Q & A with Summer Festival Sponsor Chris Vannoy and San Diego Writers Festival
SDWF: Please tell us about The Rest of It.
CV: “The Rest Of It” is a mix of performance prose poetry and storytelling. It is the second book in the series of three books that contain 50 years of poetry. It contains poems all over the spectrum examining the human condition from many places of observation. The first book, “A Strange Summer”. and the third book, “All There Is”, completes the trilogy.
SDWF: Which poets or authors have influenced you most?
CV: Shakespeare, Robert Service. Edger Allen Poe….got me started….Picked up Neruda and the BEAT poets along the way after wondering through Sylvia Plath, and Sharon Olds, Robert Frost
SDWF: If you could give your younger self a piece of advice, what would it be?
CV: Just go do it and don’t be afraid to fail.
SDWF: Would you be willing to share one of your poems with us?
CV:
“Downtown”
DOWNTOWN! I’m going
DOWNTOWN!
on a trolley
red and fast. Beep! Beep!
To see those horse drawn carriages
clip, clop, in the heart of a city
that never stops runnin‘ over people;
movin‘ them aside,
show your urban pride
in the new hotels
where the old ones once stood.
Doesn’t matter that 306 people
have to sleep in the streets now.
Convention money’s comin‘!
We’ll build more houses
someplace else,
away from DOWNTOWN!
DOWNTOWN!
…..Budget’s overdrawn.
Guess they just have to wait
for a roof over their heads.
Clean lily-white neighborhoods
don’t want no minorities livin‘ in their back yard,
worked too hard to let them close.
Let them stay in DOWNTOWN!
DOWNTOWN!
…Where high class ladies
drive their BMW’s past families livin‘ in cars;
where bars charge five dollars for a beer
(no bums here)
just tourists lookin‘ for a good time;
can you spare a dime?
Dime won’t buy nothin‘ now-a-days!
Quarter? Dollar would be better!
I can buy a piece of plastic with that
so I won’t get wet
sleepin‘ under the freeway bridge
While I’m livin‘ here in DOWNTOWN!
DOWNTOWN!
Hey mister!
I got a sister that looks real fine;
I need to buy a bottle of wine.
Oh, I see, you’re the other way!
Sorry, my brother’s busy today,
here in DOWNTOWN!
DOWNTOWN!
where men work at high finance.
Jugglers, just doin‘ their dance
up the corporate ladder
just a look see
at pretty pictures on the wall;
that’s all well and nice
just hope that you don’t get sliced up
while you’re waitin‘ on the street corner;
I’m a blood donor!
Doesn’t pay much just a crutch
to prop up my saggin‘ moral values;
I’m singin‘ the blues ’bout livin‘
DOWNTOWN!
DOWNTOWN
The rescue mission is dishin‘ up the food
if you’re in the mood
and have the right attitude
they’re just tryin‘
to keep your soul from fryin‘
and your head from lyin‘
on the cold concrete
so take a seat
and let’s eat
here in DOWNTOWN!
SDWF: Here’s where you can find Chris online:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=chris+vannoy
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/chris-vannoy-726651109
Bandcamp: https://unic6.bandcamp.com/album/space-on-earth-poetry-by-chris-vannoy
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cvannoy777
And email: cvannoy777@gmail.com
SDWF: Thanks, Chris!
