Nobody knows what's true anymore
Mike the PoeT’s spirited rhymes celebrate LA while questioning where our culture is headed
By Bliss 07/17/2008
First, there’s the word. Then there’s the work.
Consider the Gospel According to Mike Sonksen, a freelance journalist, historian, tour guide and creative writing teacher best known as Mike the PoeT, an unabashedly passionate devotee of poetry, music, hip-hop, the Harlem Renaissance, the Beat Generation, Southland history and above all Los Angeles. A respected advocate of the downtown and Eastside hip-hop and spoken-word scenes, he’ll read from his self-published 2006 book “I Am Alive in Los Angeles” Saturday at Vroman’s Bookstore.
He’ll also preview work from his new collection, tentatively titled “Underground Heroes,” which will, like “I Am Alive,” champion his community and be matched by a same-titled CD of spoken word and music. But the new essays and rhythmic poems look beyond LA to the global village. “Nobody Knows What’s True Anymore” deplores fraudulent “tell-all” memoirs, Botox, silicone, pay-to-play scams, fake “news” and the Iraq War — before sounding an end-the-war call to “Never doubt … the truth you know to be.”
“It’s kind of funny,” he muses. “Sometimes I’ll drive, and you’ll see somebody who’s driving by themselves in the carpool lane, or somebody healthy parking in a handicapped spot. You see these things that are departures from values. …
“We have so many different sides of our city, but there is a committed group of young people who are optimistic and real unity-oriented and committed to trying to make a better place, better city, better country. We remain optimistic, even in spite of certain things that would indicate the other direction. [Laughs] There’s all kinds of craziness, but we’ve gotta remain optimistic. … By putting out intention and doing your best, at least it’s a step in the right direction.”
Sonksen’s LA poems vividly depict curbside scenes and characters he’s encountered over 11 years as a tour guide. He gives walking tours in downtown LA, and others for the Architecture + Design Museum and the Museum of Neon Art, after which he usually performs poetry dotted with “a lot of facts and figures.” “It is the Information Age,” he reminds.
The hard-hustling artist is currently attracting attention from agents and literary types, which presents a quality problem: the “headache” of contracts and deal negotiations. But he’s training his focus on his independent vision.
“I’ve learned you complete it, you work hard, and the details will sort themselves out. First, you do the work and keep pushing. Some people worry about all the details and they never do anything.
“Expressing yourself — that’s the road toward making it better,” he says, citing a mantra he often shares with students. “There’s no snapping your fingers, but if you keep [moving forward], there’s a lot of healing.”
The Author & Music series presents Mike the PoeT, Danny P, painter Mear One and friends at Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, at 4 p.m. Saturday. For details, call (626) 449-5320. www.myspace.com/mikethepoet.
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