La Luna, Original Poetry

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La Luna (The Golden Ladder)

Mother Moon

She beckons me with golden ray-drenched oceans lighting the path to my salvation

How I arrive is not of her concern

The journey seems endless

Crashing waves illuminate the way to paradise

How many have heeded the call of the golden waterfall at the end of the moon’s shadow?

Her energy is pulling me

Sweet serenades of Yemeya hypnotize me

I am captured

I am lost

in peace

Until I am found

(c) M. Tonita Austin aka Toni Love  8/31/18 OCM

Rewriting my story and owning it!

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I was clearing out my “drafts” folder and realized this post was never published. Two years ago, just eight months before the release of my debut EP “The Restoration”, I was given the opportunity to share the stage with two Maryland-based poets which was my first time as a paid feature. For me that was a milestone. I don’t get asked in my own city, maybe because I’m new on the scene, maybe my age and maybe because I don’t fall easily into any type of spoken word category but I am learning to sit comfortably with being not popular. I am okay with being different because it’s about the process of creating art for me and the energy I get when I know the audience is responding and feeling my written word. Ironically a month from now I will be featuring for the same poetic prowess Simply Sherri in Baltimore for her Heard it Through the Grapevine and I am looking forward to the experience. It’s a treat to be surrounded by the energy of the artists in the DMV and I can’t wait to see them again, they always give me so much love in return!

Anywhoo…just thought I’d post this and I hope that I will see you in October! Visit my  Facebook page for updates and more information or CD Baby to hear samples and download my debut EP titled “The Restoration”.  I truly appreciate the love!

I’m starting to understand how this life journey works. Half way into writing my story, just a few months from reaching what is supposed to be my golden year and I am finally giving myself permission to rewrite my story. Every few years I get to the end of a chapter, look back, reflect, revise, and restate my vision for my life before I move on to the next. This past Saturday night was one of those times when thoughtful contemplation met up with years of unconscious manifestation and moved me towards a new chapter in my life. When Sherri of Simply Poetic Entertainment contacted me to see if I would be interested in co-featuring at her first Philadelphia edition of Heard it Through the Grapevine, I was pleasantly surprised! I met her once as the spotlight artist (opening up for her and the other feature) last August so when she contacted me I had to make sure feature meant what I thought it meant before I got really excited. As she expanded on the details I knew I had to say yes. An evening of wine and love poems; that had Toni Love written all over it!  I started to think about the poems that I would recite. The flyers and event page went all over social media and I promoted the show with the same reserved passion that I always do but I was still nervous about making sure I carried my weight as a performer. 

I arrived early, asked them to save me a glass of Sangria from the wine tasting (I can never eat or drink before a performance, it makes my stomach uneasy!) and sat down to calm myself. What many don’t know is that I almost always completely blank out before a poetry reading. I can’t remember anything I’ve written and I often grab a book or start printing out poems so that I’ll have them in written form just in case. My biggest fear is that I’ll stand up and forget everything.  I panic, I pace and then I remember to sit down and breathe. As I sat I saw faces of love walk into the small gallery one by one. Friends who lived on the block I grew up on, a sorority sister who drove a few hours to get there, fellow poets, my Italian mother (that’s my nickname for her), and my brothers. I watched them add chairs as the room filled and the walls expanded. By the time I took to the mic it was standing room only. I was still nervous but excited and overwhelmingly grateful at the same time. Sherri said “you have a lot of support here..I’ve been asking who they are here to see..”  It was a vision that I didn’t know would be replicated seven months later at my EP release party. There’s nothing like looking out into a room full of faces that reflect genuine love. Nothing. 

I recited four poems and sang a bit too. It was an exciting night! The quote below is a comment sent to me the next day from the host of the event. I hope to see you at a performance venue soon. I will always return the love.  #loveistheanswer

Toni Love: I knew when I met you last year you were a dynamic performer and would wow that crowd. Your energy is incredible and your words were amazing. Let me know when you get that CD done, so I can get one.

Who Is Toni Love?

Have you had your heart broken and are afraid to love again? Do you feel like you give yourself to others and don’t know how to love yourself? Do you yearn for a surge of passion and romance in your life? Do you love good music and poetry? If you can say yes to any or all of these questions, then do yourself a favor and click the link below to order my debut EP titled “The Restoration”. I intertwine poetry with the brilliant music of Robb McCall to explore all of the above emotions and feelings. As you allow yourself to become immersed in the music and share in my journey, I am confident you will fall in love with love again!

You can purchase the entire EP with the bonus track or download the digital version by clicking the link below:

Order The Restoration on CD BABY.COM.

If you would like an autographed copy of the EP, or a Toni Love T-shirt, please visit my site by clicking here —-> Order Toni Love Music and Merchandise.

All CDs, t-shirts and tickets ordered from my site will arrive with a hand written thank you note and autographed as you choose.

The Restoration is my gift to you. I believe we can do nothing without love first. I offer you a chance to release old love, rekindle your current love or to believe that the love you seek will become more than a dream. Get the love you desire today!

~ I thank you for the love! Toni

#loveistheanswer

 

 

Save the Date for the Toni Love CD Release Party! August 22nd!

Toni Love with Robb and Pauline Houston McCall
Toni Love with Robb and Pauline Houston McCall

Three years ago, I finally got the nerve to attend an open mic and step up on the stage to recite a poem I had written just a few days prior. In just a few weeks I will be sending seven mixed and mastered original poems that I have recorded with Musician, Producer, Arranger and all around wonderful being, Robb McCall of  Charging Bull Massive Productions. Exactly three months from today I will be presenting my first work of art to the public. I am still pinching myself. When I stepped onto that stage a few years ago, I was shaking so badly that I had to hold the microphone with both hands and I could even feel my face trembling! The band played behind me, I held on to the paper in front of me and with the love and support of my family and friends attending, I made it though the poem and received a warm, supportive applause from the audience. Even though I thought the crowd was being more than generous with their applause, a host of a much larger open mic approached me and suggested I come out to his venue. A month later I went to the Harvest/Spoken Soul 215 to sign up on their open mic list and whenever I could, I would attend venues throughout the area to hear poetry and possibly get a chance to recite my own. None of what happened was planned. I just opened myself up to the possibilities of it all, and gave myself permission to explore the unknown. At this point in my life, I have awakened the passionate writer/poet that laid dormant for decades and she does not want to stop. But I am first a Mother and an entrepreneur so I take it a day at a time, I take suggestions from those whom I admire and respect and love, and if the door opens, I walk through it. And here I am, planning my CD Release party. Toni has been recovered and restored and for that reason the title of my CD is “Toni Love: The Restoration”. My celebration will be at the Community Arts Center in Wallingford, PA on Saturday August 22nd at 8:00pm. The entry fee is $12 and includes light fare, live performances by some of the greatest artists in the area, beer and wine and a DJ for your dancing pleasure after the show. CDs and Toni Love T-shirts will be available for purchase. Please “like” my Facebook Page and join the party if you can. I have supplied the link to the Event below. I hope you come, and I hope you will enjoy The Restoration as much as I have. I thank you for the part that you have played in my journey.

Peace and Blessings ~ Toni Love
—>  Join the Toni Love CD Release Party

Watch “Phyllis Hyman’s “Meet Me on the Moon” performed by Kim Pinder-Gardner with poem by Toni Love.” on YouTube

It’s a little dark but Kim Pinder-Gardner is sounding fabulous as always and it’s the first time I performed one of my poems without reading from the paper so I am so proud! It was truly a magical night for me and I can’t wait to do it again. This was performed at the R Lounge in Wilmington, Delaware on April 4, 2013 for Richard Tucker with the Universal Koncept.
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Meet Me…

“Fly into my love…”

Phyllis no one could have said it better

I want to melt like glue on the pavement in the hot weather

when you are near me

I want to stop time and tell the job, the bills, the kids and the static to hush..

I want to ride on the next warm breeze that blows by,

grab your hand to make sure it’s just you and I

and slowly climb that ladder to the moon

No one needs to know where we are

Just make sure you duck that shooting star

And meet me

Pleeease

I don’t care if it’s just for a moment

But a lifetime would be divine

As close to heaven as we will ever be

Is walking on the moon, just you and me

Meet me..

I’ll make sure you get to work in the morning

We can stop by Jupiter to get you a change of clothes

I just want a moment alone

“In the middle of the sky…you and I”

Do you hear that soft love vibe

Slowly dripping down my thigh

I NEED you to meet me

Where we can lose ourselves in the moment everlasting

Far away from outside forces that interfere with our gravity

Can you meet me?

I won’t tell a soul

but you will want to when I’m through..

Can you just meet me?

Don’t make me beg

I have the ladder, just grab a rung

and come

Can’t you get here any faster?

Meet me..

You won’t regret it my love

And you surely won’t forget it

You’ll be set free from all those wordly woes

When the moondust drifts softly between our toes

Just come..

And I promise

I’ll call your name when you do…

Original Poetry by M Tonita Austin remembering the late, great Phyllis Hyman on her birthday 7/6/12

 

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