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Fame In Alameda
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ALAMEDA ISLAND POETS
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Alameda Island Poets
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| Ken Peterson, President Alameda Island Poets |
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| On Jack London 131 Birthday 3rd & Brannan SF, CA |
7/30/09 Alameda Island Poets Chapter. Dear Members and friends.
We will meet Wednesday October 7th at
Borders Bookstore at the Alameda Towne Center (South Shore) upstairs next to the coffee shop.
Workshop will start at
6:30 with the regular readings at 7 or 7:15. John Rowe BAPC President will be the featured reader.
Go TEAM
! Dear Members and friends.
It is time to start collecting dues for the 2010 year and to plan how to deal with the paper work and processing.
I
have the basic paper work and fee schedule.
The Dues are Member renewal or new
$20.00 Spouse
10.00
Youth under 21 years
3.00
Add $5.00 for Updrafts in hard copy by U.S. Postal Service.
There is an unresolved question about whether domestic
partners qualify for spouse rates. Personally I would assume so. Otherwise would seem to be against public policy in California. If
it comes up I suggest the spouse rule be followed and I will send it in as domestic partner. The State can complain if
that is incorrect.
You can send your renewals to me
Ken Peterson 1529 Sixth Street Alameda, CA 94501-3337.
or Mary Rudge
532 Haight Street,
Alameda. CA 94501
Why a Chapter?
Over the years some people have said, Why have a chapter?
I have
heard these answers
1.) As a not for profit organization we can use facilities not otherwise available to poetry groups
and events..
2.) We can go to the State Convention and meet members from other chapters..
3.) We can enter the
yearly State contest without having to pay poem fees.
Those are all I can remember. Which seem pretty weak. After all,
anyone, member or not, can go to the State convention and it doesn�t cost much to enter the contests�.
It
seems a shame to have so little to say, to have in mind..
Especially as there are more reasons than those, and some
are very good reasons.
There is the social aspects of people getting together about shared interests and in a shared
purpose. The sharing, community interest in itself adds to the support of each member and helps in the development of their
knowledge, skills and recognition.
There are different types of activities commonly associated with poetry.
Poetry
readings, contests, exhibitions, participation in civic activities, education, workshops and special projects are some.
Of
course, these can be and are done regularly by people not associated with any chapter or club. They can be done as an aside
by groups not particularly devoted to poetry. They are often done very well.
The special thing about a club is that
it can do any and all of these things as part of its ordinary and central purpose.
They can be done as activities or
the group which is different than individuals personally conducting readings or workshops or performances.
There is
value in doing things as a group in contrast to doing things as individuals or specialized small groups or as adjuncts to
organizations devoted to some other general purpose than poetry.
Some projects can achieved by a Chapter more easily than by
individuals.
Working in a group encourages and supports the members in their own development.
These are some
reasons for having a local club or chapter such as the Alameda Island Poets Chapter.
Do you have others?
What
about projects?
Awhile ago at a chapter meeting some of us were talking about what the chapter might do.
I thought
about that and wrote up a bunch of activities which have been done in the past and which have been suggested for now or the
future. Some I added.
What they were actually was not the point of my comments. I wasn�t actually suggesting
that we do any of them. What I was suggesting was that we think about projects in a different way from usual.
In considering
projects it might be well to ask
1.) What is the purpose? 2.) What could be the benefit? 3.) What is needed for
it work? 4.) Can we do or get what is required? 5.) What do we have to do? 6.) Can we do that? 7.) What do others
have to do? 8.) Will they do it? 9.) Even if we can do it all, will it be worthwhile?
In considering whether
it is worthwhile, these are some questions
Is it for our own enjoyment? Is it for our own benefit? Is it for
the benefit of others? For a special group? For the community at large?
The purposes such as those should influence
the decisions about nature and value to be obtained.
Such questions might focus our thinking and help us understand
why (or why not) to do a particular thing, and how to go about it.
And that might bring together our interest and efforts
so the thing works.
Regarding the membership in the State Organization
There are advantages in belonging to
the State organization and in meeting other members, belonging as a member. There are many very nice people, warm and welcoming,
supportive and who are good knowledgeable poets. It is great to get together with these fine people. It is fun.
And
it helps the development of the poet.
There may be other advantages to belonging to the State organization in addition
to belonging to an official not for profit organization with what ever legitimacy that might offer.
Mary Rudge
writes Our Chaparral President Frith writes "Chaparral is, first, last, and always, people, people--people of talents,
visions, and hopes for the future. We are here today as an expression of all those things. I have a belief, one that I feel
is widely shared, in the guiding purposes of this organization. I think back to some of the people ...with their examples
of dedication to poetry, to the beneficial potential of the collective involvement that Chaparral offers. ... I have learned
the background, the stories, of how Chaparral has weathered difficult times, of the extraordinary efforts sometimes required,
how Chaparral grew and prospered. I further believe that much of that accomplishment was made possible by a continuing focus
on the central and announced purposes of Chaparral. I believe that we need to pay homage, to honor that history, that tradition,
to take advantage whenever we can of the lessons learned and those yet to be learned. By being focused, being true to our
primary mission as outlined in our bylaws, we will be within a framework that will honor that tradition, that will serve us
well as we deal with the challenging times ahead. ... I believe we have the human resources necessary if we pull together
for our common purposes." Here are my comments (Mary Rudge) to add to what Laverne Frith said: Some people want the
newsletter, the roster, the statewide connection, knowing who poets in other cities are --- when going to another city there
is a contact to ask what is happening with poetry there, a reading I can attend --- getting acquainted means sometimes being
asked to be a featured reader in another city. some chapters have anthologies and workshop contests which other poets even
in other chapters can often enter. Some chapters have joint events. At annual conventions you can show and sell your books,
attend workshops, make new friends and connections in poetry. In promoting poetry the group effort is to encourage a JR/SR
Highschool contest and award students, the by-laws call for a children's Poetry Faire annually (if there is a chairperson
for it). Members of CFCP Inc have a shelf in the State Library for their historical papers and books to be preserved as
CFCP Inc members. The CFCP Inc has in the past given input to who will be state Poet Laureate, can recommend with power
of multiple people who vote, they have lobbied for an Ina Coolbrith stamp, they have been also partly responsible for petitioning
for the state Poet Laureate to have two year terms instead of a life term (which legislation was created and passed) enabling
more poets to have this honor and for the position to be diversified. If a person wants to have a voice for poetry in
the state a group effort is always good to have. A group often gets more respect and attention than an individual so this
makes poetry more visible and accessible. The newsletters are often educational as is the website. I am not sure what other
benefits I can think of but doubtless there are others, especially for people who go to the conventions enter the contests
and get published if a winner in the group's publications of their poetry contest winners. The members are often asked
to be readers and judges at conventions and/or to present workshops if they want to let it known they are available for these
activities. Chapter benefits also are determined by what a chapter decides to do. Publish anthologies, conduct workshops,
hold readings, etc depending on the interests and energies of the local leaders and members. A poet alone cannot do as much
as with a support team and a group of people who know and appreciate each other and regularly meet to share information. An
organization is usually more visible civically than an individual and gets news announcements of their events and invitations
more than a poet alone. I don't know if anyone who is a member wants to add to this compilation of information about why
the organization exists and why there are chapters throughout the state I have always appreciated being part of a poetry
community and have belonged to more than one poetry organization --- I have personally appreciated being a part of the statewide
organization CFCP Inc and having a local group of poets. I benefit from our reading series, workshops and interaction.
I really love seeing poets regularly in a group and having poet friends in this way. It takes energy to create
or keep a group together of course, and so, Of course, locally poets could decide differently at any time, if they want to
be a part of a group and keep a chapter going. I hope poets in Alameda Island Chapter will continue to stay together and continue
being a chapter. This is my feeling, and opinion.for poetry always, Mary Rudge
Ken continues For me, the main
suggestion in Laverne Friths Presidental talk was the development of a brochure which tells about Chaparall Poets.
I
would like to some statements which are easily, clearly and correctly understandable, which reflect the realities of the organization,
and which would be meaningful to the existing members and especially to prospective members.
I get nervous about saying
that we do things which we really don�t do very much or very well. I am bothered about talking about accomplishments
of the past when nothing like those are being done now.
I would like to see statements which are realistic and which
clearly explain the organization and tells people why they should belong.
I would also like to see some effort and
progress made on some of those historic or by-law required activities which have become only weakly observed.
I would
also like to have some means of referencing the State Organization and the local chapters more easily that California Federation
of Chaparral Poets, Inc. and Alameda Island Poets Chapter of ......
The names have to be easy to use, catchy and evocative
For
us, AIPS (e.g. �In Alameda, we are �AIPS�, not �Apes��.).
�Poet Chaps�
might be a start for the State. (e.g. I am a member of the Poet Chaps.)
Ken Peterson
Thoughts about officers for the coming year.
I propose we get nominations in by the 2nd Wednesday
of October and the member return votes by the end of October.
That way we can have new officers by the business meeting
of November.
The officers include
- President, Current
Ken Peterson *
- 1st Vice-President Current Cathy
Dana
- 2nd Vice-President Current Nanette
Deetz
- Secretary Current
Mary Loughran
- Treasurer Current
vacant
* Ken Peterson will not be a candidate or an officer.
Thank you
Ken Peterson
Nanette Deetz, Charlie Lopez Sr., Ken Peterson, Mary Rudge
Nanette Bradley Deetz
CROW DANCE
Black crow sitting under a pine tree,
white clouds against an azure sky.
Lazy wind whispers her secrets
as crow listens
from the edges of the world.
We watch each other from different galaxies;
circles, intersecting circles,
as the waters of Alameda Bay
flow around us.
Crow begins his dance
as squirrel appears from behind the pine tree.
Butterfly and dragonfly watch
as our galaxies intersect
for one moment,
under a pine tree by the bay;
dancing,
at the edge of the world.
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| Lourdes Costales & Amy Estrada |

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| Lourdes Costales, Amy @ Frank Bette Center & mom |
Poem by Lourdes Costales:
My Refuge
Nature - with its clean and simple lines
The sun fading into the horizon
The play of light and dark shadows of a mountain
The landscape at a distance is like
An Ansel Adams black and white photograph.
Trees baring their branches
Birds flying in the moonlight
Sailboats gliding in the calm water.
Whenever I need to refocus
and want to gain perspective
I come back to Crab cove to remind me of
Nature's Simplicity.
Poem by Amy Estrada (from her book of poems Ipagpatawad Nino Kami (Pardon Us),
Poems for the Philippines)
NENE
We will have a party for Nene.
Nene, "kaligayahan sa iyong kaarawan"
(happiness on your birthday).
We have only red rice –
her schoolmates, at home,
eat salads and sweets,
even cakes, everyday!
"Ipagpatawad ninyo kami sa aming kahirapan"
(pardon us for our poverty),
but we will have red rice with coconut milk,
and let little girls play, pick-up-sticks and pretend.
It is too small a house for the dancing
and a radio is a precious thing.
ipagpatawad ninyo kami sa aming kahirapan.
(pardon us for our poverty)
but all will sing
"kaligayahan sa iyong kaarawan"
(happiness on your birthday)
Nene, eleven years old.
BIO; Amy (Filomena) Bernardo Estrada, born and raised in Manila, in the Philippines, studied
and received degree from San Francisco State She co-wrote a book of poems Ipagpatawad Nino Kami
(Pardon Us), Poems for the Philippines with Mary Rudge, and is published in Alameda Poets anthologies, in The Human Face of
Love; Light, Dark Wind and Moon; and in Western Arrow 1998, among other publications. She has been a panelist at a World Congress
of Poets in English and Spanish, at the California Federation of Chaparral Poets, Inc., convention, on Glenda Bargera's The
Star Rover TV show, and has read her poetry at numerous events. Some of her poems are written for and dedicated to children
she has adopted in the Philippines. Amy is active with civic, religious and cultural Pilipino community events.
*******************************************
Poem by Angela Chung Reiss
(pub in Alameda Island Theme Poem anthology)
BIO: Angela Reiss is from Korea, a member of the Korean Writers Association, San Francisco
Korean Literary Association, Korean Expatriate Literature. She has written articles for bilingual publications, has been a
featured reader at poetry events including the Califonria Federation of Chaparral Poets, Inc., state Convention, she
has been a panelist, speaking on translation of poetry, Korean and English. In 2005 she was a featured poet at a World
Congress of Poets in Beijing and Tianan, in China, as a guest of the government. Angela has also been
featured on Glenda Barbera's "The Star Rover" Television show.
Peaceful place, Alameda
A little island Alameda is
The corner of the bay
Twilight is passion on a shining
Place on the village.
In the early evening a large group of mallards
Calmly sit down with their families
On the golden turf
Over the sea shore
A boat is waiting for the sunshine
At noon,
When the sea is burning from the sun
The wind calls to the boat people
And brings them to the ocean.
But I know the central street,
A roadside tree,
Year and year a hundred years
An ancestor spirit of soul
A blood vessel tree
Deep green of a leaf, open to the sun
Embrace all of island people
Oh! Yes.
It sounds like Alameda is
A restful,
And peaceful place.
POEM BY CHRISTINA GRAPPO
WEST END 2 WEST TOWER, ALAMEDA
WEST END BRANCH, ALAMEDA SOUTH SHORE MALL, ALAMEDA PARK STREET SHOPPING, ALAMEDA WEBSTER
STREET DISCOUNTS, ALAMEDA NAVAL YARD RUINS, ALAMEDA ALAMEDA MUSEUM, ALAMEDA CRAB COVE MUSEUM, ALAMEDA NEPTUNE
BEACH, ALAMEDA PARK STREET BRIDGE, ALAMEDA PARK STREET BRIDE, ALAMEDA FRUITVALE BRIDGE, ALAMEDA FRUITVALE BRIDE,
ALAMEDA HIGH STREET BRIDGE, ALAMEDA HIGH STREET BRIDE, ALAMEDA POSEY TUBE, ALAMEDA POSSE POSER, ALAMEDA BAYFARM
ISLAND, ALAMEDA FLATLAND PLAINS, ALAMEDA ISLAND PARADISE, ALAMEDA PAIR ‘0' DICE, ALAMEDA ALAMEDA HOTEL,
ALAMEDA ALAMEDA MOTEL, ALAMEDA FIRESIDE LOUNGE, ALAMEDA BEACHSIDE LOUNGERS, ALAMEDA LINCOLN PARK, ALAMEDA FRANKLIN
PARK, ALAMEDA BEACH COMBERS, ALAMEDA BEACH CRUISERS, ALAMEDA BICYCLE PATHS, ALAMEDA BASKETBALL COURTS, ALAMEDA THE
PERIMETER, ALAMEDA WEST TOWER, ALAMEDA
POEMS BY CATHY DANA AND MANY OF THE OTHER POETS ON THIS WEBSITE AS WELL AS OTHER POETS MAY BE FOUND IN THE NEW ANTHOLOGY:
Alameda Theme Poems, 2004, 2005, 2006. The first book of its kind in Alameda about Alameda. An Historic addition to your collection.
Buy it in Alameda at Wilmot's Book Store, The Frank Bette Art Center, or contact this website or maryrudgepoet@yahoo.com.
Excerpt from a Poem by Cathy Dana:
Conversations with the Sea
Part I. The Place
I notice the place Where wet sand meets dry The line curving and Uneven, a soft shadow Of hills
and valleys, dry sand Licked by a curious tongue. Sand embraces, arms open wide, Greeting these waters, welcoming
the waters Never rejecting Never too busy Never closed for the day. Licked sand smooth and glistening, Sculpted
but not tamed by the watersı touch. The uneven waterline meanders Graceful in its lack of discipline Sometimes a
distinct line Sometimes the dark wet fades imperceptibly Into the light dry.
Part II. The Gifts
The sea, for its part, brings little gifts To amuse the sand; pebbles, driftwood, Broken shells, seaweed;
deposits them, Then leaves them for a time. Great mounds of seaweed hug the sand, Resting after a long, liquid voyage Waiting
till the tide sweeps in and Calls them home again, back To the undulating underwater world. The seaweed, pungent
and steeped In by-gone eras, memories of First life, birth of life, the briny Origins of life, Is now only great
mounds of Sea debris, heaped carelessly On wet sand. I step around this debris Deliberately. I turn to lovelier vistas, Lapping
waters shimmering beneath distant hills and Big sky, then catch myself knee-deep in a skulking, Invisible prejudice.
Sea ³debris² I So quickly name it--- And find myself guilty of Dismissal without observation, perhaps The one
true sin Against life, against God.
Part III. The Space I look sandward once more, Look closer, more space in my breath now The mounds
are angelıs hair, seabraids, Twisted like French knots Mounds with long tails Or tentacles. Angelıs hair Green,
maroon, pink, golden, tangerine, Purplish brown---a sea rainbow Festooned with green streamers of Wakame. Itıs that
³beauty in the eye Of the beholder² thing; just So breathtakingly true. I smile at the seaweed And nod to prejudice,
stalking me still. I find new space in my breath For my prejudice. Recognized, it Becomes transparent and docile.
I turn again to the great Mounds with tails. How would I look upon them Were I the proud mother of These
fine seaweeds? Would I take time to know Their every nuance? Would I see beauty No one else could possibly See?
Would I ache For my seaweed child, An ache raw, unbidden, and Clasped fiercely to my heart?

Cathy Dana, M.S., CHT, CMT, is a firewalking hypnotherapist with a black belt in
aikido.
One of only 16 Certified Conscious Embodiment
instructors, she has trained with founder Wendy Palmer for over 20 years. With a master's degree in counseling, Cathy has
spent the last 25 years practicing and teaching a combination of bodywork and hypnotherapy, specializing in healing trauma.

Carrie Clinton
THE PEACE BAKERY
Peace slices generously like a birthday cake
Smells warm like baking cinnamon
Glistens like royal icing
Squeezes like light pink roses
Shines bright yellow and lemony
Celebrates like shiny silver sprinkles
Parades like candles
Satisfies like brownie dark and rich
Refreshes like an ice cold glass of milk
After the bakery burned down
Deadly sweet fumes of crisp sugar
Sharply sliver your tongue
As they hover, as smoke does,
Against the unyielding walls
To ashes and soot the once shiny roses
Blister and peel the shiny metal sprinkle
Candles too weary and wickless to stand
Unrecognizable, the albino brownies
Crumble and sog in the reckless spills
Of lukewarm soda
The New "Gal" in Town by Valerie Broadbent
It was 1999 when I found this special place with tree lined streets and Victorians of grace.
I'd never seen so many: each a treasure with stained glass windows for everyone's pleasure.
Alameda won me over, and I knew I'd stay in this charming island city by the bay.
As soon as I was settled and had more time to explore I became enchanted, as I uncovered more.
My curiosity grew about Alameda's history but our local museum helped solve the mystery.
Its old photos enlightened me greatly when historians showed homes standing stately.
Some were built a hundred years ago or more, and they held the keys which unlocked the door
Revealing interiors of quality construction lovingly restored and saved from destruction.
Enjoying these homes by the bay
is just one of the reasons I plan to stay.
BIO; PETER LIM .Peter Lim is a published poet who has enjoyed a long and storied career of writing,
though just in his early ‘20's and a student at San Francisco State. He freelances in
his field. His genre of poetry is "Spoken Word Poetry." He is the lyricist for his electronic pop band,
Tensegrity Nine and he is also a lead singer extraordinaire. and says he is available for hire "to perform or write
beautiful prose or poetry for your next baby shower, wedding, square dancing event, poetry slam, bar/bat-mitzvah, or on any
special theme; nothing will prove too difficult, too outrageous or too far out". Contact him at CYBERLIMa@aol.com. Tensegrity Nine is an Oakland/Alameda-based Electronic Pop music duo formed in late 2003 and featuring
Matt Payne and Peter Lim on a variety of electronic and acoustic instruments. Tensegrity Nine fuses elements of Folk, Rap,
J-Pop, Progressive House, and Hyphy to create a distinctly out-of-this-world musical atmosphere. Tensegrity Nine's live performance
is a seamless, high-energy affair featuring passionate vocals, musical solos on strange instruments, quirky humor, and choreographed
dancing. In essence, it is the musical nerd-rock, electro-pop equivalent of John Mayer, anticon, Yanni, and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony,
thrown into a pot of steaming lava, mixed together with an electric egg beater. . For more information check websites: www.tensegritynine.comwww.myspace.com/ptlt9
SEASONS by Mary Rudge
Season cycling, cycles spinning
we bring
Interior circles, inner dream
moved by sun-spin, moon-cusp, Saturn,
shaped by our mother's mother's gene
to child of thunder, light, or darkness,
we who are never as we seem,
we who spend a life time learning
who we are and what we mean
are measuring the seasons turning
cycles ending, and beginning..
Bio:
Mary Rudge speaks internationally at universities, schools, cultural events, and libraries, on five continents on teaching
peace skills and Poetry as a Healing Art. She was awarded Honorary Doctorates in Greece, Taiwan, New York, nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for her literary work,
named Princess of Poetry in Italy,
crowned in ceremony at the City Hall Rotunda, San Francisco as an international Poet Laureate. She has been the Poet Laureate for the
City of Alameda since 2002. Newspapers have called her a global catalyst and one of the Bay Area's most charismatic poets.
Her books include "Water Planet" (Leopold Senghor wrote the preface), "Hungary, Austria and Other Passions", "Poems for Ireland" "Beat, She Can't be Beat", and a Beatzine
publication: "When The Rapture Comes." She co-edited "Poets and Peace International" for ten years which
went to numerous countries with poems in seven languages, "State of Peace: The Women Speak," "Poems
from Street Spirit" (on homelessness and other social issues), "The Human Face of Love" on Mental Health issues,
and most recently edited three volumes of peace poems by local poets "Farewell to Armaments", "Flaunt Peace in the
Face of War" and "For You World Peace IMAGINE."
The Least Tern's Turn On The Edge of Extinction On the Mothballed Runway Of the Alameda Naval
Air Station Sunday, March 28, 2004
by AM Fonda There are migrating stars in opaque night skies, That today to date, elude trained eyes, These
jaded Suns call galaxies home As we search the heavens, thinking we're alone Our awareness develops as we learn To
preserve nesting grounds for our friend Least Tern. Such slender, graceful acrobat, Sea swallow feasts on
anchovies, or fresh crab, cracked Shorebird, avid fisherman Will nest on hospitable sand Or pebbles, concrete
or cement, Whatever grounds Earth won't charge rent A plot of land, a refuge so Flocks of Least Terns may come and
go. If we ever locate the center of the Universe And discover an endangered species arrived there first Where
we are now could be better or worst Depending on our propensity to learn On a mothballed runway where, rests, nests
Least Tern. AM Fonda's poem, published in the Alameda Island Theme Poem Anthology, Audubon Society
Newsletter, read in ceremony at the Least Tern Sanctuary, Alameda Point March 28, 2004
Claire J. Baker has been active in
Alameda poetry for years -- in past few years as a member of Alameda Island Chapter of California Federation of Chaparral
Poets...Claire credits poetry as having helped her save her sanity when she returned to her birth state as a 20-year-old and
began life on her own . Even then, Chaparral Poets served as a comforting anchor.
Claire has eight chapbooks and over 2300 published poems to date (newspapers, journals,
anthologies, her Unitarian Universalist monthly church bulletin), among many others over the years.
She is now a proud senior living 10 miles north of Berkeley, her birthplace.
Local and national awards number over 400 to date: Artists Embassy Intl; Street Spirit,
Poetalk, Writer's Digest, Coolbrith Circle, and the Poets Dinner, to name a few. She won two Triton medallions and the Grand
Prize at Poets' Dinner, 1984, as well as two Grand Prize performances with Artists Embassy Intl.
Ms. Baker is proud to have promoted Poetry Landmarks (a tree, sun dial, bench, plaque)
in Northern California. She is still active in the exciting poetry world where she has served as judge, editor and contest
chair. She is an avid reader, lover of animals, proud Unitarian-Universalist, presently living in Senior apartments
in quiet, semi-rural Pinole, CA
Claire has been happy to be a poet and a member of the Alameda Island Chapter of
CFCP.
July 26, 2007
DOUBLE HELIX
Within the spirals of life's rousing ride
we carry DNA and spirit prints,
flickering drama, foibles, freedoms, talents
through every primal and transcendent fire.
Attempting to master loop-the-loops, we lean
to milder turns, away from jarring dips,
gratified each time we compromise,
cast sun on polar views and clear the fog,
practice stellar acts reflecting love.
When joy bear-hugs and we hug warmly back,
we sip the tasty tea of miracles,
believe that we will thrive on earth forever...
Yet somewhere on the journey, planets which
have circled, marked our birth, will tumble free;
the helix starts to memorize our glow,
our brief or extended melody. When we
can cling no longer, the spiral gives us wings
for soaring on. We rise, become the sky.
(c) Claire J. Baker
Dancing Poetry Festival, 2005 Grand Prize Winner
Helen Montminy
SOFT WINDS
Alameda is
where soft winds blow friendship
into our lives and hearts forever
Janet Ann Collins
ALAMEDA
We've got fascinating history and
....a cool delightful view,
A cozy small town atmosphere
....with urban access, too
But it's not just the location;
....those realtors are wrong.
And it isn't our great weather that makes
....this place worth a song.
Sure it's nice to live
....where we can see the Golden Gate.
But, really,
....it's the people that make Alameda great.

|
| Two views of George Simmons |
George E Simmons
I Always Come Back
I always come back to Alameda
I was but a youth when I first left
The people the shops the atmosphere
just thinking back I feel bereft
The friends made then, still lasting
and the memories we made
I often regret ever leaving
but those friendships never fade
My childhood was happy then
Spending time at the beach
or riding bikes, or days at school
and the rules they tried to teach
But I always come back to Alameda
for a visit or just a day
And each time I return, I'm reminded
that I'm sorry I once moved away.
two short poems from Light Blooms by
Michael Thomas Kelly.
Oh, Laura
She feels the pain in her beak
as this bird from paradise pecks
at the shell from the inside to break
into the next universe.
***********
the old neighborhoods
i like the old neighborhoods best
where it takes at least six people
to change a tire -- two matriarchs
to supervise and advise the married
to console the unwedded
two patriarchs to prattle about
how it was in the good old days
and how it could've been if they'd of
been the boss back then
and one big strapping macho
buck to break the rust on the lug nuts
and a youngster, eager and almost able
to do the rest of the work and sweat
but what i like best is the loud music
it's always tops with me.
**********
Strength 8 by Tanya Joyce
Tail of a cobra,
Body of him and her,
Necklace of roses,
Red fur.
Guess who I am.
In all my poses
Sitting, standing,
Running, roaring,
Asleep, I am
Deep inside you.
from anthology Tarot Haiku
The book features Poetry by members of the
Thursday Night Tarot, started in the 1950's, one of San Francisco's longest lasting discussion groups.
The book is dedicated to the late Anna Ruth Kipping, with her photo on the dedication page
receiving a First Place Award at the Alameda Short Poem and Haiku Contest Celebration in Alameda in 2002.
Tanya Joyce's Poem in the Alameda Island Theme Anthology titled Webster Street Stitching won her the
title of Poet Laureate of Stitchery. She also composed several Haiku and other poems in the Alameda Theme Poems
Anthology
FOUR TEATROS HATH THE NAME OF ALAMEDA
Four theaters in Alameda were named Alameda.
Not many cities can claim something like that.
Yet though the names of all four were the very same,
Each could easily be told part from the other.
The first was a storefront in a most unlikely place,
A red Masonic Temple on a corner of Park Street.
A long time ago that first one was but that lair still abounds
Yesterday was super flicks, today is a Supercuts.
The second had an architect named Albert Cornelius,
Was on Santa Clara just off of Park Street.
Had a name change to Rialto but was close soon after.
Best known later on as bowl alley, now it’s bank.
The third, largest and best-known of all
Was on Central Ave just off of Park Street.
From Timothy Pfluger like Castro and Paramount,
Became rink now gym and awaits a comeback.
The fourth was drive-in, not off of Park Street
But an outdoor cinema just out of the tube,
Across the drive from its neighbor named Island.
Now is gone and replaced by a college (kind-of) named
Alameda.
Four teatros hath the name Alameda in Alameda.
One is true landmark, so should the other three.
The names were the same but the venues were not.
But all were once main sources of entertainment
In
Alameda.
İ 2006 Garrett
Murphy
www.GarrettMurphywriter.org
| Mary Loughran |

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Mary Loughran
Zoo Story
She laughed when she saw the flamingoes’
brilliant salmon in the sunlight, a dozen
perched on one stalk leg creating their
own
reedy vertical bed in that open grassy
space
they slept in at the zoo.
Too young, to appreciate the uniqueness
of their necks wrapped around their feathered
bodies like a stole nonchalantly tossed,
I watched her enthusiasm through the lens
of childhood, feeling slightly lost.
Seeing wonder all around me, since every
sight
was new, and from that place where wonder
lived,
her delight, in my sight, grew into a strange,
unnatural thing I had not seen before
in this mommy that I knew.
Unnatural the zoo where tigers pace
round and round their outdoor cage,
and panthers pace indoors the same,
where apes toss oranges peels and apple
cores
and sometimes heads of lettuce, where lions
spray and llamas spit and emus peck at
children’s hats and sometimes bit
off buttons,
where mothers laugh, cajole and kid.
We saw the elephants that day inside
their own enclosure while mother
talked with shining eyes to the man
who looked no older. We saw those elephants
quite up close that day, heard stories
of love and comfort between them.
We saw a mouse among their dung,
worried for its freedom. But most of all
I saw that day my mother as a woman,
and wondered why her cage was home,
and why the zoo was freedom.
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