A Project of San Francisco Poet Laureate devorah major
Each month, the San Francisco Public Library Web site features selected poems reflecting the theme of War and Peace on Our Streets.
To submit a poem or for more information about the project, see our News Release.
November/December Neighborhood Poets:
Gail Newman, Joan Annsfire and Diana O'Hehir
Books Gail Newman is reading and recommends:
A Heart As Wide As The World, Stories on the Path of Lovingkindness, Sharon Salzberg,
Shambhala A Book of Luminous Things, An International Anthology of Poetry, Czeslaw Milosz,
Harcourt Brace Poets Against the War, Edited by Sam Hamill, Norton Books.
Gail Newman has taught poetry in the Bay Area for over 20 years, primarily to children
through California Poets in the Schools. Her poems have appeared in poetry anthologies
including California Women Poets, Ghosts of the Holocaust, Feminist Poetics and in
numerous literary magazines. Gail lives with her husband and son in Bemal Heights,
where she watches hawks on telephone wires outside the window. Gail and her students
appeared this September on SPARK.the new KQED art series.
Bernal Backyard
Under the plum tree heavy
with fruit, my old dog's
ashes in a plain wooden box
keep company with worms
who did cheerful tunnels
among the roots.
Sometimes, in sleep, I hear
a muffled bark and a rush
of wings in the dark branches.
Souls are rising up on
quiet paws with quick tails
wagging.
Where I Live
The one-armed white man
with dread locks
scouts the traffic below
the underpass
for spare change.
His face is an abandoned building,
his body a burned-out battlefield.
His broken shoes slap the asphalt as he navigates
the fenders and rear-view mirrors.
Even a smile will help, his sign reads.
We roll up our windows.
The car ahead moves on and we rush to step on the gas.
Later, at home, roses bloom in the window.
The table is set with silver.
The food is ready. Slice the bead.
Eat.
Joan Annsfire is a poet, writer and librarian who works at the San Francisco Main
Library in Civic Center. Her work has appeared in Sinister Wisdom, Evergreen
Chronicles. Bridges. Mediphors. 13th Moon. and the “Cancer Poetry Project Anthology” edited by Karin Miller.
The Performance by Joan Annsfire
Maybe it was that she loved Mary Oliver's poetry
or that her shoes bore tiny reproductions
of Klimt paintings.
When she spoke she enunciated with clarity
in defiance of the empty space
where her front teeth used to be.
I listened as words emanated from a face
framed by wild, stringy blonde hair
gouged by years of outdoor living.
She came to the library looking for mysteries,
not just the kind in books.
She came carrying more information,
than can be found on the Internet.
And I feared her
not because we are different
but because we are not different enough.
I am respectable
I walk these gritty streets protected
by an invisible sandwich-board sign.
With an ear for intonations, an eye for gestures,
each day I give a well-oiled performance
in the role of Librarian.
Perhaps tomorrow, she'll be in the front row
when I step upon this stage again.
Our eyes may meet briefly,
as the spotlights are coming up,
curtain rising.
This poem is part of a series called “Witnesses” in which the speakers are first-person victims of repression, depression, or war. Diana O'Hehir
is the author of six books of poems, two novels, and an anthology of poems. My books are published by Norton, Atheneum, Princeton and Missouri. I've received
several awards, among them Missouri's Devins Award, the Poetry Society of America s Award for a work-in-progress, and a Guggenheim Award. I'm the
retired Head of the Mills College Creative Writing Program.
EAST OAKLAND SUNSET MORTUARY by Diana O'Hehir
Juvenile Gang Wars Decimate Oakland
Newspaper headline
I get mad when people say it's just a job.
It's a job
but also, it matters
if you know what I mean.
It takes art
to patch some of these kids up.
Babies.
Tender.
No face hair.
I been doing this sixteen years
and I'm still not used to it.
You need a real soft manner
and skill
to deal with the skin.
Don't think it's only the mamas get hysterical
and try to throw themselves in the casket.
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