POET SPOTLIGHT: ALIX OLSON

"Controversial." "I think any artist who confronts the status quo will be targeted as 'controversial'. We will also be called 'angry,' 'aggressive,' 'loud,' or at best, 'idealistic,' so that we are discounted, backed into a corner, and our power is deflated. But I have never been intimidated by words, because they've always been on my side." ALIX OLSON

I AM SO HAPPY TO SPOT LIGHT ALIX OLSON. A WONDERFUL SPOKEN WORD SLAM POET. I HAVE GROWN REALLY FOND OF HER AMAZING TALENT. SHE IS WHAT TRUE SOUL IN WORDS IS ABOUT.

WHEN I FIRST GOT WIND OF HER AMAZING TALENT WAS BACK IN 2002 AND ALSO SEEING HER ON THE HBO DEF POETRY SHOW WHICH IS A LEADING SHOW IN SPOKEN POETRY AND POETRY IN GENERAL. IT'S A TRUE PART OF WORD HISTORY AND A MUST OWN SERIES OF DVDS FOR ANY LOVER OF POETRY. DEF POETRY IS A SHOW THAT IS WHAT GREAT AND AMAZING TALENT IS ABOUT.

SHE IS A VERY THOUGHT PROVOKING POWERFUL POET. HER POETRY IS VERY BLUNT AND IN YOUR FACE. IN REALITY IT'S ALMOST LIKE SHE IS SMACKING YOU WITH EVERY WORD. SHE TAKES HER POETRY AND BUILDS HER CHARACTER OR HER EXPERIENCES AROUND WHAT SHE IS SAYING.

SHE IS NOT A SIMPLE POET. SHE DOES NOT TALK ABOUT SIMPLE THINGS LIKE A FISH OR A FLOWER, SHE TALKS ABOUT DEEP TRUTHS AND SUBJECT MATTERS THAT WOULD TURN MOST PEOPLE OFF BECAUSE OF THERE CLOSED MEDIEVAL MINDS. SHE SHOWCASES HER BEAUTY AND LOVE FOR THE WORD.

ALIX KNOWS WHAT SHE WANTS AND WHAT SHE THINKS AND WHAT SHE WANTS TO SAY. SHE DOES NOT BACK AWAY FROM A FIGHT OF WORDS, WORDS THAT FLOW WITH COMPLETE HONESTY AND FORCE AND SHE DOES A BATTLE WITH HER SOUL AS IT BECOMES APART OF HER POETRY. SHE IS A VERY STRONG WILLED WOMAN, HER VOICE IS LIKE A TRUMPET OF A BATTLE, VERY FEW IF ANY CAN DESTROY THAT SOUND.

SHE IS FLAWLESS WHEN SHE GETS UP ON STAGE AND SLAMS. HER SPOKEN WORD POETRY IS TOP NOTCH SOME OF THE BEST AROUND AND MORE OR LESS WHAT ICONIC POETRY IS ABOUT. I BELIEVE HER TALENT WILL MAKE HER ONE OF THE GREAT SLAM POETS AND POETRY WRITERS LONG AFTER SHE HAS LEFT THIS MORTAL WORLD. I THINK WHAT IS SHOCKING ABOUT THAT LAST STATEMENT IS NOT MANY PEOPLE EVEN KNOW HER AND THAT IS A TRUE SHAME, FOR SHE IS WHAT POETRY IS ABOUT. EMOTIONS, AND IMAGES INSIDE THE WRITTEN WORDS. HER TALENT IN WRITING MAKES PEOPLE FEEL WHAT SHE IS SAYING. FROM HER WRITTEN POETRY TO HER CD'S AND DVD AND ALSO THE TALENT OF JUST BEING AROUND HER BRINGS FORTH THE LISTENER INTO A POWERFUL REALM OF POETRY.
SHE WAS BORN IN 1975 IN PENNSYLVANIA. SHE IS WHAT A TRUE POET IS. HER PASSION IS MAINLY SPOKEN WORD AND THAT IS HER BEAUTY WHEN IT COMES TO TRUE LIVING POETRY. HER POETRY IS OFTEN DEEP AND DEALS WITH MASSIVE IN YOUR FACE SUBJECTS LIKE CAPITALISM, HOMOPHOBIA, SEXISM, HETEROSEXISM AND MANY OTHER BLUNT SUBJECT MATTERS. HER MAIN STATEMENT IN WHO SHE IS, IS THAT SHE IS A LESBIAN FEMINIST. SHE AND POETS LYNNE PROCOPE, STEVE COLEMAN, GUY LECHARLES GONZALEZ FORMED THE POETRY SLAM TEAM AT THE WORLD NUYORICAN POETS CAFE IN NEW YORK. THE TEAM WAS SO POWERFUL THEY WOULD GO ON TO WIN THE NATIONAL POETRY SLAM CHAMPIONSHIP IN AUSTIN TEXAS IN 1998. ALIX HAS BEEN PUBLISHED IN MANY BOOKS:

EMANUEL XAVIER'S BULLETS & BUTTERFLIES: QUEER SPOKEN WORD POETRY,

AMY SONNIE'S REVOLUTIONARY VOICES: A MULTICULTURAL QUEER YOUTH ANTHOLOGY,

WORD WARRIORS: 35 WOMEN LEADERS IN THE SPOKEN WORD REVOLUTION.

WHAT IS AMAZING TO NOTE IS IN 1999 ALIX WAS INVITED TO PORTUGAL'S FALADURA INTERNATIONAL POETRY FESTIVAL. SHE WAS REALLY THE ONLY OUT SPOKEN QUEER ARTIST. NEEDLESS TO SAY ALIX STATED IN THE BOOK:

WORD WARRIORS: IN THE ARTICLE TITLED: TURN IT DOWN A NOTCH THIS:

"My hosts were gracious, but I don't think they were entirely sure what to expect from my art form."

The last evenng of the festical, the lost of us gathered at a local bar for a final reception. I slowly became aware of a line of male poets, apparently eager to speak with me about my work. The first guy cleared his his throat, then plunged into a diatrible about how my "feminist art" did not resonate with him. "you see, we do not have sexism in my country, so a lot of your polotics went clear over my head." He demonstrated his barely disguised vitriol by flailing his hand above his head. The poet behind him, clearly relieved by the previous man's courage, eagerly agreed. "We do not really have sexism in my country either," he explained patiently," and so much of your work translates as just incredibly angry." A third male poet nodded, joining the discussion:

"Poetry belongs to the page. It should be universal and up for interpretation, not so confrontational and direct. Your style is really more like theater. Perhaps you should consider performing a play or entering politics instead." The first man concurred: "Yes! May I suggest that if you continue in the feild of poetry, to consider taking it down a notch? Perhaps being a bit more subtle? My sister, subtlety really is the key to poetry." They all agreed and ordered another round of port.

On the plane back to the United States, I pndered this newfound advice from my international male peers. I reflected upon the notion that there are countries where "sexism does not exist." I considered the roots of poetry, before the time of "the page," when poetry existed solely as a form of verbal communication (i.e., spoken word). Most significantly, I began to digest the reality that these men, clear acroos national borders, have been raised to be so confident as to attempt to define an entire artistic genre. I speculated about my artistic merit. I doubted, confused, comforted, and motivated myself. It was a bumpy ride.

The next day, I read "Subtle Sister" to myself for the first time, a poem that details, quite frankly, the anger of living within global sexism, the frustration of working inside a male-dominated poetic world, and the correlative naive response to feminist art. It was a pissed-off diatribe, a call to resistance, a personal remembrance of the rape, incest, and aggressive and sexual violence inflicted upon my friends, my community, and the women of the world. It was not, and defiantly not so, subtle.

Since that time, I have refused to remain obedient to the theory that poetry should adhere to the confines of an on-the-page, up-for-interpretation, nonpoliticized prescription. I am forever indebted to those male poets at the Faladura festival for reminding me of the dire need to poet forcibly."

POEM SPOTLIGHT:

I BELIEVE

BY ALIX OLSON

i believe misogyny and patriarchy are closet homo lovers
and they screw over their sisters cause they’re scared to screw each other.
i believe harriet tubman should be on the dollar bill
we’ve had our fill of white boy faces
time to change places.
i believe hilary, not bill, should have worn the crown
they could have learned from jack and jill
which one would break it and fall down.
i believe there are too many lonely lesbians looking for a lover
and if some would lift their cool masks maybe they would find each other.
i believe people and products both need less packaging
cause bullshit is still bullshit when you pull off all the wrapping.
i believe people are see-through if you hold em up to the light
i believe people are enlightening if you plug em in right.
i believe our system is a love affair between the up and upper classes
cause it’s easy to get screwed when you’re just raping all the masses
i believe diet coke is liquid steel
i believe too many women drink their meal.
i believe in survival of the fittest-- if you’re ranking members of a gym
but if you’re talking about the human club, you gotta let everybody in.
i believe you should learn more than one language you should learn to talk in tongues and lips
i believe in nipples and skin and toes and hips.
i believe in noise from teeth and throats and cunts
the noise of poetry, music, laughter, after screaming cunnilingus.
i believe women are sexy without makeup or clothes
i believe women are sexy when they’re reciting prose
i don’t believe in horoscopes, fortune, fate, luck, or chance
i believe sometimes shit works out just cause of circumstance.
so i believe if you call the wrong number you should talk for a while
you might like em more than who you meant to dial.
i believe small talk is for small people who have nothing much to say
if you really think it’s so nice out, shut up and go enjoy the fucking day
i believe wall street invented the criminal mentality
the easter bunny laid mandatory heterosexuality
i believe mutual masturbation makes a lot of sense
i don’t believe in a white picket fence
i believe in picking fights and picketing riot dykes
i believe in loving in groups,
i believe in loving alone.
i believe in hardship, in travelling through hard shit
then i believe in coming home.
i believe some wives find their husbands boring
and they picture women naked while those boys are snoring
i believe men need to revolutionize themselves or they’ll see
all those wives kissing jill so bule and me.
i believe there are more buttons
and more clever bumper stickers every day
and less and less sticking to what they have to say
more recycling of garbage,
more recycling of cash
it all ends up in the same bin --
with all the white corporate trash.
i believe there are too many babies
and too many weddings
and too many headings that started with Monica
i believe post-gay is presumptious
just plain gay functions.
i don’t believe in ex-gay
i believe trent lott should be b.b. gun-shot
ex-punged from this term before the thousand years he’s got left
i believe barbie should
be used in anatomy class
as a perfect bag of bones
then taken to biogenetics as an argument against clones.
i believe cell phone culture is ridiculous
imprisoning us in the cell of a social fetish
i believe baby dolls should have realistic clits.
so baby dykes can start getting used to it.
and i believed the guy
i waited on today who said i’m one hundred percent nice
i don’t bite
i said
i believe you sir
and i’ll take the beer
can you believe i’m one hundred percent queer
and i talk it and i teach it
and i poet and i preach it
and I hold it and I mold it
and I know it so I give it.
cause I’m sure that I believe
i’m still learning how to live it.

NEXT I WANT TO TALK ABOUT THE DVD LEFT LANE ON THE ROAD. IF YOUR FAN OF POETRY AND ALSO A FAN OF ALIX THIS IS MUST OWN PIECE OF POETRY HISTORY, BECAUSE YOU GET TO FEEL AND KNOW ALIX AS A PERSON.

LEFT LANE ON THE ROAD2004

PLOT:

Alix Olson is an internationally touring folk poet and progressive queer artist-activist. One part peace vigil, one part protest rally, and one part joyful raucous concert, Alix ignites audiences everywhere as she performs. LEFT LANE chronicles life on the road with Alix Olson and her road manager/filmmaker Samantha Farinella as they tour the country connecting the dots from a high school visit in Lincoln, Nebraska to a CD release party in New York City. LEFT LANE highlights spoken-word performances from around the country and a plethora of behind the scenes glimpses at the search for independent thought, grassroots defiance, passionate connection, organic food and clean laundry.-- BACK OF DVD COVER

STARRING: ALIX OLSON AND SAMANTHA FARINELLA, PAMELA MEANS

RATED: NOT RATED

RUNTIME: 90 MINUTES

MY REVIEW AND THOUGHTS:

THIS DOCUMENTARY SHOWCASES ONE YEAR ON THE ROAD WITH ALEX AND HER CREW AS THEY ADVENTURE ACROSS AMERICA SPREADING THE WONDERFUL TRUTH THROUGH THE POETRY OF SPOKEN WORD. IT'S A FANTASTIC FILM IN SHOWING HER HUMOR OR HER DEEP AFFECTION FOR WHAT SHE BELIEVES IN WHICH REALLY NO MATTER WHAT WAY YOU LOOK AT IT, IT'S THE TRUTH. HER FORCEFUL TONE, HER AMAZING SMILE AND HER BEAUTIFUL AMAZING ONE OF KIND ATTITUDE THAT EXPRESSES SO MUCH IN ARTISTIC FORM IS SHOWCASED HERE. SHE SHOWCASES THE ART OF POETRY THROUGH HER EMOTIONS, FORCE, ACTIONS AND WRITING.

YOU WATCH ON SCREEN AS SHE GOES FROM CLUBS, TO FESTIVALS TO SCHOOLS AS YOU ARE GIVEN HER SPOKEN WORD POETRY ON SCREEN. THE FILM IS FUN TO WATCH AND VERY MOVING BECAUSE YOU GET TO SEE ALIX IN EVERYDAY LIFE AND WHAT SHE SPEAKS THROUGH HER POETRY IS ALSO WHO SHE IS. SO MANY ARTIST ARE TWO DIFFERENT PEOPLE, ON STAGE THEY PUT ON A PERFORMANCE AND THEN OFF STAGE THEY GO ABOUT WHAT THEY CONSIDER A NORMAL LIFE. ALIX IS DIFFERENT, SHE BELIEVES IN THE FIGHT FOR TRUTH IN FREEDOM AND IS A TRUE ACTIVIST ON AND OFF STAGE. ALIX SAYS INSTEAD OF TAKING ANGER TO THE FIST, SHE TAKES ANGER TO THE PEN, WHICH IS AMAZING BECAUSE THE PEN IS STILL MORE POWERFUL THEN ANY WAR OF GUN CAN EVER BE.

YOU GET TO SEE FILMED INTERVIEWS WITH ALIX'S GRANDMOTHER AND MOTHER AND FATHER. WHICH ARE REALLY PRICELESS MOMENTS TO SHOWCASE THE LOVE AND THE ACCEPTANCE FROM HER FAMILY. THEY ARE PROUD OF HER ACTIONS AND BOTH PARENTS SEEMED TO BE AMAZING OPEN MINDED PEOPLE WHO QUESTION WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THIS SOCIETY.

ANOTHER WONDERFUL ASPECT TO THE FILM IS YOU GET TO SEE THE MUSICIANS WHO PLAY ALONG WITH ALIX. THE WONDERFUL AMAZING PAMELA MEANS WHO KNOWS HOW TO DESTROY A GUITAR AND A MICROPHONE AND I MEAN THAT IN A GREAT WAY. HER TALENT IS WONDERFUL AND WHICH I NEED TO ADD YOU CAN BUY HER AMAZING CD'S HERE:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=16319771

THIS DOCUMENTARY IS GREAT BECAUSE YOU GET TO EXPERIENCE A PERSONAL LIFE, A STRUGGLE TO SHOWCASE HER TALENT IN TRAVELING MANY MILES ALL FOR THE LOVE OF ART IN POETRY AND FOR THE TRUTH THAT IS BEING SPOKEN BEHIND HER WORDS. ALIX IS WILLING TO STAND UP AND BE A DIFFERENT MEDIA. A MEDIA OF TRUTH AND NOT OWNED GLOBAL WALLETS LIKE NEWS AND PAPERS ARE. ALIX HAS NOTHING TELLING HER WHAT TO SAY, SHE EXPRESSES THE REAL TRUTH AND NOT THE WATER DOWN GARBAGE. SHE IS NOT WILLING TO BOW DOWN TO THE COUNTLESS MONEY HOLDERS OF CONTROL. ALIX REPRESENTS EVERYTHING THAT IS GREAT ABOUT BEING A PERSON THAT IS FREE, A FREEDOM OF NO CONTROL. A FREEDOM TO STEP OUT FROM THE LIFE AROUND US THAT THE T.V. OR MOVIES OR MAGAZINES TELL US HOW TO LIVE.

IN THIS DOCUMENTARY YOU GET ALIX READING THE POEMS: BUILT LIKE THAT, SUBTLE SISTER, AMERICA'S ON SALE, CHECKING MY PULSE, ARMPIT HAIR, CUNT CUNTRY, KINDNESS AND RAGE, BLESSED WITH A FAMILY, WOMYN BEFORE, UNSTEADY THINGS, DOROTHEA TANNING, INDEPENDENCE MEAL, 8X10, AND PIRATES. WHAT IS INTERESTING TO NOTE THIS FILM HAS BEEN SHOWN ALL OVER THE WORLD. FILM FESTIVALS IN PLACES LIKE, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, CANADA, SWEDEN, IRELAND, ISRAEL, FRANCE, PARIS, GERMANY, HUNGARY AND MORE THEN TWENTY FILM FESTIVALS IN THE U.S. THIS IS A MUST OWN MUST SEE PIECE OF POETRY HISTORY.

POEM SPOTLIGHT:

CUNT CUNTRY
BY: ALIX OLSON

I’ve decided to start Cunt Cuntry!
Write our own Cunstitution
Let our liberated clit bells ring out:
The Cunts are coming: It’s the Cunt Revolution!
I’d cut through my panties, I’d shake my pube hair loose,
I’d sign my Jane HanCunt in cursive with Cunt juice.
I’d declare the Independence of Clitoris to Shining Clitoris,
Proclaim the Emancipation of all Cunts-- and tell Dicks this:
You’re being drafted for the Big Solution: Stand Erect, Be Proud,
You’re part of the Cunt Revolution!
Defending our slick, silky, vaginal turf
For all cunted creatures, created or by birth.
And they’d wear buttons with fists raised, that say:
Patriarchy! I survived! Now this Dick’s fighting the Good Fight for
Vaginal Pride!
And kids in school would learn the Her-story Of the Boston Tea-ch Party,
When Cunt-Liberators tossed Cunt-Traitors into the sea,
Finally felt what it meant to be free.
And they’d learn how color complicated the win,
How White Cunted Creatures had to sacrifice Privilege,
Re-focus Vision for a Real Revolution to happen.
And kids would have weekly field trips
To the Museum of Un-Natural His-Story With display glass jars of rapist dicks in all their shriveled glory.
And Behind velvet rope, ancient relics of the past, like:
Female Guilt, Circumcision knives, Certificates turning whole people into Wives.
And there’d be torture chamber exhibits with tall, skinny heels
Inviting little girls to: Try this, and see how this feels—Cunted Creatures wore these to work or to anywhere formal:
This Pain was called Sexy. This process was called Normal!
And there’d be old collections of posters like:
Keep Abortion Legal- with a plaque:
Not much is known. But these come from an era when
Insecure Ruling Dickheads thought of Bodies as something to own.
We’d pledge allegiance to P-Flag With stars like you--
and crooked stripes!
We’d carry passports made from a giant Cunt Mold
In all pubic colors: Gray, Auburn, Ebony, Gold.
We’d ban all commercials of:
Are you not so fresh?
Is your vag repulsive?
Do you stink like fish?
And instead, we’d conduct a Cunt Taste-Testing Session,
Get used to the smells of Blood, Yeast, and the Ocean.
And Hothead Paison would lead Alison Bechdel’s Dykes:
Watch out for the Cunt Cuntry Army on Bikes!
There’d be an Esteemed Office called "National Astrologist"
And Cunt Commander in Chief would be… a Gynecologist.
And Michael Moore would be Vice-Pres…
Cause the Cunt Cuntry Court of Legality says:
Possessing a Cunt matters less than possessing the Cunt Mentality.
And daughters would laugh at old-fashioned terms like
Virgin and Bitch and Whore
As they checked out the newest inventory of vibrators Sold at the corner store.
Because daughters would be freer and dykes would be Freer and dicks would be freer
If we stood up and sang:
My Cunt tis of Thee
My Cunt tis of Thee
Because Cunt is the latin root of Kin and Country
But see, somehow some of our countrymen forgot they had Sisters, decided to treat us as unwelcome visitors,
Made it hard to have a cunt in this country.
Made it hard to have a cunt in this country.
So, we are starting Cunt Cuntry.
Not out of rebellion, Or unexamined sisterhood,
Or some sort of Seventies Separatist Revival.
We are starting Cunt Land
For that which it will stand:
One Nation Under Survival.

SHE HAS CD'S OUT OF HER TALENTED POETRY. ALSO THE DVD AND THE BOOKS AND INFORMATION ON PURCHASING THE PRODUCTS CAN BE FOUND AT THIS LINK:

http://www.alixolson.com/

PRAISE'S FOR ALIX:

"fueling the never-ending struggle to promote independent thought. Igniting and inspiring audiences wherever she may travel, Olson uses her witty and sympathetic voice to highlight a grassroots struggle against intolerance that is as entertaining as it is poignant," --THE NEW YORK TIMES

"a mesmerizing firebrand, a joyful dyke-feminist preacher." --TIME OUT NEW YORK

"Alix Olson is a brilliant performer, an ingenious poet, a serious thinker, a funny person. She brought me to my feet". ~Howard Zinn

"...an advocate for grassroots truth" ~Utne Magazine

"an electrifying performer who seduces the audience with wit and energy, spinning tales of life on the road between her fiery poems. A sharpshooter with theatrical flair, Olson oozes both love and rage."--PROGRESSIVE MAGAZINE

AMONG MANY OTHER THINGS ALIX WAS VOTED BEST ACTIVIST IN VENUS MAGAZINE'S HOTT LIST FOR 2004. ALSO SHE WAS VOTED BY OUT MUSIC AS THE 2004'S OUTMUSICIAN OF THE YEAR. WHAT IS AMAZING NOT ONLY ABOUT HER POETRY, IS THAT HER HEART CARES. IN 2003 SHE WAS GIVEN THE VISIONARY AWARD FROM THE D.C. RAPE CRISIS CENTER, THE AWARD WAS FOR "EXCEPTIONAL COMMITMENT TO THE PROMOTION OF SOCIAL JUSTICE."

ALIX DOES NOT STOP SHE TOURS, SPREADING HER WONDERFUL TALENT AT CLUBS, THEATERS AND FESTIVALS, COLLEGES AND ALSO HER TALENT GOES ALL THE WAY TO NEW YORK CITY'S LINCOLN CENTER WHERE SHE PERFORMED. THAT TO ME SHOWS HOW MUCH SHE LOVES THE WORLD OF THE WORD.

HAVE YOU EVER MET ONE OF THOSE PERSONS THAT YOU ARE JUST IN AWE OF THEM, THAT IS THE FEELINGS YOU GET FROM ALIX. HER DEEP INNER CONFIDENCE MAKES THE PERSON LISTENING OR READING OR WATCHING FEEL HER DEEP PASSION. HER BEAUTY IS NOT MERELY ON THE OUTSIDE ITS DEEP ON THE INSIDE AND SHE IS EXPRESSING HER TALENT AND AMAZING WONDER SO THAT ALL CAN EXPERIENCE HER MIND, HER WORDS WHICH IS HER BEATING HEART.

HER ABILITY CAPTURES THE RAW EMOTIONS OF PEOPLE. YOUR MIND LISTENS, THINKS AND MOST OF ALL, YOU AS THE LISTENER FOLLOW HER INTO WHAT SHE IS ABOUT. I AM A HUGE FAN OF THIS LIVING POET. I HAVE SAID THIS MANY TIMES DON'T WAIT UNTIL THE POET IS DEAD TO HONOR THEM OR TO SHOW THEM RESPECT, THIS AMAZING POET, THIS ONE OF A KIND MASTER OF WORDS, IS ALIVE AND WELL, SO PLEASE FOLLOW, LISTEN AND MOST OF ALL BECOME APART OF HER WORDS THAT FLOW IN PERFECT POETRY.

THE BEST WAY I CAN DESCRIBE ALIX, IS IF YOU OPEN A BOOK, AND YOU READ THAT BOOK, AND THAT BOOK BECOMES APART OF YOU. THE BOOK IS WHAT IS IMPORTANT, IT TEACHES YOU, IT MAKES YOU UNDERSTAND, IT MAKES YOU FEEL SOMETHING, EACH LINE OF THAT BOOK YOU REMEMBER, BECAUSE IT BECOMES DEEPLY PLACED INSIDE YOUR SOUL. THAT BOOK MEANS EVERYTHING, THAT BOOK HAS SHOWCASED WHAT IS RIGHT AND WHAT IS WRONG. THAT BOOK HAS TAKEN YOU TO THE NEXT STEP, NO MATTER WHERE YOU LIVE, IF YOU LIVE IN A BACK WOODS DIRT ROAD TOWN, THAT BOOK CAN SHOWCASE YOU THE STRUGGLE AND THE WORLD. THAT IS WHAT ALIX DOES. SHE IS LIKE A FLAWLESS WRITTEN BOOK THAT BECOMES ONE WITH YOU. ALIX SAYS WHAT TRUE THINKERS HAVE ALWAYS WANTED TO SAY, ALIX SAYS WHAT CLOSE MINDED CONTROLLED PEOPLE WANT TO SAY, SHE SAYS WHAT THE TRUTH REALLY IS. SHE BREAKS THE BRICK WALL OF CONTROL AND BECOMES THE VOICE THAT NEEDS TO BE SPOKEN. WE ALL NEED THAT VOICE OF POWER IN FREEDOM TO LIVE, IN THE FREEDOM TO SAY WHAT IS REAL, THE FREEDOM TO BREAK AWAY FROM THE CONTROL. ALIX'S POETRY DOES THAT. SHE IS A TRUE POET ICON.