Village Poets of Sunland & Tujunga: Elsa Frausto and Alice Pero Present "Sunland Park Poems" on March 26, 2017

Alice Pero and Elsa Frausto in Sunland Park.

On Sunday, March 26, 2017 at 4:30 p.m. the Village Poets of Sunland-Tujunga present the outgoing Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga, Elsa S. Frausto in her last reading in that capacity, at Bolton Hall Museum in Tujunga (10110 Commerce Avenue, Tujunga, CA 91042). A resident of Tujunga, Elsa will be joined in this presentation by an eminent and nationally known poet and musician, Alice Pero who is a Sunland resident. Together, they will present their new book, Sunland Park Poems, published recently by Shabda Press.

The reading, organized by Village Poets Planning Committee, features two segments of open mike presentations and refreshments, all in a beautiful interior of Los Angeles's Historical Landmark No. 2, built in 1913 and now listed in the Congressional Record, as well as on listings of the most important buildings in Southern California. Managed by Little Landers Historical Society, the Bolton Hall Museum presents permanent and temporal exhibits pertaining to local history, as well as many cultural events.

From the Book's Preface:

Two Sunland/Tujunga poets decided to write poems in Sunland Park and met on Tuesday mornings on warm spring days under the sheltering branches of towering pine and live oak. Eventually a book began to form and is dedicated to the park with its visitors and quasi-residents, squirrels, sparrows and one lone saxophone player. A certain bond was formed amongst the poets, the trees, the people of the Senior Center, morning strollers and even the dust blowing about in air which turned increasingly hot as months went on. This large park breathes life in and out and the wind coming from the San Gabriel Foothills pulled poems out of the poets as it scoured the paths. The spirit of Sunland Park and its people lives in these poems.

ALICE PERO

Here's the biography from Alice Pero's website, http://alicepero.com/index.html:

I am a poet, flutist and teacher of poetry to children. My mission is to awaken the creative spirit in all people. I am happy when you read and enjoy my poems and listen to my flute playing. I have co-created many poetry dialogues with other poets and find this exchange to be one of the most exciting games of all times. I invite you to read my poems and come to my concerts. I am dedicated to awakening the creative spirit in one and all.

I was born in New York City, the child of an electrical engineer and a housewife/editor. I graduated from Putney School in Vermont and The Manhattan School of Music in New York City. I received dance training at the Martha Graham School in New York and from many private teachers and I studied flute with Harold Bennett. I discovered poetry after studying rhythm with the music educator, Jamie Faunt,and doing some courses in the applied religious philosophy, Scientology, and have been writing poetry seriously for 32 years. I have done many featured readings in New York and Los Angeles and have been widely published in small magazines and on the web. My first book of poetry, Thawed Stars, was published in 1999 and was praised by Kenneth Koch as having "clarity and surprises." I am a member of the California Poets in the Schools, and I was a workshop leader for the New York City Ballet Education Department Poetry Project for many years. I have also done over 20 dialogues with other poets.

Returning to flute playing in 2006, I have been concertizing, including giving a house concert benefit for the LA Philharmonic, a recital at the Mid-Week Recital Series at the First Methodist Church of Santa Monica, several solo performances with the California Theatrical Youth Ballet, the Beverly Hills Chamber Music Festival, Celebrity Centre in Hollywood and many private concerts. I have been a student of David Shostac and Susan Greenberg, and continue private studies with Paul Fried in Sylmar, California.

Together with Veronica Bell and other local musicians, I have formed a chamber music group, Windsong, that gives regular concerts in the Los Angeles area. In 2002 I created a reading series in Los Angeles called “Moonday” that is co-produced by Lois P. Jones and has continued to present excellent poets over the years.

Stay with the Trees

who pose and smile

though we do not notice

They will never psychoanalyze you

or tell you who you are

or whom you must become

Talk to the trees,

they do not care if they are famous poets

Their poems are hidden inside their bark

I press my ear to hear

Sing to the trees

They will love you

for drowning out the sirens,

the loud honking of car alarms

Run and sing while the trees’ branches

dance with wind music,

never concerned about beginnings

or endings, flowing life rhythm

without a single thought

ELSA FRAUSTO

Elsa Frausto, a native of the Argentinian Pampas has lived in Tujunga under the shade of oaks and with the nightly scent of chaparral and sage for close to thirty years. She has been active in the local literary community as a member of the Chuparosa Writers, editor, readings organizer and host ( Camelback Readings) and most recently Wide Open Readings at the Sunland-Tujunga Library where she also showcases the Poem of the Month.

Together with the Village Poets of Sunland-Tujunga, she participates in the monthly poetry readings at Bolton Hall. As the current Poet Laureate of Sunland -Tujunga (2014-2017), Elsa and local poet, Alice Pero, are happy to present their new book Sunland Park Poems (Shabda Press) which celebrates the beautiful Foothills we call home.

Going

How many times this road, this river,

these mountains, the gorge opening like a mouth.

And we are going west, sun at our backs,

either pilgrims or explorers,

cutting the air with the speed

of breath and want.

How much is allowed in the space of a life,

how little remains,

how much was there at the beginning,

little we knew.

May be enough.

VILLAGE POETS PHOTOS

The photos of Sunland Park trees above are by Alice Pero.

Our photos from the Bolton Hall Readings and other events are now posted on Facebook only - and not on Google albums. To stay current, we will add photos from the previous reading to the following issue of the blog. Here are some group shots from the February 26, 2017 reading by Margaret Saine, and a guitar solo performance by Eva Zmijewska. Saine presented her newly published Lit Angels, issued by the local Moonrise Press.