Robin Silver—musician, artist, audio engineer, and once-member of the Here/There encampment— died on January 15, 2021. He is deeply missed by our Street Spirit community and the many people with whom he crossed paths in the East Bay and beyond. Robin was a gentle soul—deeply curious and, as one friend of his said, “so intensely and intimately engaged with every inch of life.” He loved producing music and videos with Berkeley Community Media, and attending (or playing) shows at Art House Gallery. Earlier in life, he was a frequent attendee of renaissance faires, where he made many friends and found community. He was once in a band called Tired of Sleeping, which brought him great pleasure. He was deeply in love with his wife, Theresa Morgan, who passed in 2013—the grief from her death is what precipitated his homelessness.
Robin sent us the poem below shortly before his passing. May his words carry his spirit forward.
Redtail hawk
By Robin Silver
Circling out of the summer sun,
A red tail catches your wondering eye.
Like a message from beyond
On a winged melody,
To each that he sees
A different vision he brings.
Don’t even ask him why.
He knows you already know
Somewhere deep inside.
Once again the prospect
Of limitless creation astounds me!
Something in the beating wings
Something in this song that brings me back again,
Free, singing like songbird.
While silently, the silver gliders
By the Palisades fly higher.
Effortlessly floating on
A summer thermocline.
I watch my shadow ripple like a wave
Down upon the vineyard rows.
Two lovers raise their tangled heads
From a field of mustard yellow.
They take the time to smile
And say hello to me.
Brighter than any noonday sun
I have ever seen.
Almost blinded by
Their upturned upon hearts
Like children, with their souls
Flung wide open.
Chasin a rainbow
Hopin for a dance with destiny.
So I shook my wing,
And I dropped a feather
Just to let them know I know.
I watched their tears of joy
Begin to flow like a river
Back to the sea.
So I took the feather home with me
And I tucked my lover in.
Tied it to this old guitar
And now this memory I’m singin
And once again the prospect
Of limitless creation astounds me.
Alastair Boone is the Director of Street Spirit.