My First with Ishle Yi Park

The first time I met Ishle it was in Solano State Prison on 6/28/03. She came visited me with Anmol. I had heard so much about her and read her awesome poetry. It was a humble and inspirational experience for me. She's totally down to earth.

We kept in touch on and off throughout the years. I read her poetry book and listened to her CD Work in Love whenever I wanted to get motivate or just chill. Of course, I share her works with other prisoners who appreciate her art.

Today I meet Ishle for the first time in the free world. I went to UC Berkeley and watched her perform to the class of Poetry for the People. She was as awesome as I had imagined. I witnessed the amount of emotion and passion she put into her performance. It's mesmerizing when the meditative words and songs flew out of her mouth like petals of cherry flowers flowing in the air after being hit by a strong breeze. She made performing poetry look easy. Yet, we have no ideal how much work and practice she has to put in to create that flow - like water in a gentle stream.

I wish I was able to record her performance, but my camera ran out of juice. I'm grateful to be able to watch her do her magic with spoken words for the fisrt time. I stil feel humble and inspire. She is still awesome and down to earth.

After Ishle's gig, we went to eat some delicious Indian food and kick it. I look forward to the many more first with Ishle Yi Park. You can look her out at www.ishle.com

Life is good.