Walkin' with Joaquin

On Christmas Day, I met my brother for a sunset hike on Sunset Trail, and the view, of course, was spectacular.  On our way back we saw a figure tidying up the trail, who turned out to be none other than John Brega, who I usually see on a small screen in monthly Friends of Joaquin Miller Park board meetings. Somehow we got on the topic of thistles. My brother excused himself at that point, perhaps triggered by memories of our childhood thistle trauma. But I used this opportunity to put mine to use. "How do you get rid of them?" I asked John. "We used to have to walk around our property with a paper bag and clippers." We couldn't come back inside until the bag was full, no matter how cold it was, how bored we were, or how pricked and stabbed our little fingers were. It seemed an insurmountable task, protecting our garden and yard from their invasion. I remembered seeing them in the Park years ago, feeling crestfallen. But where were they now? The sunset-lit slope...

I'm reposting this entry from Generous Muse last week; it's had 700 views and contains... a big announcement!  --------------- My talk this week about Joaquin Miller went well, but was far more difficult to pull together than I thought it would be. The more I learned, the more inspired I became, and the harder it became to fit his wide and deep story into an hour-long talk. I also think I may have cracked the mystery of why people in Oakland seem to hate him so much. Gertrude Farquharson Boyle Kanno modeling Miller’s bust. Truly I was grateful to have a mountain of information to sink my hands into, to wrap my head around, to anchor my spirit during election week, a deep historical dive that reminded me this country, this world, has survived harder times. What I couldn’t put into the talk I put into a wiki. I barely looked up from my laptop for a week. It was better than processing what was going on in the world and our crazy town. (So weird… feels like  we’ve been here alre...

I'm excited to be speaking at the Oakland Library's Fall Speaker Series about you-know-who! Join me at the Melrose Branch, 4805 Foothill Boulevard, Oakland CA 94601 from 6-7pm. Aftergrub and selected readings & chat at Taqueria El Paisa, 4610 International Blvd, Oakland, CA 94601 (a 6 minute walk). Bring your questions and a friend and be ready to sing! Although he is greatly respected in other parts of the world, Oaklanders have mixed feelings about Joaquin Miller, the colorful literary figure whose name is on a park. Is this about Oakland or Miller? Both share a remarkable essence, a complex character—and a cloudy reputation. Kristen Caven, the California Writers Club Writer in Residence at Joaquin Miller Park, shares her insights on Miller and why she thinks we should reconsider the opinions of his detractors. I can't wait to share my latest findings!

I have been kept from the actual Park too much this year, spending time instead online, elsewhere, doing research on it where there's better bandwidth!  This is a photo from April, our Poets on Earth event. But in planning this year's "Blanket and a Basket of Chow" (I was too busy tearing up Oaktoberfest to even post the event here), I found my sentiments perfectly expressed by the very busy Ina Coolbrith. Imagine her stuck at her day job, setting up our first library, pinching pennies and time to care for her mother and the three girls kids in her charge – not her own. Imagine her looking out the window onto crowded streets, and LONGING.     O aimless fret of household tasks! O chains that bind the hand and mind—     A fuller life my spirit asks! For there the grand hills, summer-crowned,     Slope greenly downward to the seas; One hour of rest upon their breast     Were worth a year of days like these. Their cool, soft green to ease the ...

As we prepared to send in our proposal  to give the Fire Circle a makeover  last week, something wasn't sitting right with me. Was it seeing those little Wednesday outdoor school kids climbing around on the cracking, crumbling cement structure? Was it having somewhere to hang our CWC banner at our Earth Day poetry event? Was it the gentle backdrop to all those amazing poets (Nanette Deetz, Richard Loranger, Lucille Lang Day et al)? Was it the way Bob Stephens curled up like some drunken beat poet in the sliver of shade that slab provided? Yes. YES. So much yes! The way we all  interacted with the space—food on one side, poetry on the other—made me realize this spot was thoughtfully designed for parties. I listened to President Keith deliver his puzzled, hilarious description of meat shopping for meat , and while staring at the shapes behind him, realized... Those are ziggurats! Yes, this classical, geometric stairstep pattern is an iconic Art Deco detail. How had I missed...