"I READ THE NEWS TODAY, OH BOY!"
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York was a disaster of legendary horror that killed 146 people, mostly young immigrant women, and helped galvanize the labor movement.
Poetry
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July Poetry of the Streets
Her first steps are a stagger-limp/ a block, a mile to go!/ On the grimy street stage,/ she still tries to play a part,/ mutters moving lines/ but few hear them at all/ or hear them as true.
June Poetry of the Streets
“Mona Lisa of the Streets” I gave the woman a simple smile,/ some dollars, knowing not enough./ Her aura glowed: she once had style./ I gave the woman an open smile/ then plowed my way, single file/ holding tears, keeping the bluff./ I have Mona Lisa a knowing smile/ some dollars that were not enough.
Poetic Resistance to the Berkeley Sitting Ban
Poets held a poetry reading to challenge the City Council’s proposed sitting ban. How delightful it would be if we could just sing our way right past this terrible proposal to outlaw something as natural as sitting down. We should pour enough poetry on it that it is doused entirely.
When Even the Sky Hurts
Review by Mary Meriam
“The writing of a poem is also the act of taking a stand against the sadness.”
Poetry, May 2011
The Hungriest People /
Song by Carol Denney/
the hungriest people in this town/
aren’t starving in the street/
they sit in fancy restaurants/
and worry what to eat/
the poorest people in this town/
without a single doubt/
conspire at boardroom tables/
how to drive poor people out/
Poetry, April 2011
LENT 2011
(Spring Renewal)
by Maureen Hartmann
This year there have been
uprisings of the grassroots
against oppressive governments,
like Wisconsin, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia.
The protests are signs
of a growth in consciousness.
A maturation, like a small amount
of yeast in dough for a large loaf,
spreads throughout the Earth.
This year the grassroots implant,
even in many deaths,
seeds of hope and renewal.
The Survival of Poetry in the Face of Repression; Poetry, March 2011
Since I am the voice of a violet, crushed by soldiers’ boots, I write poems…
Russian poets in gulags,
Poetry, November 2010
Who Would Believe
by Claire J. Baker
Who would believe that all
week at a slick Senior Center
in a
Short Fiction and Poetry – October 2010
REFLECTION
by Joan Clair
A friend tells me she no longer has much or as much sympathy and compassion
Poetry September 2010
Hope’s nothing but right,/
like the justice of star shine/
on river breezing midnights....
Poetry, August 2010
Resurrection/
by Claire J. Baker/
May you/
arrive at/
resurrection/
not by dying/
but by LIVING./
May the end/
begin a/
beginning.