Spoken word artist Hershey Turner said she struggled to rid herself of writer’s block. She found relief in what else — writing about it metaphorically.
“I just flipped and turned how I was feeling,” Turner said. “I turned writer’s block into a man.”
Turner read her poem, “Writer’s Block” at the oldest spoken word event in the Inland Empire, Mic and Dim Lights. Audience members snapped and grunted during Turner’s reading.
“As I was struggling, trying to come up with a poem, I just felt like, I was in an abusive relationship with somebody telling me I’m not good enough and that I can’t do it,” Turner said.
Turner started writing six years ago when she went to a poetry show.
Mic and Dim Lights was created bring open mic events to the Pomona area. In October the event will turn 18 years old.
“I was like, ‘wow, I wish I could do that, but I can’t do that,” Turner said. “And then I just tried, and I was like, ‘oh my gosh, I think I am good.”
In a closing line of “Writer’s Block,” Turner read, “I’ve got 99 problems and block ain’t one.”
Turner also read a poem one about her hair.
“I felt like my natural hair wasn’t beautiful,” she read.
She said she began “to just love and embrace it, and realize it was the media and my peers that was making me feel like my hair wasn’t beautiful.”
California State University, Fullerton sociology major Daniel Pita also read. He sang frustration in a song called “Blessed Gifts.”
The source of Pita’s angst was rejection from friends and family for pursuing an unstable career.
“I knew that I wanted to go to school, I knew that I wanted to pursue a higher education,” Pita said. “But I also knew that I had, like, a talent that I just wanted to express, I wanted to share it with the world. It was a dream of mine.”
In the song, his friend call him a “halfling on the bent legging,” and Pita’s parents say his ambition is just a phase.
Pita said he believes he can transform passion into a career.
“It was just kinda fighting all those negativities, fighting what society says, like ‘you have to really work as hard as you can, make as much money as you can, as early as you can,’” Pita sings.
The song relates Pita’s employment hardship to the process of decision making.
“Eventually you will be able to live off of what you love — with passion, diligence, and persistence,” Pita said.
He wrote his first poem in his sophomore year of high school. Despite his career struggle, he talks fast and is upbeat.
“I really liked English class,” Pita said. “I like writing essays, for some reason. “That kind of turned into like, just poetry. And poetry turned into rhythm-assisted poetry, which is, you know, hip hop.”
During his performance, the audience sang a chorus with Pita.
“I’m blessed with these gifts, blessed, blessed, with these gifts,” the group sang.
Pita said he continues to chase his dream.
“Stay genuine, stay authentic,” Pita said as he closed.
The host of the night for Mic and Dim Lights, Tyrone Stokes, said he was glad his event has grown to include music.
“It’s more focused on the poetry, but I think it’s like spreading into other art forms now,” Stokes said. “Music, singing, things like that.”
Stokes said the event “has a history of, like, really good poets and a lot of poetry emphasis.”
Anyone who writes or composes poetry is invited to share their work.
Mic and Dim Lights is held every first Thursday of each month from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. in the dA Center for the Arts in Pomona. Donation fee is $5.
