We do have the power to shape the world as we see fit through our individual & collective actions. Through our communication we can push back on the notion that… 

•  time is a commodity
• we must constantly rise to fulfill tasks with a sense of urgency that doesn’t align with how we desire to move through life
• or the idea that we must sacrifice our innate personhood to be professional

At some point, we must ask ourselves if the standard we are forcing ourselves to conform to actually align with the world we desire to usher in.

If the answer to that question is no, then we can start to work towards ushering a new just world through our communication. In The Work You Do, the Person You Are Toni Morrison reminds us that “You make the job; it doesn’t make you.” It is through our communication & systems that we can walk through life as a Poet & move those around us to do the same. Perhaps in the process of doing so, we remember that a new just world is in many ways a return to something ancient. 

Through the development of systems, automated messages as syllabi, & a mission statement we will flow with time to root in the work that keeps us moving forward.

Who is the steward of Assemblage Conservatory?

Kay Brown (she/her) is a poet & theorist who graduated from Mount Holyoke College with a B.A. in Critical Social Thought (as described in the program overview sourced from Mount Holyoke below).

In other words, I have been trained to think critically & learn how to make theory accessible to folks from a variety of different backgrounds. While I’m grateful to the academic environments  that introduced me to life-changing theory, I am much more interested in the folks in my community who already possessed that embodied knowledge. It is those “masters” (poem below by Lucille Clifton sourced from The Clifton House's Instagram) that I long to study & offer my big heart up to in service.

My framework is reflective of these desires by connecting & organizing the dots of your practice. As a Poet, I intimately know the creative loopholes artists enter.

Yet, one thing that comes with ease is my ability to center my desires by effectively communicating my values & boundaries that help me move through the world in a way that feels good. As a scholar, I am trained in helping you create systems, documentation, & communication that help make your creative process feel more rooted.

The Poets Need People offering is another Clearing I have developed to empower others to place their power with themselves first & always. As this is an offering of Assemblage Conservatory, my intention is "to activate charged clearings, invoking Toni Morrison’s Baby Suggs preaching from Beloved, to enable Black folk’s hearts to weep, laugh, dance, & love instead of being extractively mined” still rings through this offering as well. I hope to work with you to combat the ways society extractively minds us of our sensuality through professionalism by prioritizing the communicative knowledge that already exists within us. 

In traditional institutions someone who facilitates this work may be called a Creative Lifestyle Coordinator or a Productivity Coordinator. However, within the Poets Need People Clearing this language does not serve us. In this Clearing, we acknowledge that time is not something to be chiseled away at because that process too often also chisels away at our bodies & spirit. Within Poets Need People, we center creating a clearing to gain clarity about our own desires & needs. The clarity that emerges enables us to openly communicate our boundaries with others so we may do the wild work of our dreams.

This work lets us unruly folk honor who we are & what we need to allow people to stand with us. It may be true that in this world we are expected to respond immediately, constantly move our boundaries to keep in favor with people, & always resist saying no if we can rationalize the thought that we can push through. What if you decided to use the wisdom Toni Morrison has left us to stand at the border, stand at the edge, & claim it as central, & let the rest of the world move over to where you are?  

Are these not the steps every rogue unruly person takes to create a whole assemblage of their life even when they were expected to keep accepting scraps? Even when the life we desire to live in is not the mainstream culture it does not mean we have to abandon our focused dreams. In this Clearing called Poets Need People, the language that shapes the work I will facilitate you through is that of a Poetic Conductor (n.). 

Find Your Form

Together, we will find the form, also known as systems of communication, that enable you to express who you are & what you desire by tending to the unruly creative path you are charting.

“I sat there and began to read the haiku & I started to cry because I had found me in poetry.” — Sonia Sanchez

Each whole note on the right hand side (3,6,& 8) are representative of when we come together to sing our citational love out loud. Together we will gather, embody stillness, & honor citations as sites of memories that inform how we move in the world. Here, you may bring your reflections, questions, responses you have when working on ground work from our 1:1 sessions.

Prior to reaching the nourishing whole notes, 1,2,4,5,7,& 8 are represented by  the musical notation of the whole rest. When reading music, whole rests represent 4 beats of silence. This work takes time. This work will not be finished after interacting with one 1:1 session. Oftentimes, the ways in which the work becomes metabolized is when it is complimented with our genuine wild experience of living.

I have read things years ago that are just now rising to the surface of my mind. This is the assemblage way of being, honoring time as circular, that is encouraged through rests. 

Lastly, musical notation provides the language for the Assemblage Framework because nothing can be heard without beats of silence. Furthermore, I believe that devotion to citation as sites of memory & the work of reclaiming our unruly & wild imagination through the vernacular is a simple act of play. What we gather in turns gather us. It feels like playing outside all day as a child collecting rocks, dandelions, & dirt to make a pie no one could eat. It feels like riding a bike down a new path & being excited to see what is around the corner. It feels like learning as discovery anchored in moving slowly, with ease centering rest so that when we do sing our citational song out loud we have enough breath to carry us home. Let’s conduct our freedom song together.

How Do I Start to Find My Form?

Simply follow the three steps below! If you have any clarifying questions you need answered before enrolling in Poets Need People please send your questions to [email protected] I’m happy to engage in conversation via email to answer all of your questions. No matter of questions is too much. In fact, we unruly folks know that the language of "too much" is a poor attempt to sedate our engagement with the sensuality of life. No matter the amount of questions... send them my way!

Let’s talk it through!

 Is talking it through an instrumental part of your process? If so, you are more than welcome to send submit a request for a free 30 minute discovery call. To submit a request please send an email to [email protected] with...

1. the subject “PNP Discovery Call Request”
2. a bulleted summary of what you wish to discuss
3. at least three dates/times (please include the time zone) that work for you

& I will ensure you gain the clarity you need. 

"Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose. It is a seeking that he who wishes may know the cosmic secrets of the world and they that dwell therein."

                                    — Zora Neale Hurston

Why now?

• You are ready to ensure your practice, communication, scheduling, etc. align with your values & enhance how you desire your creative life to feel. Professionalism & our roles in other people’s lives does not mean dishonoring or abandoning the sensuality of life. 

• You are ready to acknowledge, activate, & invite an integral source of support into the mycelium network that nourishes your practice

• You are accepting that you need to give form to your communication & documentation to truly tend toward your desired personal growth within your practice

PNP is for you if…

• You affirm & uplift BIPOC LGBTQ+ voices acknowledging that “ If Black women were free, it would mean that everyone else would have to be free since our freedom would necessitate the destruction of all the systems of oppression” (Combahee River Collective) 
• You have identified creative life boundaries & values, such as not taking meetings on Wednesdays, but often betray yourself by constantly going against your word  
•  You believe in the power of language to change how we show up in the world
• You acknowledge that while how you desire to move through the world is not the societal norm, you are not powerless, & by choosing to root in Poetics you center your desires. Thus embracing the sensuality of life to be more present for yourself, your community, & places that pour into you