Aileen Cassinetto is a poet, editor, and publisher. She was named an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow in 2021 and a Yerba Buena Center for the Arts 100 awardee in 2023 for her contributions in building regenerative and equitable communities through the arts. She served as San Mateo County Poet Laureate from 2019 to 2022.
Poem on Belonging
STILL, LIKE AIR
we rise toward
the light, our movement
widening as though
in prayer, holy
and urgent. I will
say your name—
an act of love
more powerful than
the weight of air
or the falling of light.
Like clouds speaking
their truth—every
heap and layer, every
curl of hair, a reckoning.
Still, I pray
for grace, to hear
your story, and what
you know of clouds—
why they shine
at night, where they
touch the ground,
how they birth a star.
Perhaps you will
want to know
my story, and why these
queries—like, what
will it cost
to cross an inch
of scorn? Or climb a wall
of fear? How much
to plough the air,
to read the clouds?
How much for a sip
of water, a gulp
of air? How much
for three square
feet of space?
For the narrowest
breathing place?
How much for
the life of my child.
Still, I ask—
an act
of grace as I rise
toward the light.
Copyright © 2019 by Aileen Cassinetto. Used with permission of the author.
Find Aileen’s books in the library!
Dear Human at the Edge of Time: Poems on Climate Change in the United States (as co-editor) (2023)
I Have a Dream: Inaugural Poems for a New Generation (as co-editor) (2021)
Speak Poetry, Volumes 1 & 2 (as editor) (2019)
The Pink House of Purple Yam Preserves & Other Poems (2018)
Poet Laureate Projects
Aileen Cassinetto was appointed by the County of San Mateo Board of Supervisors to initially serve as Poet Laureate from January 2019 to December 2020. Her term was extended twice, from January 2021 to December 2021, and from January to June 2022, culminating with a final reading at the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors Meeting on June 28th and a Summer of Poetry Celebration & Farewell at Skyline College’s Farallon Room on June 30th.
COMMUNITY PROJECT
“Speak Poetry in San Mateo County” (January 2019-June 2022) is a three & a half year community project that produced over 120 events and workshops featuring over 400 poets and artists including the first “Convening of Bay Area Poets Laureate” (co-organized with former poets laureate Caroline Goodwin & Lisa Rosenberg, former Arts Commissioner Robin Rodricks, and the San Mateo County Libraries) and the “Peninsula Virtual Bookfest” (supported by the San Mateo County Libraries and city libraries), as well as three print anthologies, community poems, a web archive, civic initiatives, and an ecopoetry project funded by the Academy of American Poets and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
NATIONAL POETRY MONTH (April 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022)
An annual countywide campaign for National Poetry Month, celebrating poetry and the work of local poets.
HERITAGE MONTHS (2019-2022)
An annual celebration of heritage months through poetry and other events in partnership with various local organizations: Black History Month (February), Lunar New Year (February), Women’s History Month (March), Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (May), Immigrant Heritage Month (June), Pride Month (June), Hispanic Heritage Month (September), Filipino American History Month (October), Native American Heritage Month (November), Christmas (December)
CLIMATE ACTION
San Mateo County Youth Ecopoetry Project (June 2021-June 2022) is a series of readings and workshops that produced collaborative and individual poems and short poetry films on ecology and sustainability, in partnership with high school students countywide, Urban Word, Youth Climate Ambassadors, San Mateo County Office of Sustainability, Office of Education, Office of Arts & Culture, Skyline College, South San Francisco Library, Menlo Park Library, and Midpen Media Center, with support from The Academy of American Poets and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Book-to-Action advocacy including launch of Burlingame Reads which convened discussions and action around themes of environmental justice, equity, and community care
Filoli Ecopoetry Award was launched in 2022 (two years after the launch of Filoli’s Annual Haiku Competition in 2020) in collaboration with San Mateo County Poet Laureate Aileen Cassinetto to encourage poetry submissions that highlight the relationship between humans and the environment. On average, Filoli receives over 1,000 haiku submissions each year, and the top 10 poems chosen by Cassinetto are displayed as poetry installations in the Spring Garden in the month of May. In addition to the ecopoetry award, categories include First & Second Prize, and Best Under 18.
Tree Planting (of nearly 200 trees) through One Tree Planted in honor of San Mateo County’s poets and poetry advocates.
YOUTH ADVOCACY
San Mateo County Youth Cultural Ambassadors (2023-2024), a pilot program celebrating the work of youth poets and artists, and precursor to the San Mateo County Youth Fellowship Program.
“Step Into the Light” Youth Arts Competition (2023-present), organized by the Cow Palace to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy, is inspired by Dr. King’s visit in 1964.
San Mateo County Youth Ecopoetry Project (June 2021-June 2022)
I Have a Dream: Inaugural Poems for a New Generation (January 2021), an anthology featuring inaugural poems by students ages 6 to 16, with support from the San Mateo County Arts Commission.
“Home Could Be Here” (May 2020) and “Growing Home” (May 2021), a collaboration with the Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo County to raise awareness of Affordable Housing Month and empower youth voices in the community through poetry and the arts.
Youth Poet Laureate Project (2019-2022), a campaign to adopt youth poet laureate/youth poet-in-residence programs around the county. The Daly City Youth Poet Laureate program was launched in 2020, followed by the Burlingame and South San Francisco Youth Poet-in-Residence programs in 2022, and the Burlingame-Hillsborough Youth Poet Laureate program in 2023.
WOMEN’S ADVOCACY
“Poets Rise” at RISE 2020 (March 2020), “The Future of Women’s History: A Panel Discussion” (March 2021), & “Poets Rise” at RISE 2022: Women’s Leadership Conference (March 2022), in collaboration with the San Mateo County Commission on the Status of Women.
“Empower Women, Empower Earth” in collaboration with Skyline College Learning Communities.
STEAM
Makerspace Poetry Lab Pilot Project (April 2022), integrates poetry into the makerspace to encourage divergent thinking and diverse perspectives, and inspire poetry-making using recycled objects and tools in the Makerspace, in partnership with Redwood City Public Library.
COMMUNITY & BELONGING
Community Poetry Open Mic at Burlingame Public Library (2023-present), co-organized with Erika Bojnowski, second Wednesdays 6-7:15pm (January to June, August, September)
Skyline College Learning Communities Poetry Corner Series celebrating poetry and themes of belonging, diversity, social justice and equity.
Belonging Begins With Us (September 2021), workshop and community poem, in collaboration with the County of San Mateo Office of Community Affairs and Welcoming America.
Filoli Haiku Contest (2020-present), an annual haiku competition for all ages in collaboration with Filoli Historic House & Garden, as a way to share stories and memories across cultures, and help create a sense of place and belonging. Categories include First and Second Prize and Best Under 18; the top 10 poems are displayed as poetry installations in the garden in the month of May. In 2022, the Filoli Ecopoetry Award was launched to encourage poetry submissions that highlight the relationship between humans and the environment.
Peninsula Virtual Bookfest (September-October 2020), 60 authors and 17 readings and conversations, organized by San Mateo County Poet Laureate Aileen Cassinetto in collaboration with the Burlingame Public Library, the Daly City Public Library, the San Mateo County Libraries and the South San Francisco Public Library, and various booksellers. Three of the events were hosted by former San Mateo County Poets Laureate Caroline Goodwin and Lisa Rosenberg.
Power to the Poets (June 2020-August 2020), a reading series of poetry, solidarity & social justice featuring poets from the East Coast & West Coast.
Poetry & Community Concerts (February, April, & December 2019), celebrating the power of poetry and community, in collaboration with local poets, Aragon Music, the West Bay Community Band, Burlingame Library, and San Mateo County Libraries.
HEALING & MENTAL HEALTH
“Love in the Time of COVID-19: A Community Poem for Healthcare Workers and Other Frontliners“ (April 2020), a poetry fundraiser in support of the San Mateo County Health Foundation’s COVID-19 fund for San Mateo County hospitals and clinics. For every line submitted, a dollar was donated to SMCHF. The community poem was completed on April 10, 2020, and presented at the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors Meeting on April 21, 2020. Aside from raising funds for the San Mateo County Health Foundation, the poem was used as a resource by the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project in Minnesota and the Montgomery Independent School District in Texas. It was also featured in Mystic Seaport Museum’s 2020 Memorial Day observance in Connecticut, the New Orleans Poetry Festival in Louisiana, Taiji Terasaki’s Transcendients Exhibitions at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles and the Maui Arts and Cultural Center in Hawaii, and the San Mateo County Community & Covid: 4th Town Hall.
Menlo Park Library’s Mental Health Open Mic (May 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022), breaking the silence surrounding suicide and mental illness through poetry, music, stories, and resources in partnership with Menlo Park Library.
Intergenerational Community Gatherings (2020, 2021, 2022) in partnership with the Peninsula Family Service and Daly City Library & Recreation Services.
“SHELTERING: 50 Poets Document the Early Days of the Pandemic Through Poetry” (April 2020), one of the first pandemic poetry anthologies, published in the early days of the shelter-in-place mandate.
ANTHOLOGIES & READINGS
Summer of Poetry Celebration & Farewell hosted by Skyline College Learning Communities, CIPHER, Kababayan, & Puente, in the Farallon Room (2022)
Author Talks & Readings (2019-2022), including the Peninsula Virtual Bookfest, in partnership with Burlingame Public Library, Daly City Public Library, Menlo Park Library, Redwood City Public Library, San Mateo County Libraries, San Mateo Public Library, Skyline College Learning Communities, South San Francisco Public Library, local writers and various booksellers.
I Have a Dream: Inaugural Poems for a New Generation (January 2021), an anthology featuring inaugural poems by students ages 6 to 16, with support from the San Mateo County Arts Commission.
Speak Poetry Vol. 2 (December 2019), a print anthology featuring work by poets from San Mateo County.
Speak Poetry Vol. 1 (April 2019), a print anthology featuring work by poets from San Mateo County.
Poetry & Community Concerts (February, April & December 2019), celebrating the power of poetry and community, in collaboration with Aragon Music, the West Bay Community Band, Burlingame Library, and San Mateo County Libraries.
First Convening of Bay Area Poets Laureate, a day-long gathering of poets laureate past and present from around the San Francisco Bay Area with workshops, presentations, a public reading, and reception.
Speak Poetry in San Mateo County 