Rosie Tejada is a first generation Filipino-American and proud mom of two. Her father was a Bataan Death March survivor and Filipino veterans rights advocate. An elected official, she currently serves as the Jefferson Union High School District Board President. She is also on the Board of Directors of REACH Coalition, a coalition of elected officials and community-based organizations of color in San Mateo County who are steadfast in dismantling systemic bias and long-standing barriers to access across the county. Rosie featured in Filipinx Kwentuhan: Equity Through Art Series co-hosted by San Mateo County Libraries, Health BHRS Office of Diversity and Equity, and the Chief Equity Officer at the County of San Mateo.
Poem on Belonging
IN HER MIND
I.
She was a ripe cherry tomato
picked sweet off the vine,
left to spoil on the kitchen counter
covered in grease from splattering bacon.
II.
The piercing sun
danced into my autumn, and
waved as it passed into fog
and clouds
and moaning Pacific air.
I am covered in mist,
chilled, shivering,
bitten
hard
by jagged little teeth,
shards of summer good-byes.
III.
It’s kind of funny, he said, Isn’t it funny
how things turn out? (No, not funny.)
He actually laughed (faintly, but it was a laugh).
His rambling apologies increasingly dinned, then
his words slowly silenced as they rolled down
the tin funnel in her head.
She stared uncommitted at his blurring face,
until all that was left was the mouth
that used to say it loved her.
Amy L. Pabalan was made and delivered in San Francisco, with original parts from the Philippines. Forged in Daly City fog, she started writing in the fifth grade when she discovered a book of Langston Hughes’ work in the school library.
After receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from San Jose State University, she worked as a newspaper copy editor in Southern California. She returned to her childhood home with her husband to be caregivers for her mother and father, who passed away respectively in 2017 and 2020.
Amy continues to dream, write and craft. Not necessarily in that order.
Poems on Belonging
BOXES
I’m drowning in clutter
Five decades in the making
Boxes and boxes of stuff
And you’re not here
To tell me what to do
Unused yarn and kitchenware
mock me as I say
“I can still use this!”
But what about
Undated pictures of holiday tables
filled with your dishes
Greeting cards bound by
disintegrating rubber bands
loved received over the years
over and over
Prayer cards of saints
frayed at the edges
surely memorized from whispering
over and over
I put everything back
minus the junk mail, printouts of email jokes,
and high blood pressure readings
Mentally labeling each box:
Hold for now
CAMERA ROLL
Scrolling
as if
I’ll find more
I
know exactly
when there are
no more new
pictures of
you.
In partnership with the National Youth Poet Laureate Program, Urban Word, and Daly City Public Library, the program celebrates teen poets who live or attend school in Daly City and exhibit a commitment to artistic excellence, civic engagement, leadership, and social justice.
San Mateo County’s poet laureate Aileen Cassinetto said Daly City’s youth program amplifies the role of youth in the community and the power of the literary arts in inspiring civic engagement. “I see the Youth Poet Laureate as the city’s literary ambassador, creating necessary spaces so that the voices of other young people can be heard,” Cassinetto said in a statement. “I see this role as giving shape to our young people’s hopes, fears, perspectives, sense of purpose, and sense of community.”
DCPLA executive director Victoria Magbilang said that one of her visions for the organization is to reach middle and high schoolers who are difficult to engage. “This program was a perfect way for DCPLA to remain relevant in a way that lends itself to distanced engagement while the libraries are closed and to encourage the arts in our community, something I’m extremely passionate about,” Magbilang said in a statement.
Inaugural Daly City Youth Poet Laureate Madeleine Hur was named Daly City Youth of the Year in 2021.
UPDATE: Chloe Chou was named the 2022-2023 South San Francisco Youth Poet-in-Residence concurrently with her 2022-2023 Daly City Youth Poet Laureate appointment. As part of her project, Chloe completed a chapbook published by the South San Francisco Public Library in 2023. Read Chloe’s book.
The search for South San Francisco’s Inaugural Youth Poet-in-Residence is on!
SSF Youth Poet-in-Residence is a one-year position (May 2022-2023) awarded to a unique individual committed to engaging the public through poetry. The goal of this residency is to celebrate South City’s diverse cultures through artistic expression and to encourage dialogue and unity under the leadership of the Youth Poet-in-Residence.
The Youth Poet-in-Residence must present their original poetry, in-person or virtually, at four engagements during their term. Possible engagements include Youth and Government Day, City Council meetings, and library workshops.
This residency is open to all high school students who go to school or live in South San Francisco. Applicants may be rising freshmen or graduating seniors.
Youth Poet-in-Residence will receive $500 at the end of their term (May 2023). Please visit SSF.net for the guidelines and submission form.
Launched in 2019, the Menlo Park Youth Poetry Contest celebrates youth literacy and creative expression. Hundreds of students in grades 2 through 12 submitted original works of poetry on the themes, “If I Were a Book” (2019) and “My Community” (2020).
Inaugural winning poems were featured in Speak Poetry Vol. 2 (Emilia Hansen, 2nd grade; Sophia Gamini, 4th grade; Jamie Zou, 8th grade).
Sophie Mateja (she/her) is a poet, editor, climate activist and high school student. Her work has been praised by critics for its “evocative language and deep insight,” taking first prize at numerous local competitions in the past two years. She was declared a finalist in the Palm Beach Poetry Festival’s ekphrastic poetry contest and was published in Inlandia’s Volume X Spring issue. Her work has also been published frequently in the Half Moon Bay Review and other anthologies including AIPF’s di-vêrsé-city. In addition to writing, she enjoys playing orchestral classical music as the principal violinist of the Santa Cruz County Youth Symphony. A coastside resident, Sophie works as a volunteer staffer on political campaigns and is one of the 27 appointed Youth Commissioners of the County of San Mateo.
Watch Sophie read her ecopoem, “Coming Home,” at “The Future of Women’s History,” a panel discussion presented by the Commission on the Status of Women as part of Women’s History Month 2021 (18:16).
Corey Weinstein is a retired homeopathic physician whose poetry has been published in Vistas and Byways, The New Verse News, Forum, California State Poetry Society and Jewish Currents. He currently attends writing classes at Osher Lifelong Learning Institute in San Francisco and hosts their Poetry Circle. Weinstein has also been published in a number of medical/academic publications. He was an advocate for prisoner rights as the founder of California Prison Focus, and he led the American Public Health Association’s Prison Committee for many years. In his free time, he plays the clarinet in a local jazz band, his synagogue choir and woodwind ensembles.
Poem on Belonging
ID
I’m a down to earth ankle dusted mud splattered poet rooted in the moment of what is right now obverse of obscure anti-opaque plain text stain glass clear held in the tentacles of my time Yes a pure bred, full blood pickle eating, klezmer chirping 99% Ashkenazi by DNA. Full throated, Yiddish singing clarinet playing, temple going, Sh’ma and Barachu bowing, flat A’d northside Chicawwgo jewboy, dawn praying chorus chanting, herring eating, non-Zionist, survivor, ‘cause we left before Hitler, ‘cause only slightly tainted from the genetic tragedies birthed by a 1,000 years alone in the Pale. Yes, bacon eating, matzo loving, draft dodging, protest marching, and as always and ever… Keeping tabs on what is good and what is not good for the Jews.
Susanne Schubert works as Assistant Professor at Skyline College. Besides teaching chemistry, Susanne mentors students while they are taking their first steps as researchers. In her chemistry classroom, Susanne spreads awareness and information about sustainability and current and past great minds from all over the world in the field of chemistry.
Poem on Belonging
Note from the translators: Friedrich Rueckert (1788-1866) was a German poet and translator, who translated works from Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Hebrew, and Farsi into German. His work is very much influenced also by these cultures, and the original poem appeared in the anthology Die Weisheit des Brahmanen – which translates to The Wisdom of the Brahmins. We chose this excerpt from his collection because it talks about the importance of languages and bringing cultures together. We believe that it is as current now as it was in the 1800s.
Mit jeder Sprache mehr, die du erlernst, befreist
Du einen bis daher in dir gebundnen Geist,
With every language you master,
A spirit is set free within you
That until now was bound
Der jetzo tätig wird mit eigner Denkverbindung,
Dir aufschließt unbekannt gewesne Weltempfindung,
The freed spirit strives to make connections and
unlocks an all-encompassing understanding of the world
Empfindung, wie ein Volk sich in der Welt empfunden;
Nun diese Menschheitsform hast du in dir gefunden.
It senses the world in the way it is sensed
by those whose language we learn
Ein alter Dichter, der nur dreier Sprachen Gaben
Besessen, rühmte sich, der Seelen drei zu haben.
A wise poet once mastered three languages and proudly proclaimed
That he had three spirits
Und wirklich hätt‘ in sich nur alle Menschengeister
Der Geist vereint, der recht wär‘ aller Sprachen Meister.”
And only if all human spirits came together as one,
Can we understand the language of all
The original German text is in the public domain. The English translation is used here with permission of the authors.
Sanjyot Pia Walawalkar works as an Associate Professor and Equity and Outreach Librarian at Skyline College. Besides helping students develop their critical information literacy and research skills, she leads the library’s social-justice-centered programming efforts. Her research interests include critical information literacy, metaliteracy, and critical global citizenship education.
Poems
SPRACHE / LANGUAGE
Original German by Friedrich Rueckert (1788-1866)
Translated into English by Sanjyot Pia Walawalkar and Susanne Schubert
Mit jeder Sprache mehr, die du erlernst, befreist
Du einen bis daher in dir gebundnen Geist,
With every language you master,
A spirit is set free within you
That until now was bound
Der jetzo tätig wird mit eigner Denkverbindung,
Dir aufschließt unbekannt gewesne Weltempfindung,
The freed spirit strives to make connections and
unlocks an all-encompassing understanding of the world
Empfindung, wie ein Volk sich in der Welt empfunden;
Nun diese Menschheitsform hast du in dir gefunden.
It senses the world in the way it is sensed
by those whose language we learn
Ein alter Dichter, der nur dreier Sprachen Gaben
Besessen, rühmte sich, der Seelen drei zu haben.
A wise poet once mastered three languages and proudly proclaimed
That he had three spirits
Und wirklich hätt‘ in sich nur alle Menschengeister
Der Geist vereint, der recht wär‘ aller Sprachen Meister.”
And only if all human spirits came together as one,
Can we understand the language of all
Note from the translators: Friedrich Rueckert (1788-1866) was a German poet and translator, who translated works from Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Hebrew, and Farsi into German. His work is very much influenced also by these cultures, and the original poem appeared in the anthology Die Weisheit des Brahmanen – which translates to The Wisdom of the Brahmins. We chose this excerpt from his collection because it talks about the importance of languages and bringing cultures together. We believe that it is as current now as it was in the 1800s.
The original German text is in the public domain. The English translation is used here with permission of the authors.
A MARRIAGE — PRELUDE AND FINALE
prelude
as I cuddled into my bed last night
the soul still drenched, holding the damp moments
lush with the warmth of your skin,
eyes moistened
the vase is now empty
tired flowers have now dried
dried petals sit clustered
among strands of golden hair
my heart aches, sweet sadness and pain
while love deepens and desires are gently stoked
the night is still dark
when in my girlhood, my heart was opening its petals
it was trampled ruthlessly
will your tenderness and warmth help it bloom again?
but, I hear a cacophony
though headlights have gone dim
and wars are fought far away
I fear, the gentle whispers of my heart will drown
in the clang of tradition and the tumult of modernity
the spirit is shapeless, intangible, all encompassing
but, the transitoriness of modern life
of instant-mixes and buy-one-get-one-frees
will it let our spirits seep through our pores
and caress each other
and carry the messages of our hearts and bodies?
I fear.
Written May 30, 2005
finale
missed him.. miss him..
4 years now
disappeared? never even existed?
man of my dreams, stayed in my dreams
never realized
glimpses of hope
4 years that's all
memories at furnishing stores
dreams lost in nurseries
no home, no love, no sweet voice cries mama
so many memories
of holding tight as things slipped away
of sadness cloaked in painful smiles
of beautiful places and alcohol stench
of loneliness in togetherness
empty promises for a broken heart
mutilated
stomped all over
yet lovable, stoic
my phoenix heart
letters written
poems composed
songs sung
never for me
my art never an iphone wallpaper
my juicy mangoes not as tasty as her shriveled grapes
countless lunches packed, dinners served
giving forgiving letting go
being there giving and more giving
accident scene and imprisonment
betrayals and abandonment
my fault —
loved
nurtured
a faulty seed in a barren land
my husband, a fake weak man
Written April 29, 2016
Rob Williams co-edited the Lambda Literary Award-Nominated anthology, From Boys to Men: Gay Men Write About Growing Up (Carroll & Graf). He received his MFA in Fiction from Columbia University. His prose and poetry have appeared in Versal, Maisonneuve, San Diego Citybeat, The Racket, and others. He lives in San Francisco and is a professor of English and Literature at Skyline College.
Poem on Belonging
SKEIN
When giving the signal to his birds, they arose in the air with him for their journey to the moon
—Francis Godwin, The Strange Voyage and Adventures of Domingo Gonsales to the World in the Moon (1638)
Hours after class, in my office,
I meet with a student I haven’t seen
in over three weeks, wondering where she’s been.
She tells me she hasn’t come to class because
she’s afraid for her parents.
They came from El Salvador. Saved
their money to get across
the border, paid the coyotes, couldn’t bring
everyone only the clothes on their backs
and one small bag that carried
a photo of the family, all of them
together, the last time.
This was before she was born, before
she was the fleck of gold in their eyes.
She shows me the photo on her phone. Faces
smiling through a Polaroid-orange haze.
Her eyes wet with tears, that’s my tia and my
grandmother and grandfather, people she
has never met.
My parents aren’t safe here now, she tells me,
I’m afraid they will get caught.
Black-wet mascara makes a trail
down her face, I wish I could carry them
to someplace safe, the moon
maybe, she says and laughs, wipes her cheeks on her jacket sleeves,
zips her backpack—leaves—but not before promising to
turn in the missing work.
I believe she will, and then I’m left
alone in my office where I think about
an essay, a tall-tale really,
read in a long-ago linguistics class
about a man who, aided by two dozen
harnessed geese in their migratory pattern,
flew to the moon, and I imagine my student, her parents,
and a skein of geese, silent as they are lifted up through the silvery clouds.
Speak Poetry in San Mateo County 