,For every word out of me as good gristled experience for you.

If you have time, write a nine-line poem using these end-words (in whatever order) from Jay Z's "Brooklyn Go Hard": father, Dodger, jack, rob, sin, pen, love, Brooklyn, Biggie.

I'd rather not touch Jay, that's sacrilegious.

Why Brooklyn?

Why Brooklyn? 'Cause sometimes when we don't want to identify with ethnicity we identify with what's pure to our core ... "To Spread Love."