Sunrise at the Cortexx Party

January 25, 2026By Focal NomadPOETRY, Posts, SUNRISE SERIES

Photographed – on my iPhone 6 – on July 7, 2019 in downtown Los Angeles, CA. This was at and coming home from the “Cortexx” party.

Sunrise from the Cortexx Party (7/7/19)

A grey night out. I only seem to
Be around the downtown skyline in the rare
Skies of fog. Moving up the 101—
Superficial as it is, hungers on my mind.
Creature comforts.

I’m not embarrassed, it’s top ramen
and Stranger Things.

After a weekend of shit—
excuse me, debauchery if you’re an ex—
I’ve noticed how much I’ve grown
in the last
60 days.

Since they found a lump in my breast
And I was forced to face my mortality and
Learn to ride the waves
wherever they thrust me.

Life doesn’t happen in a desert. It’s
Aquatic.

Life is full of color.
Life ebbs and flows
and the things inside it
die if they fight the current.

Life has more mystery in it
than the expansion of the cosmos.

Life,
life happens
when it’s wet.

It’s crazy to think that nearly everything
And everyone
I immediately desire
is matching me
to the trauma stuck in my body,

Dying to come out
by being expressed
and resolved.

My spirit
is only hungry
for it to evolve.

A series of unfortunate events, indeed.

But after last month,
all it is to me now
is “not cancer.”

Sunrise from a Bushwick Boat

January 24, 2026By Focal NomadPOETRY, Posts, SUNRISE SERIES

Photographed – on my iPhone 6 – and written on January 1, 2019 on the Schamonchi boat on Newtown Creek in Brooklyn, NY.

I come from a crew of big dreamers
And mean thinkers

Mixing trap into The Lion King
As tradition for ending every epic night

We didn’t all die in one of the
Many, many, many stupid but glorious decisions
We’ve made that night

As the high starts to wear off I’m
Pleased with the choices I’ve made

Friendships over shallow fucks always
Yield the results I want

The boat is not hard to find
If you know where to look

But like love, the best way to know where it is
Is just to say yes to the ride

In this case: that ride is a blue Byrd bus
Fully equipped with speakers and whiskey
And smiles and bittersweet memories that—

It’ll keep going: you may have to steer
Left to make it straight, you may have to push
To jump-start if it’s been sitting too long.

But it’ll always be there as a more adventurous
And fulfilling mode of getting you
To where we’re all going anyways.

It’s pleasant to know that I’m always welcome
Back on this ship since they just seem to know me

My radness hasn’t been melted by time, we’ll hug hello
And dance the night away — as if no time had
Been lost because the beat kept us on

Track the whole time.

Sunrise at One Love Fest

February 9, 2019By Focal NomadPOETRY, SUNRISE SERIES

Photos taken and words written in October 2017. One Love Fest, CA.

I wish I was a bird
Their mating rituals are so simple
And with my love song
I’d know damn well when
He was calling on another.

Love the people in these photos
But everyone wants a perfect time
Let’s stop teaching the myth of “ready”
And instead replace it,
With the reality of choice.

My necklace that contains
Sodalite for self-love
Rose quartz for unconditional love
And amethyst for healing
Went missing last night.
But my bet is my stones’ called on another
Cause for me they’d done all they could do.

I listened to myself.
My body, my need
For boundaries.
I’m not ready for a good time.
I’m ready for a real time, or a nap
Whichever comes first.
It’s been one real of a week.
I put sparkles on my cheeks and
Cat ears on my head.
To feel like my life
Was some time else.

Either in the past where
My trust was still
As low pressure
As my playa tires
Or the future where
I love myself so
Much, that I
Listen to myself
And give me what
I need against peace.

    Sunrise over Oregon Eclipse Festival

    October 5, 2017By Focal NomadBLOG, COVERAGE, SUNRISE SERIES

    Photos taken and words written in August 2017. Oregon Eclipse Festival, OR.

    The music whistled above the soft bass as I watched the flies bounce above the lake perfectly in synch. The ducks had just taken their morning bath are now diving back in. I’m looking around me and all I can think about is how I wish I had risked my camera to the dust a lot sooner.

    “Don’t loose your sense of wonder,” a voice said to me, here, a few nights ago.

    Deep breath, try,
    Writing something, by
    Breath, lie about
    Your job, your relationship
    Status, your income…
    I found myself
    Puffing myself out like
    A duck this weekend.
    Who was I trying to
    Impress, anyways?

    There’s a lot of work to be done. If there’s anything this place has taught me: the craftsmanship, the music, the acting, the dedication to performance, to parenting, to yours and mines LSD trips… It took all of us to create this experience. It dawned on me here at dawn, that all I ever wanted is in the friends I tackle to the ground when I see them. The synchronicities and full circles shared from strangers turned friends. Festival magic is us.

    I want to wake up to myself, get to my practice am grateful that I wasn’t distracted. It gets cold at night – but then the sun comes I’m grateful for my choices to stay awake. To say no to beautiful bodies that could risk my seeing a sunrise. The beautiful choice to spend all night in a tea lounge – learning about the subtleties of the varied leaves and the ritual of its steeping. Making “just-friends” with every addition to come to our table even when the candles were blown out. The choice to go back to a spot that I said I would and expand. The choice to be okay with the unknown ahead.

    The choice to say fuck you to management and my job so they never kidnap me full time. The choice to be here, to not burn, to not know why I had to, and then the sky going dark and just knowing I had to – and why hasn’t my camera been out longer? What have I been resisting all this time?

    She calls to me – Art
    And I am hers, I choose these
    Sunrises over any impassioned love
    For this Earth is my home.
    It’s only for that I should
    take some time out of my
    mornings to honor her majesty,
    Her forgiveness
    And her magic.