full moon: The Green Tara

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----------La Tara Verde

La Tara Verde vendrá

a donde se le necesite,

sentada en la luna llena y el loto

o de pie en un pedestal

alzando en alto

el loto azul del sanar

o el antorcha de la libertad, 
su pie izquierdo doblado

sobre el regazo en meditación

o liberándose de cadenas,

su pie derecho listo

en el loto o el pedestal

para actuar

donde la necesidad y la injusticia

      (tantas veces mano a mano)

le llamen.

La Tara Verde viene

a donde se necesite.

------------© Rafael Jesús González 2018

                    

------The Green Tara

The Green Tara will come

wherever she is needed,

seated on the full moon & lotus

or standing on a pedestal

holding high

the blue lotus of healing

or the torch of liberty, 
her left foot folded

on her lap in meditation

or throwing off shackles,

her right foot poised

on lotus or pedestal

ready to act

where need and injustice

      (so often hand in hand)

call her.

The Green Tara comes

where needed.

------© Rafael Jesús González 2018

 

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RISE for the climate, the Earth Saturday, September 8

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tanka for our times

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Patriotic Tanka for Our Times

Justice is battered

kick and blow, truth is not true,

a fact is a lie.  

Never have we sunk so low

nor the scum risen so high.

              © Rafael Jesús González 2018

 

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Alameda Island Poets celebrates National Hispanic Heritage Month September 5

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Please join us

Wednesday, September 5th

7:00-9:00 pm

Frank Bette Center, 1601 Paru St.

Alameda, California

as Alameda Island Poets celebrates
National Hispanic Heritage Month. 

We have wonderful features,

M.K. Chávez and

Juan Sequeira,

and our special guest is

Rafael Jesús Gonzalez,
Poet Laureate of Berkeley.
 
Hosted by Nanette Deetz and Cathy Dana. 

Following our features, we offer light refreshments
and our famously friendly open mic. 



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Virgo

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---------------- Virgo



La virgen,
pura como una gota de azogue,
en la cintura un cinturón de zafiros,
reina sobre la tierra mudable.
-------La vigila Mercurio
mientras ella ordena cuidadosamente
las cuentas de cornerina, de sardónica
----en la calma de la noche plena.


----------------------© Rafael Jesús González 2018



 
--------------Virgo
 
The virgin,
pure as a drop of quicksilver,
girdled with sapphires,
reigns over the changing earth.
-------Mercury watches her
as she carefully orders
the beads of carnelian, of sardonyx
-----in the calm of full night.



------------------© Rafael Jesús González 2018
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Nagasaki August 9, 1945

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Let us keep a moment of silence for Nagasaki which, three days after Hiroshima, August 9, 1945 seventy-three years ago was victim of a nuclear bomb. Never, ever must we allow this to happen again. 


Guardemos un momento de silencio por Nagasaki que, tres días despues de Hiroshima, el 9 de agosto 1945 hace setenta y tres años fue víctima de una bomba nuclear. Nunca jamás permitamos que esto vuelva a suceder.
 

A young girl dying
taught the world to fold paper
cranes — still there is war.
Blessings written on their wings,
oh, paper cranes, fly for peace.

---------------------© Rafael Jesús González 2018



 
Sadako Sasaki by Juana Alicia

 

Una niña muriendo
le enseñó al mundo doblar grullas
de papel — aun hay guerra.
Bendiciones escritas en sus alas
¡O garzas de papel! vuelen por la paz.

-------------------------© Rafael Jesús González 2018

 

(to make an origami crane) 


This is our cry. This is our prayer. 
Peace in the world.

 Este es nuestro grito. Este es nuestro ruego.
Paz en el mundo. 

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Hiroshima, August 6, 1945

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It was on this day in 1945, seventy-three years ago, that the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later, another on Nagasaki. We must never let it happen again; let us work for complete nuclear disarmament throughout the world.

It's said that if you
fold one-thousand paper cranes
your wish will come true.
For peace I would gladly spend
the rest of my days folding.

----------------------------------------© Rafael Jesús González 2018

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translation into Japanese and calligraphy 

-by Prof. Naoshi Koriyama

Fue en este día en 1945, hace setenta y dos años que los Estados Unidos dejó caer una bomba atómica en la ciudad de Hiroshima en el Japón. Tres días más tarde otra en Nagasaki. Debemos asegurar que jamás pase otra vez; trabajemos por desarmamento nuclear completo en el mundo entero. 

Se dice que si
doblas mil grullas de papel
se cumplirá tu deseo.
Por la paz felizmente me pasaría
el resto de mis días doblando.

----------------------                    --------© Rafael Jesús González 20118

In June of 1983, about a thousand of us imprisoned in Santa Rita Prison because of blocking the entrance to the Lawrence Livermore Laboratories, California, where nuclear arms are designed, occupied ourselves folding cranes from old newspapers; among us all, we made many more than a 
thousand to send to Japan. 

El Solsticio de Verano de 1983, cerca de mil de nosotr@s pres@s en la Prisión Santa Rita a causa de haber bloqueado la entrada a los Laboratorios Lawrence Livermore en California donde las armas nucleares son diseñadas, nos ocupamos doblando grullas del papel de viejos periódicos; entre tod@s hicimos mucho más de mil para enviar al Japón. 



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What Is Political Poetry? Reading & Discussion Saturday, August 18

 Press release:

You are invited to a poetry event on Saturday, August 18th entitled “What is Political Poetry?"

This reading and discussion will be led by Richmond Poet Laureate Rob Lipton and a stellar panel of Bay Area poets including Rene Vaz, Rafael Jesús González, Amos White, Alison Luterman and Fred Dodsworth.

Rob will moderate with these distinguished poets on the nature of poetry as a creative act that can or cannot be separated from the world we live in.

Questions may arise on whether there is a genre of poetry that is political and how this might differ from poetry that is ostensibly not considered political. Indeed, is the very act of creation a political act in its own right?

Each poet on the panel will read poetry of their own as well as of others that they consider illustrative of their approach to this question.

Following this we will have a round table discussion which will include audience participation.

DATE: Saturday, August 18th
TIME: 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm
AT: Bridge Storage and ArtSpace,
23 Maine Avenue, 
Richmond, CA

Learn more and RSVP

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