Village Poets bring Poetry to the Independence Day Parade 2018!

Poets Car with Pam Shea as Statue of Liberty, and Dorothy Skiles, July 2018.

Since 2010, Village Poets rode in the Sunland Tujunga Parade. In 2018, the car received some new decorations -  two-word poems (golden hills, canopy of oaks, eccentric moon, yucca blooms, shining skies, and splendid sunset). The flowers' palette expanded to add pink and yellow, and the poets found some new costumes, with Dorothy Skiles and Joe DeCenzo in red, Maja Trochimczyk in navy with a shining sash from Marlene and a basket of poems and bookmarks, and Pamela Shea, Poet Laureate as Statue of Liberty in bright green.

Car Decorating party at Maja's, with Marlene and pom-poms.

The preparations started on July 3, when five poets gathered to decorate the car; Marlene Hitt, Sunland Tujunga's Poet Laureate No. 1 from 1999, rode with the Sunland Tujunga Neighborhood Council, but brought ornaments for the convertible. 

Fourth of July

Battles are never over
Hatred is never done
We think one war is finished
Think, of course, we’ve won
This year we’ll see our fireworks
We always cheer in awe
At the splendor of mock battle
Thunder of battles’ call
We lie on the grass of the football field
With our eyes turned up to the sky
Forget that war means sorrow
That some of us here could die
If those marvelous fires and colors
In our deep blue summers’ eye
Could say ‘now all fighting is over’
We could sigh a rapturous sigh
Then that would be the meaning
Of the cheers of the fourth of July.

Marlene Hitt  (7/4/18)

Pamela Shea with her banner assistants, Patrick and Mere.

Pamela Shea who was Betsy Ross last year, became the Statue of Liberty, with her Poet Laureate sash, and brave assistants, Patrick Shea as Mr. Lincoln in a top hat, and Mere in patriotic miniskirt.  She wrote a celebratory poem after the event. Her bookmarks were a big hit with the spectators, and were all gone half-way through the route. 

2018 Fourth of July

A wonderful day

Honoring all things that are good

Starts with a parade 

In my neighborhood

Then fun in the pool

Great time with family, friends

Next a baseball game 

But that's not the end

The nighttime sky glows

Fireworks burst, music plays

The Fourth of July 

A picture perfect day

But remember, too

Our freedom's cost

Honor those gone

And those that we've lost

Also hold in your hearts 

Those less fortunate 

Who live on the margins

Against whom others discriminate

Independence survives on

Thanks to both present and past 

So live with values to give

And pray for peace that lasts

By Pamela Shea 

9th Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga

The Poets' convertible on the parade route.

The Statue of Liberty was also commemorated in a poem by Elsa S. Frausto

Ferry ride from Manhattan to Staten Island

I'd move there just to be able to see the Lady of Liberty

every single day. One of my great  grandfathers saw her

as she appeared after days filled with water and waiting.

She holds the tired longing of so many eyes.

Here, imperfect union that we are.

(C) 2018 Elsa S. Frausto

Pam Shea as Statue of Liberty with a handmade torch.

Pamela Shea earlier wrote a poem about the nation's flag; its fragment was included on her bookmarks.

Old Glory

by Pamela Shea, 9th Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga

Today I performed a most humbling act
I repaired my home flag, dear Old Glory
I stitched frayed seams with reverential care
While it whispered to me its story

It took me to places where it had been
To battlefields, parades, and many graves
We visited places of the deepest sorrow
As well as sunny, celebratory days

I envisioned faces of many heroes
Of all colors, races, ages, and creeds
We journeyed to mountaintops and valleys
Commemorating countless courageous deeds

Frayed seams reminded me of frayed families
I thought of all soldiers, alive, dead, or maimed
Thoughts of generations flooded my mind
So many lives for freedom forever changed

I finished my sewing with thankfulness
Completing this sacred task with a prayer
My heart was warmed by appreciation
As I proudly posted the colors with care

Photo by Maja Trochimczyk

Parade's spectators with surprises for the poets - water!

Joe DeCenzo prepared a new CD of patriotic music in different styles, from Yankee Doodle Dandy, to Born in the USA by Bruce Springsteen, with several versions of America the Beautiful in between. The poets' cards included a printed version of two stanzas with music, and the sentiments of the two-word poems on the car reflected the focus on the beauty of natural landscapes in California. 

Team and the Poets' convertible, with two-word poems. 

Joe DeCenzo's poem added some stanzas to the little known sections of Katharine Lee Bates, from the original 1893 version of the poem.

From Sea to Shining Sea

(Honoring The Poem “Pike’s Peak” By Katharine Lee Bates) 

Oh beautiful for hearts combined
That see beyond the gloom
Whose brothers crawl from every land
And know we still have room
America! America!
Thy bosom shall defend
The virtues of our ancestors
Against those who offend

Oh Beautiful for those who speak
Above the boisterous crowd
Crusading for the dignities
That all men are endowed
America! America!
For better or for worse
Whose amber waves and proud refrains
Deserve another verse

O beautiful for pilgrim feet,
Whose stern, impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine,
Till all success be nobleness,
And every gain divine!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

Oh Beautiful for those few words
Those seldom heard in song
Reminding us of principles
That built our nation strong
America! America!
Forever shall we stride
To find our brothers arm in arm
Where liberties reside

Joe DeCenzo
June/2018

Joe DeCenzo driving the Poets' Convertible (actually his...) 

Maja Trochimczyk soaked by  water guns from the onlookers 

with Dorothy Skiles, considerably less wet. 

... All happy and having fun in the sun, but for both Maja Trochimczyk and Dorothy Skiles, the Fourth of July is a bitter-sweet date. Maja lost her Mom in 2013 and Dorothy lost her Dad in 1987. Here's an in memoriam poem by Dorothy.  

Fourth of July 1987

Oh Dad, you picked a

mighty fine day to die -

on the 4th of July!

You weren’t much

for parades, but you

sure loved those

homemade burgers

dripping with tangy

sauce and stuffed with

lots of pickles, with

a martini to boot!

Remember, when all

five of us kids stood

on Grandma’s front

porch, wide-eyed

watching fireworks

off Venice Pier?

You loved to shoot

them off  right

in the street –

colors were brilliant

and shone in your eyes!

We’d top it off, with vanilla,

chocolate, or strawberry,

ice cream, life was much

simpler then.

Oh Dad, you picked a

mighty fine day to die -

on the 4th of July!

Dorothy Skiles

Rev. July 2018

©Copyright 2018 by D. Skiles

Poetry basket with America the Beautiful and poetry cards. 

Maja Trochimczyk walked most of the route, giving out poems, cards with America the Beautiful and poetry bookmarks. All the poems were gone before reaching half the route which means we need to print a lot more for next year. 

Independence Day

Red - are the rocks of the Grand Canyon
White - are the mountains, covered with snow
Blue - are the waves of Pacific Ocean

Red, White and Blue - colors of all.

Red - is the Earth from which we come
White - is the Air that fills our lungs
Blue - is the Water inside us, with Stardust

Red, White and Blue - connected in all.

Red - is pure Love, deep in our hearts
White - is the Brightness of our minds
Blue - is the Peace of well-lived lives

Red, White and Blue - freedom for all.

(C) 2018 by Maja Trochimczyk

Dorothy, Pam, and Maja with Mere and Patrick holding the banner.

Elsa S. Frausto sent in the final poem, about celebrating Independence Day in our beautiful foothills.

Foothills

These mountains are here,

the surprising flight of parrots and their calls,

the large, white Yucca blooms,

nights giving up their hidden scent

of oak and sage.

Days filled with unsurprising heat.

It's July after all,

and Whitman still sings the body electric.

A song to Independence,

here, imperfect union that we are.

Elsa S. Frausto, (c) 2018 

Thelma T.Reyna and Beverly M. Collins - Featured Poets on July 26, 2015

After the incredible success of the reading by Sharon Alexander on June 28 and preceding an equally successful (as we hope) reading by Westside Women Writers on August 23 at McGroarty Arts Center (with Lois P. Jones, Millicent Borges Accardi, Susan Rogers, and Kathi Stafford),  the Village Poets enjoyed the participation in the Fourth of July Parade in Sunland Tujunga (see the Picasa Web Album here).

L to R: Gianni, Maja Trochimczyk, Marlene Hitt, Dorothy Skiles, Elsa S. Frausto and Joe DeCenzo.

Inspired by these celebrations, the Village Poets are proud to present Thelma T. Reyna and Beverly Collins as our Featured Poets on Sunday, July 26, at 4:30 p.m.

In addition to the two features, the format of our readings includes two sections of Open Mike, refreshments in the middle, and a great companionship of creative minds in a wonderful environment of the Bolton Hall Museum in Tujunga, 10110 Commerce Avenue, Tujunga, CA 91041.

Thelma T. Reyna

Thelma T. Reyna is author of The Heavens Weep for Us and Other Stories (2009), winner of four national awards. Her two poetry chapbooks—Hearts in Common (2013) and Breath & Bone (2011)—were semi-finalists in a national poetry chapbook competition. Her most recent book is Rising, Falling, All of Us (2014), and she served as the editor of the 2015 Altadena Poetry Review. 

Her stories, poems, essays, articles, book reviews, and other nonfiction have appeared in journals, textbooks, anthologies, blogs, and regional media. She writes two blogs and has been a guest blogger on three others.

In April 2014, Reyna was named Poet Laureate of the Altadena (CA) Library District, a position she will hold for two years. She was also awarded a Most Inspirational Award for her accomplishments as an author and businesswoman by her State District Legislators in 2011. Reyna is an editor and writing consultant with her business, The Writing Pros (www.TheWritingPros.com) and holds a Ph.D. from UCLA.

OLD HABITS 

by Thelma T. Reyna

How easy it is to forget
how old habits in the brain trick us,
trick us,
into thinking you’re at my door,
or here in the kitchen by my side, sipping
at the mug, sighing at the early hour,
calling my name, your
mouth at my ear.
How easy, how easy.
The brain wipes away years, tears,
contorts memory to slave shadows of
itself, clipping connections to calendars
and seasons, children growing into
future mists we veil over when
we’re tricked. I hear footsteps,
jingling keys, the gentle click
of a door unlocked, water lapping
at your washbowl, gentle, curling,
steaming stream gurgling, and
you humming as you shave your neck.
How easy it is
to hear these precious sounds again,
these tiny tunes of love, familiarity,
tricking death and me with
double shots of cruelty: warmth
swathing me at the reliving, the
unguarded glow from being tricked, then
stabs of recollection, of seeing you
lowered in the ground, mounds of
flowers sliding back into the dirt.  

Beverly M. Collins

Beverly M. Collins is fourth in a family of five daughters. Although born in Milford, Delaware, Bev is a Jersey-girl to the bone. She is also a graduate of Taylor Business Institute, a great admirer of Art who carries a deep appreciation and respect for other Artist.

As a singer, Collins is a former national finalist for Talent America. As a poet, she is one of three 2012 prize winners for the California State Poetry Society whose works appear in a growing number of publications. She is the author of Quiet Observations and of Mud in Magic (Moonrise Press, 2015).

At home with her younger family members, she is Auntie Bev. The one who loves to cook, laugh and watch movies, enjoys amusement parks and the peacefulness of a long walk. She loves the sound of great guitar solos and times spent in complete silence where thoughts reign ...

ABOUT "MUD IN MAGIC"

Beverly M. Collins' poetry is much like her: Courageous, wise and imaginative. It is a thunder clap in the middle of Manhattan, a bolt of lightning on a desert island off of Spain. But in the end, it is its power, rhythm and clarity that make it rise to the level of art. Miss it at your own risk.
~ Radomir Vojtech Luza
Poet Laureate of North Hollywood
Pushcart Prize Nominee

Beverly M. Collins writes poetry that is a celebration of woman. She takes everyday experiences however varied and transforms them into a serene acceptance which is emotionally extremely fulfilling. Beverly M. Collins' (her) poems are gems of rare understanding.
~ Mary A. Mann
Author, www.maryanneetamann.com

Beverly M. Collins’s Mud in Magic is her second poetry book, filled with wisdom of experience, wisdom that has grown from a life well lived. Beverly’s skillful and often aphoristic or narrative poems portray a scene or a character that we could encounter on our streets, in our cafes. In these poems, styled as messages and postcards from the Thought Bistro (Part I) and Elixir Café (Part III), there is light and love – the latter, in its many reincarnations, from the affectionate to wistful, to, again, humorous – is also the subject of the central part of the book, Tinder Flames. In vain you would search here for empty fireworks of verbal displays. The beauty and wonder of daily life fills the pages andwill delight the readers.
~ Maja Trochimczyk, Ph.D.
President, Moonrise Press

MUD IN MAGIC

It is to spend time on a funky junction,

overlook the “how” and become

“I don’t know.” It is to wear an early-bird

coat with full feathers when the entire

event is late. It is to find that one has tricked

the trickster, turned the tables on the

bait-and-switcher...and got a free ticket.

It is to take life too serious. Put the squeeze

on what is not right-for-you, feel it sting

the palm of your hand like a bumble bee

on the blind side of an apple...but win the bushel.

Mud in magic can be welcome, as “loud”

at the library, “quiet” at an amusement park,

fun as a root canal one day before the feast.

It can murk up the view of a clear day then dry

quickly. It is the oment a way with words does

not win one a way with other things wanted.

It is to select a fall-from-grace, show that taste

buds are dull or absent from the mouth altogether.

It is to be drunk on foolishness, shame one’s way

up the side of the nearest mountain, then watch

the seeds evolve into practical moves.

Proof in the face, some stumble and win the race

one  foot behind the other; however triumphant 

or tragic. The low-down on high-life appears

that dry desert has hidden moisture

and there are obvious bits of mud in magic.

 _________________