Julia Vinograd was Berkeley’s informal “poet laureate.” Her poems about Telegraph Avenue and life in Berkeley in the late 60’s and beyond were beloved by many. She died in December, 2018.
Julia Vinograd
Don’t look at the dying
Don’t look at the dying;you’ll only encourage them.The homeless, the hungry, the hurting,they’re not really thereand it’s not polite to
Anniversary party at People’s Park
Drummers on stage, circles of people whirling,rags and feathers.We’re a tribe, we’re on the coverof National Geographic where native womencarry
Eating A Mango
I am eating a mango with many paper towels,
getting the sweet sticky stuff all over me.
I am a child, eating a mudpie of the sun and not interested
in all the things I’ll understand when I grow up.
Against Building Housing on People’s Park
There isn’t room There’s already 3 or 4 roommates
knocking elbows inside each tulip
and arguing whose turn it is
Street Musician
(Enera Wilson) He sits on a blue egg crate under a street corner tree, His long crossed legs balancing a
Thunder Under the Sky
It’s raining in the ruins. Carved Pillars holding up clouds. A cracked marble stage surrounded by crouched drummers. Thunder in
Selected poems by Julia Vinograd
On the Street I’m not here, don’t look at me.Don’t scream when your children look at me,do you think bad