Stephen Montoya
Texas native Michael Guinn has several identities. Some of the ones he's best known for are as a poet, activist, author, and actor. Outside of this realm, he is simply known as Mike, a permanent supportive housing coach for CitySqaure's TRAC program out of Dallas. But when he has the time, Guinn picks up a mic and turns ink-drenched rhymes into audible visages of powerful sound. To say Guinn is a success would be putting it lightly. The list of accolades that accompany his name is so vast that it would take a third of this article to list them all. Let's just say Guinn has a gift for prose. But poetry is just a section of this renaissance man's resume; he's also involved in two movie productions and an online web series called Battle Lines.
But poetry wasn't always the refuge it is now for Guinn. It would take a hard day at work over 20 years ago to change this once despondent working professional's point of view. "It was about 7:30 p.m. at night when I just slumped down at my desk, put my head down, and started crying," Guinn says. "When I lifted my head, I had a pen in my hand, and the very first thing I wrote was, 'What good is my master's degree if I can't be the master of me? After that, everything came pouring out." Guinn says he had never been to a poetry reading and knew very little about the genre before this nighttime epiphany. He only knew he was onto something that sparked an interest in his soul.
"I started going to different open mics and meeting different people when I found out that there was an audience for this type of art," Guinn says while taking a seat on the first floor of the Lenora Rolla Heritage Center Museum. After attending several open mics, Guinn began working with local poetry groups, eventually creating the PSI (Poetry Slam Inc.) Certified Fort Worth National Poetry Slams and the ForthWrite National Youth Poetry Team.
This group of poets/performers traveled the country attending slam competitions, including the prestigious nationals. "We did pretty well; we made number three in the country," he says with a smile. Guinn spent time helping these youth find their poet voices and helped mentor and hone their skills.
It was around this time frame, Guinn says he moved to California for a change of scenery. This is where his story takes a turn for the surreal.
"One day after I left a poetry venue, two men pulled up behind me while I was on my way to see my 6-month-old daughter at the time," he opined. "As soon as I turned around, the guy had a gun pointed at my head, pulled the trigger, and the gun jammed. He pulled the chamber and shot me once in the knee," Guinn says while pointing at his left leg. "The other guy who was on the other side, I tried to wrestle the gun and get it away from him, he got away from me and pointed the gun at my chest, and the gun jammed again, almost like God said, 'not yet.'"
Stephen Montoya
During this altercation, Guinn explained that the man who tried shooting him in the chest managed to get a round off in his upper left thigh, thus giving him two gunshot wounds in the same leg. "The bullets went straight through me, man," he says while shaking his head in disbelief. "All I had on me was my passport and some CDs; he could've pawned that gun he shot me with and got more money (smiles)," Guinn says at this point of the encounter, he took off running with the men firing one more shot in his direction that missed him completely. "After I ran, I turned around and saw nothing. It was like it had never happened, like it was all a dream."
As Guinn began to walk back to his car, which was still running, he says he could feel a trickle of blood running down his leg along with a stinging sensation. Less than a week later, Guinn was set to be in a play called "Keeping the Dream Alive" about a street preacher reluctant to walk into his calling.
"Saturday, I was shot. Sunday, I'm in the hospital. Monday, I was in crutches at rehearsal. Tuesday, I was using a cane. Wednesday, I was limping, and Thursday, I made the debut," he says with a look of satisfaction. "Every time I went to my knee, the pain would be so excruciating that I cried, but everyone thought I was acting. I was nominated for best actor in that play, but it was just the pain from the bullet wound."
This is when Guinn says he caught the acting bug, which in time, gave him enough practice to host and speak at conferences. "I've always had this knack for reading an audience," he says. "Just kind of knowing what to do and how to keep everyone engaged." This skill has given Guinn the opportunity to speak at a wide variety of events that, include elementary school engagements to a governor's ball.
Currently, Guinn is in charge of a slew of speaking venues in North Texas, with two in East Texas, where he is originally from. With two published books under his belt and the NAACP gig, things seem to be on an upswing for this once despondent working professional.
"I've had a really good career with poetry and getting people from all walks of life to trust me with their vision, with their stage," Guinn says. "I just want more people to know that there are safe spaces where they can go and listen to original poems and spoken word and that these spaces are guided in a way that everyone is part of the movement.
Stephen Montoya
You can catch up with Guinn at these local spots:
2nd Tuesdays Monthly. Verbz & Vibez Open Mic at Create Arlington Studios
304 W. Main Street Arlington. 7:30 p.m.
3rd Fridays at Farr Best Theater - 109 Main Street Mansfield
7:30–9:30 p.m. - Sponsored by The Mansfield Commission Of Arts
4th Fridays Monthly. Poetry on The Patio. The Country's Biggest Free Monthly Outdoor Open Mic.
At Black & Bitter Books and Coffee in Duncanville
Tejas Story & Poetry Slams at Denton Civic Auditorium
Saturday, March 11th. 10 a.m. -12:30 p.m. FREE
