Making its world premier just a few days ago, Waxy & Poetic in honored to present this music video from Rainer and Sapphire. It is exactly the boost we need. Or perhaps the medicine (at the risk of biting from the title). With youth like Rainer–engaged, compassionate and ready to make change happen–there’s a way forward for this country. Those in power now, including the current President, would do well to listen to the youngest among us–they have much to say.

©Rainer Pasca – 2021

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As a rapper, 15-year-old Rainer’s work bursts with theatricality and lyricism, a result of his background as a published poet and accomplished stage performer. Rainer has been writing since he was 4 and had poems published in several literary journals, including The Louisville Review, Cagibi, Stone Soup, Skipping Stones, and Balloons Literary Journal. On stage, he has appeared in school productions as Sonny in In the Heights, Edna in Hairspray and Tim Allgood in Noises Off, as well as a member of the Public Theatre’s 2018 Tony-nominated production of Twelfth Night at the Central Park Dellacorte Theatre. As a child, Rainer also made several appearances on The Ellen Show as a presidential expert. In 2020, he released his first rap album, Same Difference, and is currently at work on a collaboration LP with Sapphire, entitled The Beat & The Fire. Find him on YouTube at RAINER & IG @rainer.raps

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For the first 100 days of the Biden administration, this website will feature a new poem of What’s Next!? These pieces can be calls to action, calls to attention, or calls to anger. They will light the way and guide the fight. They will get us moving and keep our momentum. They will be filled with hope, with anger, with sorrow. They will get us into good trouble and point out the trouble we need to stop. They will be polished gems, or rough-cut drafts of rage, or in-process pieces searching for peace. They may be haiku or tanka, limericks or lyrics, verses free or fettered.

#100Days100Poems of What’s Next!? wants your poems, your prose, your visual art (photos, drawings, sculptures), your music, your short films and animations. Interpret the theme as broadly as you’d like.

If you would like to submit to this endeavor, please send an email, with your visual art (as .jpg or .pdf) or your poem saved as a word document (.docx) to waxyandpoetic AT gmail DOT com. Include a short bio (2-3 sentences) and social media/website information. All rights remain with the author. Please address any formatting preferences in your email. Waxyandpoetic.com will post submissions time permitting, with at least one per day beginning 20 January 2021. Read, follow, share, submit, live, love, spread light! Don’t forget to use #100Days100Poems !