Village Poets of Sunland & Tujunga

Saturday, July 2, 2022

Happy Independence Day 2022! Village Poets are Baaaack in the Parade!

Happy Independence Day 2022!

from Village Poets of Sunland-Tujunga and Friends at the California State Poetry Society and Helena Modjeska Art and Culture Club - Joe DeCenzo, Elsa Frausto, Marlene Hitt, Alice Pero, Pamela Shea, Dorothy Skiles, Maja Trochimczyk, Susan Rogers, Bory Thach, Ambika Talwar, and Beata & Ella Czajkowska

It's that time of the year! The Independence Day Parade in Sunland Tujunga starts at 10 am on Monday, 4 July 2022 from the crossing of Mt. Gleason and Foothill. The parade goes down Foothill Blvd, and ends by Sunland Park. It takes about an hour to walk. Above is one of the previously decorated Poets' Convertibles (lent to the poets by Joe DeCenzo). Below a photo from the parade that featured Pamela Shea, then Poet Laureate as the Statue of Liberty, with her crown and torch Those were the days.... and now we are coming back to this patriotic fun!

Village Poets of Sunland-Tujunga will be represented by the Poet Laureate Alice Pero riding in the Poets' Convertible driven by Joe DeCenzo (ST Poet Laureate No. 4), with guests Beata Czajkowska, Secretary of Helena Modjeska Art and Culture Club, poet Susan Rogers, and Village Poets volunteer, Josephine. Walking along the decorated car, poets will distribute postcards with "America the Beautiful" and poems they selected for this occasion.

The "walking" poets will include Dr. Maja Trochimczyk, ST Poet Laureate No. 6 (2010-2012) and President of the California State Poetry Society, Ambika Talwar, secretary of the California State Poetry Society, Bory Thach, one of the Editors of the California Quarterly and member of the Board of CSPS, and Elzbieta Czajkowska, representing Helena Modjeska Art and Culture Club as its volunteer web designer.

Maja Trochimczyk, Bory Thach and Ambika Talwar (2021).

Alice Pero started her term in 2020, however all public events were cancelled and her first public appearance in a large Village Poets event was at the Passing of the Laurels Ceremony held this spring. You can read her bio and a list of achievements on our site, and about the Passing of the Laurels on this blog.

Alice Pero

Some of the poems to be given out will be on the theme of the celebration, for instance Marlene Hitt wrote about the fireworks:

These are not bombs
up there in the sky
only fireworks
It's the Fourth of July!

Bursting to celebrate
freedom for all,
sparkling promises
begin to fall
(c) Marlene Hitt

Maja Trochimczyk's "Independence Day" poem that was given out as a postcard previously, received a new design:

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

Maja Trochimczyk decided to also distribute one poem from her new book, Bright Skies - a version of a poem written for one person, now transformed from singular into plural - so it is a poem about all of US and our strengths, together. We are all perfect!

Today – For Us

We are a miracle of life
We do what we want
We want what we do
We are perfect
We are cosmic trees
We grow by the calm lake of light
Its smooth opal surface
Reflects the sun’s smiling face
Our roots drink liquid light
Our crown sparkles with stars
Our leaves are green with peace
Our flowers are gold with joy
Our fruit is ripe with wisdom
We are a living miracle
We are perfect
From noon to midnight
From midnight to noon
We love what we do
We do what we love
We are—we shine—
We are one with the One
We are perfect

Ambika Talwar follows the theme of "Today" with an excerpt from a longer poem:

…Today
laugh silently and aloud
for the winds are your messengers
spread your love
wherever these miniscule spores wander

Today
proclaim freedom for all those
who choose to give nourishment to
their inner hearts’ miraculous ways

Today
is the day we each promised eons ago
we would shift the ley lines
of our thoughts and ways of being

Today
my blessed beloveds, we are on the path
of discovery and new creation

Today … be free
     And freely choose life liberty wisdom…
        and happiness …

                                   ~ Ambika Talwar

Joe DeCenzo will bring his poem inspired by America the Beautiful, "From Sea to Shining Sea," that we previously published on this site: http://villagepoets.blogspot.com/2018/07/village-poets-bring-poetry-to.html

Here are links to photos and stories from our previous parades. The last one of these was in July 2019:

http://villagepoets.blogspot.com/2019/07/village-poets-and-guests-in.html

http://villagepoets.blogspot.com/2018/07/village-poets-bring-poetry-to.html

http://villagepoets.blogspot.com/2017/07/dorothy-skiles-marlene-hitt-saturday-22.html

http://villagepoets.blogspot.com/2017/06/independence-day-parade-and-july-22.html

Joe, Marlene, Maja and Josephine at the Parade in 2018.

PHOTOS FROM 2022 INDEPENDENCE DAY PARADE

Happy Independence Day! We had the largest crew ever in the Village Poets entry in the Sunland-Tujunga Parade - two people to carry the banner (poet Joe DeCenzo and Josephine), three in the poets' convertible (ST Poet Laureate Alice Pero, poets Dorothy Skiles and Bory Thach who served as a driver), and three "walkers" to give out poems - myself, Ella and Beata Czajkowska! Then, a party at home and great conversations with another guest, India-born poet Ambika Talwar. So much fun!

In one group we had immigrants from Poland, Mexico, Germany, Cambodia and India, plus those born in the USA. A true celebration of freedom, diversity and friendship! I wore the gold scarf made by my Mom who died on the 4th of July 2013, and I always remember her joyous generosity and love on this lovely, happy day! Ella, a poet and "walker" giving away poems, said that people were moved to tears to get cards, especially the Hymn of Light I wrote new words for... America the Beautiful was the biggest hit on my side. I had people coming up to ask for extra cards... We'll have to print 800 for next year!

First, we gathered at my house on Sunday evening to decorate the Poets' Convertible - the car is lent for this occasion by Joe DeCenzo who, after the parade is over, has to remove the "goo" of glue from tape that melts into the varnish. Thanks a lot Joe! In some years, we totally overdecorated the car - see the photo on the top of this post. This year, I think we managed to stay classy!

July 3, 2022 Decorating Poets' Convertible with Alice trying out her seat

Almost ready - Poets' Convertible covered in silk flowers, bunting and flags!

Josephine and the stars

Bory Thach and the front grille, tricky job!

Alice and Josephine put the final touches on the front

Maja, Joe, Josephine and Alice so happy together!

Joe and Josephine attach the bunting to the front

We have some words on magnets, and the Poet Laureate picks up mini-poems

Two of Alice's choices are here.

I asked poets for some comments about the Parade and received the following from Alice Pero, our current Poet Laureate.

Alice with her special umbrella from Joe and scarf from Maja.

"Here is the story about me and the little girl today.

When I was waiting in the car to start off in the parade,
a man and little girl came and seemed very interested in
our car and the man asked what we were doing and I
said, "This is the Poet Laureate Car." I directly addressed
the little girl who was standing wide-eyed at me. I asked her,
"Do you know what a poet is?" She didn't answer, so I said,
"A poet is someone who makes poems. Here is a poem:
'The bright yellow sun is up high in the sky
will you be my friend today on the 4th of July?"

She smiled broadly at that point and then we got into
a conversation about how she could make up a poem herself,
maybe about the unicorn on her tee shirt.

These are the things that make being a Poet Laureate so much fun.
Thank you for including the Poet Laureate in the Sunland/Tujunga
4th of July Parade!

Alice Pero"

The crew ready to roll! Alice in her chair on top of the convertible,

Josephine, Joe, Ella, Bory, Dorothy, Beata and Maja stand in costumes.

Ella and Beata Czajkowska with poems to give away

Bory as the driver, Joe and Josephine to carry the banner.

Maja with the flag

Beata with postcards of poems and America the Beautiful

Joe made the banner, and this year carried it with Josephine. Fantastic outfits!

The crew with Alice, Dorothy and Bory in the car, Joe and Josephine in the back

The second smallest car, a truck with its driver and Joe.

The crew at the end of the route.

After the parade with the car

Joe and Josephine

Maja, Joe, Josephine in front of her house.

Maja Josephine, Beata and Ella

Josephine designed her dress and had it made to order specially for this parade!

Maja and Ambika in patriotic hats

The next step for the poets will be....CSPS Board representatives

Maja Trochimczyk President, Bory Thach, CQ Editor, and Ambika Talwar, Board Secretary.

Thursday, June 2, 2022

Poets in the Garden - Charlene Mason Gallego and Maja Trochimczyk's "Bright Skies" - June 26, 2022 at 4:30pm on Zoom

Iris in Descanso Gardens, Photo by Maja Trochimczyk

Video from this reading on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ysDdSGMDUZE

Maja Trochimczyk reads poems from "Bright Skies"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30QrXhNFO7Q

Village Poets of Sunland Tujunga are pleased to present two poets writing from their non-toxic gardens, full of wildlife and healthy plants. Charlene Mason Gallego will present her artwork and poetry, and Maja Trochimczyk will read poems and show photos from her newest collection, "Bright Skies." The reading will be on Sunday, June 26, 2022 at 4:30 pm on Zoom. Send request for link to maja@moonrisepress.com.

Charlene Mason Gallego

Charlene Mason Gallego writes: "I consider myself a California girl, having lived all over this beautiful state. I spent time in the Monterey Peninsula where I took up photography and art making. After a brief stint as a flight attendant, I recommitted myself to the creative life, and attended California College of the Arts in San Francisco. I graduated with a BFA in Drawing and Painting. While in art school I took several creative writing classes which exposed me to new authors and poets. I have been an avid journal writer my whole life and have a deep love of words as a way to process my experiences. While I have been a writer to an audience of one, recently I have been compelled to share it with the world, or at least my intimate circles. I write to find myself, to explore the unknowables, to follow my fascination points, to connect with wonder and beauty. And most of all to fully embody this life. In addition to writing, drawing, painting, and photography, I am a wildlife gardener. I create space for the wild beings, with native plants, and nesting sites, and water sources. My wild garden is a place of solace and renewal, magic and connection. My creative process is about the personal as universal, and exploring the beauty of our interconnectivity and diversity."

On June 25, 2022 from 3pm to 8pm she is hosting an open house at her studio and garden, at 11525 Mt. Gleason Avenue, Tujunga CA91042.

BEAUTY CONSULTANT

My body is designed for beautiful things.
Like the sunrise happening as I write this.
It is ever shifting, ever changing,
and never the same.
It is me as a witness, at this moment,
With these eyes and these body feels.
That is the miracle, turning my mountain
a dusty kind of pink.
The kind of pink you find in an old woman’s
house, upon her worn velvet sofa.
The kind of pink worn on that same
woman’s lips, that discontinued shade
of Estee Lauder lipstick.
It is her at this moment, a blending of early
morning rays, through moisture laden clouds,
landing on the browns and tans of
those easterly slopes,
that forgotten shade has been reinvented,
reignited for my pleasure again.
And it triggers a feeling of nostalgia,
Back when the action was at the department
stores, in the malls, at the food courts.
Us, Lauder, Clinique, and Lancome girls,
playing with our beauty, only slightly
understanding it’s power and becoming
aware of it’s dangers.
Us, with our soft, full painted lips,
Laughing together and admiring each other’s
feminine allure.
Us, applying a new shade of pink
to replace the old one for that woman
seated in our chair awaiting her makeover,
Her transformation.
Applying a bandaid to all the
disappointments of life,
that have sagged the smile and
frowned the eyes.
We were baby alchemists.
It was the era of artificial excess,
Tortured tresses, contoured cheeks
And sexy eyebrows.
What kind of magic pill were we selling?

Youth in a bottle That perfect shade of
lipstick?
It would be years later that the
underpinnings of this artificial environment
would begin to crack.
My eyes would see through the
crumbling remains, that my
talents were not meant for selling
a manmade idea of beauty,
But for reveling in the source
of beauty herself.
And there is no selling beauty, not ever...
Beauty simply exists.
Beauty is that dusty shade of pink
upon my mountain,
That shade of pink that grins forth
from that old woman’s lips.

RETURNING HOME

We are coming into the days of long shadows.

The sunrise is noticeably changed as it now rises

to the south of Camelback Peak.

The browns of the brush have a well cooked aura.

The large Red Harvester Ants are busy gathering their stores.

The granite collects the heat to release it out into the

evening. Our home does the same.

Whenever I come back from a long trip, I notice a staleness to

the air as I open the front door.

This time I left the house to husband and daughter,

And I know without asking that they did not throw open the

windows as I do.

To let in the fresh morning whispers.

My home missed me as much as I missed her.

This early morning air has it’s own unique flavor,

that does not show itself at any other moment.

It would be a pity to miss these shy hours,

for they hold the key to the day’s unfolding.

I have cultivated a practice of participation that allows

a blessed insight into the becoming,

That will be this sunrise,

This high noon,

This sunset.

This turning as I plant my feel into Mother and witness

the miracle of

a day,

a night,

a season,

a life.

https://moonrisepress.blogspot.com/2022/05/maja-trochimczyks-new-volume-of.html

ISBN 978-1-945938-49-8, color paperback

ISBN 978-1-945938-52-8, eBook in ePub format

US Trade (6 x 9 in / 152 x 229 mm), 184 Pages

85 poems, 162 color photographs, 6 portraits

Maja Trochimczyk dedicated this collection of poems, “Bright Skies,” to her children and grand-children, asking them to read and enjoy her verse “when they grow up.” The volume features 85 poems written in 2009-2022 and organized into five sections – Spring, Summer, Babie Lato, Autumn and Winter. The seasons of poetry include reflections on nature, beauty, love, life, and spirituality. The focus is on positive emotions, learning to be calm and content, full of compassion and wisdom. It is a life-long quest, and these poems are an invitation.

The poems are illustrated with 160 photographs taken in the poet’s neighborhood – Big Tujunga Wash, Angeles National Forest, Descanso Gardens, and Oxnard Beach. The surprising “Coda” brings a set of recipes for old-fashioned Polish dishes mentioned in poems. Bringing together favorite memories of her Polish childhood – making and flying kites, plays with soap bubbles – and the delights of sunny Southern California gardens, parks, and beaches, the book includes lessons how to seek and find the daily dose of domestic bliss. This book is a legacy from a well-lived life, and a companion to "Into Light: Poems and Incantations" - another collection of positive, inspirational poetry illustrated with photos.

Maja Trochimczyk with grandson Adam, Facebook Profile Picture by Maria Kubal

Maja Trochimczyk, PhD, is a Polish American poet, music historian, photographer, and non-profit director. She is the author/editor of eight books on music and Polish culture, five poetry volumes and four anthologies, including most recently We Are Here: Village Poets Anthology co-edited with Marlene Hitt to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Village Poets readings (2020). A former Poet Laureate of Sunland Tujunga in 2010-2012, since 2019 she has served as the President of the California State Poetry Society, and, since 2018, as the President of the Helena Modjeska Art and Culture Club, promoting Polish culture in California.

Her poetry books include Rose Always, Miriam’s Iris, Slicing the Bread, Into Light, and The Rainy Bread. Hundreds of Trochimczyk’s poems appeared in English, Polish, as well as in German, French, Chinese, Spanish and Serbian translations in such journals as: The Loch Raven Review, Epiphany Magazine, Lily Review, Ekphrasis Journal, Quill and Parchment, Magnapoets, SGVGPQ, Pirene's Fountain, Cosmopolitan Review, The Scream Online, The Original Van Gogh’s Ear Anthology, Clockwise Cat, Lummox Journal, Phantom Seed, Colorado Boulevard, Spectrum, Poezja Dzisiaj, OccuPoetry, as well as many anthologies. She is the host of Village Poets Monthly Readings, Managing Editor of the California Quarterly and Editor of the CSPS Poetry Letter, promoting poetry worldwide.

Interview by VoyageLA website, 15 October 2021, http://voyagela.com/interview/inspiring-conversations-with-maja-trochimczyk-of-moonrise-press/

Interview by Shoutout LA website, March 1, 2021: https://shoutoutla.com/meet-maja-trochimczyk-poet-photographer-and-music-historian/

Matka Boska Zielna

~ for Mother of God of the Herbs (August 15)

Look at the greening hill slopes charred by last year’s wildfire—

that’s magic. Look at the mountain sunflower that grew

at the edge of the asphalt on Oro Vista road, it already blooms

out of nowhere—that’s magic, too. The postcard-size garden

by the old, wooden house, a shack, really—fills with flowers

every spring. Fruit appears on orange trees after bees collect pollen.

The scent of sweetness, the cheerful noise of bee wings—

is it not far more miraculous, a thousand, a million times

more delightful than the 100 floors of steel-metal-glass

of skyscrapers proudly pointing at the sky? Incomparable

with a patch of weeds, nature’s miracles of renewal.

How proud we are of our empty metallic constructions

that will rust in the jungle, abandoned, like stone pyramids

of the Mayas, shrouded by vibrant green of leaves and

branches. Thousands of years of human fame obliterated

by the steady, living, fertile abundance, the overflowing

force of life, of matter, our Mother.

Roots, shoots and tendrils spread out, germinate,

flow through the soil in search of water, nutrients,

life, more life, ever growing, ever richer, dancing,

singing the abundance of being—the song of creation

we are— we are —we are—we are all —

we are one—one—one—

Arbor Cosmica

~ for my children

No fear, no hate, not even a mild dislike*—

we leave our heavy burdens, shards of memories

broken, all too broken, at the bottom of crystal stairs

beneath clouds of white camellias, petals swirling

through air like the snow of forgetfulness

Perfect symmetry of blossoms

points the way—up, up, always up

rainbow crystal stairs, revealed

one by one as we ascend—inwards,

outwards—dancing spirals of our DNA

We get to know this place—these depths,

these heights—for once, for all lifetimes

With each step, pure notes resonate

and expand into clear, spacious chords—

the music of the spheres rings out, wave by wave

expanding from our open hearts

Each chord—harmonious, different—

each melody in this vast symphony

sweetly twines around another, and another

until all are One Song, One Wisdom—

of stem and flower, of leaf and root

in this Cosmic Tree of humanity

Arbor Cosmica—

We have been here

all along without knowing

First published in the California Quarterly 46:4, 2020.

More information about this book:

https://moonrisepress.blogspot.com/2022/05/maja-trochimczyks-new-volume-of.html

Wednesday, April 27, 2022

Memorial Day Celebration with RG Cantalupo's "Remembrances" May 22, 2022, 4:30pm, Zoom

Village Poets of Sunland-Tujunga will celebrate the Veterans in a Memorial-Day-themed reading by poet RG Cantalupo who will present a new book, "Remembrances" on Sunday, May 22, 2022 at 4:30 pm on Zoom. The reading's open mic section will include poets from the California Quarterly vol. 48 no. 1, spring 2022, edited by Maja Trochimczyk.

ABOUT THE POET

rg cantalupo is a poet, playwright, filmmaker, novelist, and director. His work has been published widely in literary journals in the United States, England, and Australia.

He graduated from UC Santa Cruz where he studied under such luminaries as George Hitchcock, editor of Kayak, Gregory Bateson, and Norman O. Brown, and received his MFA in Poetry and Non-Fiction from Vermont College of the Fine Arts.

His books of poetry include Involving Residence, No Thanks, Walking Water On Earth, The Art of Naming, Remembrances, and The Endurance: Journey To Worlds End, (a lyric novel).

He is also the author of You Don’t Know Me, (a five book young adult series), The Light Where Shadows End, and The Shadows In Which We Rise, memoirs, American Patriot, Surviving Covid, and a number of plays and stage adaptations including the musical versions of The Giving Tree and Where The Wild Things Are. He is the Founder and Artistic Director of Stages in Santa Monica, a performing arts center.

He served in the 25^th Infantry Division as an RTO, radio operator, for an infantry company from 1968-69 and received three purple hearts and a Bronze Star with a Combat V for Valor Under Fire.

His books can be purchased through New World Publishers or through the author at rgcantalupo@gmail.com.

rg cantalupo (aka Ross Canton)

Links to YouTube Videos of RG Cantalupo's poetry:

A SAMPLE POEM

Want

Baby San wanted horses

mostly, Mustangs and

Appaloosas, a small ranch

outside Tucson with a good

woman and a few sons.

Devil wanted his girlfriend

to take this morning’s letter

back, for it to be the way

it was that last night

when she called out his name—

”Demond!”—Demond, the name

he had before he left The

World. I wanted to finish

school and write about

our days here, this day

and the ones before, us

simmering Spaghetti C’s

over heat tabs and drinking

our six free beers in the bunker’s

dusty shade, the crackle of

green bullets igniting the air

outside—far away now as we

sat and drank and lied and

killed the day, each of us

wanting what we knew

we couldn’t have, till it was

time to go and one by one

we stood up and stepped

through the blinding doorway,

and disappeared into the light.

ABOUT REMEMBRANCES (2022)

The poet provided the following description about his new book Remembrances (4/29/2022): "Some memories never die. Some memories are indelibly imprinted on our lives—moments of love, moments of overwhelming grief, of terror, of intense pain, of breathtaking happiness. And some moments change our lives forever. This is a book of such moments, remembered as best I can, shared in the only way I know. They are the moments that make up the story of my life."

Here are a few excerpts from the book:

From “Remembrances”

“If I could fill this body that each day ferries me through this world with only the moments I love, these would be among them. For my life isn’t like a boat, or a river, but these memories I carry inside me as I tread upstream or downstream toward tomorrow—these remembrances I cherish more than the traumatic ones that each day I must endeavor to forget.”

From “Prisoner of War”

“The night terrors ended—one night, or maybe over many nights—bleeding out till there was nothing left but fragments like the shrapnel that kept rising to the surface of my skin. Even the names—Lonny, Devil, Spike, Lee—faded into echoes, and then were gone.

I pressed them onto rice paper at The Wall once, and put them between the pages of a book like dead flowers, but they’re gone too, lost, along with the book, sometime during the days when I kept moving to forget where I’d been.”

From “Listening Post, December 23rd, 1968”

“Out here, gazing up at a trillion flickering stars, I could be anyone.

I could be who I was ten months ago, lying under a sycamore in Monterey, Janice snuggled beside me, just us, us and the stars, and the moon.

But no, I’m here, my head pressed against a rice paddy dike, my face blackened, my eyes staring through a starlight scope.

And the universe is so much smaller. It barely reaches beyond the rubber trees around Trang Bang, or our perimeter of claymore mines.”

From The Second Time I Got Wounded”

“—and so, I stood and watched and commanded my frozen body to move, to stop shaking, to take that last step beyond my fear and go into the fire—until it was finally over, the rockets no longer falling, the explosions ended, the ground silent, and all that was left were the moans for “Medic! Medic!”—my body fearless now, my legs unfrozen, the last step into darkness taken—and I ran, ran to the same pit where two weeks later I would stand as another rocket spiraled down, exploding a few feet away, hurling me up into the air, lifting me so high my soul looked down upon me as I lay bleeding, moaning “Medic! Medic!” and praying someone would come…”

From “Peaches”

“One afternoon, her fingers touched mine as they moved over the gauze near my heart, and I clasped them in a lover’s embrace, just for a moment, one quick moment, and gone.

When I left a few weeks later for a hospital in Japan, her eyes moistened as her sad hand waved goodbye.

Every now and then I still see her, her deep, brown eyes studying mine,as I gritted through her pain and my own.

I saved the letters I wrote in Yokohama.

I never knew where to send them.”

From “Forgiveness”

“I could’ve gone to jail for life to save a life, instead of pulling the trigger for death. Because there was no reason really, no justification for being there, for invading, or searching, or destroying their lives.

But I didn’t.

I made a choice.

I obeyed.

And so, I ask for forgiveness. Not from some indifferent God, nor the blue sky, nor these white walls, nor this heart that beats like a mantra every day inside me.

But from my friend Teresa, from her and her family, and all the Vietnamese I’ve known…”

CALIFORNIA QUARTERLY SPRING 2022 ISSUE: VOL. 48 NO. 1

For the open mic sections of this reading, we invite poets published in the California Quarterly vol. 48 no. 1, spring 2022, edited by Maja Trochimczyk to join us at this reading and present their poems.

Table of contents of the issue may be found on CSPS Blog:

https://www.californiastatepoetrysociety.com/2022/02/contents-of-california-quarterly-48-no.html

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Raphael Block - Featured Poet on April 24, 2022, at 4:30 pm on Zoom

YouTube Video from the Reading:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2T0yO4oT1I

On Sunday, April 24, 2022, at 4:30 pm, Village Poets of Sunland-Tujunga present their Monthly Poetry Reading on Zoom, featuring Northern California Poet, Raphael Block. The links are emailed to our email list by Dorothy Skiles, DMHSkiles@gmail.com.

April 22, 1970 was the first Earth Day to celebrate our planet and make sure it stays healthy and whole, by reducing human-caused pollution and damage to our environment and all living beings. Plastics and now, masks, fill the oceans and wash up on the beaches. The groundwaters are full of chemicals in many places. The air was so bad with smog in some areas, people were forced to stay home. Even "environmentally-friendly" wind turbines are massive killers of birds and their huge blades are not recyclable... Mr. Block is keenly interested in these topics, hence he is a great choice for our reading on April 24, 2022.

Raphael's Block's poetry, infused with spirit, speaks to earth's call for a heartfelt response to our ecological crisis. Born on a kibbutz, he spent his boyhood playing on the hills of Haifa. His family returned to London as he turned nine, where learning British English shaped his ear for sound. In 1993 he moved to Northern California with his American wife and their daughter. His wife died from cancer in 2002, and for the following years he feels it was his privilege to raise their child.

Raphael worked with children of all ages for almost 30 years. Since 2008, a life-threatening illness, Crohn's, has played a major role in intensifying his appreciation and gratitude for the moments of each day.

He is the author of Songs from a Small Universe (2009), Spangling Darkness (2014), Strings of Shining Silence: Earth-Love Poems (2017), and At This Table (2020).

Raphael produces the monthly Earth-Love Newsletter which can be viewed at raphaelblock.com along with a National Geographic selected 5-minute documentary.

This Table

How amazing is this day!

The spider's web casts its shadow

play, lilies sing in sprays,

redwoods and broad oaks hold sway.

Ripe berries for beaks and lips,

patches of white lace—all set

on this delicate plate. We,

at your table, but guests.