full moon: Flower Moon in Times of Plague

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Luna de flores en tiempos de peste


La luna a mi ventana
no lleva mascarilla
y no parece
importarle guardar 
la debida distancia,
su aliento de luz
pesa en las rosas

¿Llega también
a tu ventana?
¿Dejas pasar su luz?



-----© Rafael Jesús González 2020

Flower Moon in Times of Plague


The moon at my window
wears no mask 
& does not seem
to care keeping 
the prescribed distance;
her breath of light
is heavy on the roses.

Does she also
come to your window?
Do you let in her light?



-----© Rafael Jesús González 2020

 

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May Day - Internatioal Day of the Worker

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International Day of the Worker
without whom nothing that we have would be.

“Capitalism is the astonishing belief
that the nastiest motives of the nastiest men
somehow or other work for the best results
in the best of all possible worlds.”

----------------------------------------—  attributed to John Maynard Keynes

-------------------------------------------------------  ---Economist (1883 – 1946)
 

"We can either have democracy in this country
or we can have great wealth 
concentrated in the hands of a few,
but we can't have both."

-------------------------------------------------------------— Louis Brandeis

------------------------------------------------------------------Supreme Court Justice (1916 to 1939)

The critical question is, what must be done to make the revolution?

 

Día internacional del/la trabajador(a)

sin quien nada de lo que tenemos hubiera.

“El capitalismo es la creencia asombrosa
que los motivos más repugnantes 
de los hombres más indecentes
de algún modo u otro obran para obtener 
los mejores resultados
en el mejor de todos los mundos posibles.”

-----------------------------------------—  atribuido a John Maynard Keynes

-----------------------------------------------------------  ---Economista (1883 – 1946)

“Podemos tener en este país o democracia
o grande riqueza concentrada en manos de pocos
pero no ambos.” 

-------------------------------------------------------— Louis Brandeis

---------------------------------------------Juez de la Corte Suprema EE.UU. (1916 a 1939)

La pregunta crítica es ¿qué se debe hacer para hacer la revolucion? 

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Tribute to Roque Dalton, Saturday May 9

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Earth Day (50th Anniversary)

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Si no hablamos

Si no hablamos para alabar a la Tierra,
es mejor que guardemos silencio.

Loa al aire
que llena el fuelle del pulmón
y alimenta la sangre
del corazón;
que lleva la luz,
el olor de las flores
y los mares,
los cantos de las aves
y el aullido del viento;
que conspira con la distancia
------------------------------para hacer azul el monte.

-Loa al fuego
que alumbra el día
y calienta la noche,
cuece nuestro alimento
y da ímpetu a nuestra voluntad;
que es el corazón de la Tierra,
este fragmento de lucero;
que quema y purifica por bien o por mal.


Loa al agua
que hace a los ríos
y a los mares;
que da sustancia a la nube
y a nosotros;
que hace verde a los bosques
y los campos;
que hincha al fruto
y envientra nuestro nacer.

Loa a la tierra
que es el suelo, la montaña,
y las piedras;
que lleva los bosques
y es la arena del desierto;
que nos forma los huesos
y sala los mares, la sangre;
que es nuestro hogar y sitio.


Si no hablamos en alabanza a la Tierra,
-----si no cantamos en festejo a la vida,
----------es mejor que guardemos silencio.

© Rafael Jesús González 2020

Escrito especialmente para el Congreso Mundial de Poetas,
Tai’an, Provincia de Shandong, China, otoño 2005

(Siete escritores comprometidos: obra y perfil; Fausto Avendaño, director;
Explicación de Textos Literarios vol. 34 anejo 1; diciembre 2007;
Dept. of Foreign Languages; California State University Sacramento;
derechos reservados del autor.)

If We Do Not Speak

If we do not speak to praise the Earth,
it is best we keep silent.

Praise air
that fills the bellow of the lung
& feeds our heart’s blood;
that carries light,
the smell of flowers
& the seas,
the songs of birds
& the wind’s howl;
that conspires with distance
to make the mountains blue.

Praise fire
that lights the day
& warms the night,
cooks our food
& gives motion to our wills;
that is the heart of Earth,
this fragment of a star;
that burns & purifies
for good or ill.

Praise water
that makes the rivers
& the seas;
that gives substance
to the clouds and us;
that makes green the forests
& the fields;
that swells the fruit
& wombs our birth.

Praise earth
that is the ground,
the mountain, & the stones;
that holds the forests
& is the desert sand;
that builds our bones
& salts the seas, the blood;
that is our home & place.


If we do not speak in praise of the Earth,
-----if we do not sing in celebration of life,
----------it is best we keep silence.

© Rafael Jesús González 2020

Written especially for the World Congress of Poets,
Tai’an, Shandong Province, China, Autumn 2005

(147 Practical Tips for Teaching Sustainability:
Connecting the Environment, the Economy, and Society;
Timpson, William M. et al, Eds.,
Atwood Publishing Co., Madison, Wisconsin 2006;
author’s copyrights) 

--------------La llamada 


¿Qué puedo decir para incitarte
-------a defender la Tierra?
¿Recordarte como se siente el sol?
¿el sabor de la sal, el olor del laurel?
¿El chirrido de grillo en noche de verano,
el arco iris después de lluvia?
--------¿Lo que es amar?
¿Imploraré a tu goce
-----o a tu pavor?
Puede ser terrible la Tierra
en sus tormentas y sus temblores
pero es la medida de cual paraíso
------imaginemos jamás.
Tú y yo moriremos demasiado pronto
-----pero que no siga la vida
----------es más allá de aceptable.
¿Qué puedo decir para que ames la vida
suficiente para que actúes y alces la voz
-----------en su defensa?




---------------------------------- © Rafael Jesús González 2020



(Berkeley Times, 19 noviembre 2015;
derechos reservados del autor)

--------------The Call 


What can I say to entice you
------to defend the Earth?
Remind you how the sun feels?
The taste of salt, the smell of bay?
a cricket's chirp on a summer night,
the rainbow after rain?
-----What it is to love?
Shall I appeal to your joy
------or to your fear?
Earth can be terrible
in her storms & in her quakes
but she is the measure of any paradise
---------we will ever imagine.
You & I will die all too soon
------but that life will not go on
-----------is beyond accepting.
What can I say to make you love life
enough to act & raise your voice
----------in its defense?




-----------------------------© Rafael Jesús González 2020



(SeedBroadcast agri-Culture Journal #12, March 2019;
author's copyrights.)

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May 5 - Reclaiming Cinco de Mayo / Rescate de Cinco de Mayo, Tues., May 5

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Taurus

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-----------Tauro


El toro de la tierra fija
lleva como un diamante
entre los cuernos
la estrella matutina.
---Su corazón de esmeralda
---oculta un valor firme
y al cuello lleva yugo de cobre
que lo une
-------------a la tierra
-------------a la estrella
-------------a lo infinito.

------------© Rafael Jesús González 2020

----------------Taurus

The bull of the fixed earth
carries the morning star
like a diamond
between his horns.
----------his emerald heart
----------hides a firm worth
and at the neck he wears a copper yoke
that joins him
------------------to the earth
------------------to the star
------------------to the infinite.




-------------------------© Rafael Jesús González 2020 



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Stand Up and Be Counted!, Sun. May 3, 1-4 PM

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Write Now! SF Bay Presents 

“Stand Up and Be Counted”

May 3, 2020, 1-4pm PDT

On Zoom

To get the Zoom link, register by clicking on “Find tickets” at this page:

https://www.facebook.com/events/161388931713355/

Write Now! SF Bay's interactive reading on Creativity and Activism in the Era of COVID-19 features 30 writers/activists of color and allies. Presenters include Kim Shuck and Rafael Jesús González, Poets Laureate of San Francisco and Berkeley, as well as dedicated health care providers, educators, and community activists who will share prose and poetry on how they are responding to a time of unprecedented change. Following the reading, the audience can join a guided discussion around how creativity and activism can enrich our lives. 

Your voluntary donation of $10 will support Write Now! SF Bay's programs for writers of color. PayPal to writenowsf (at) gmail (dot) com. More info at www.WriteNowSF.com. Write Now!'s books: “Civil Liberties United,” “Endangered Species, Enduring Values,” “My First Hundred Years” (Pease Press)

Readers:

Rafael Jesús González, Poet Laureate of Berkeley

Kim Shuck, Poet Laureate of San Francisco 

Avotcja, poet, musician, radio DJ, KPFA and KPOO

Josiah Luis Alderete, poet, City Lights Bookstore, Speaking Axolotl literary series

Dennis Bernstein, executive producer, KPFA Flashpoints, poet, “Five Oceans in a Teaspoon” (Paper Crown Press 2019)

Sandra Bass, Associate Dean, UC Berkeley, Director, Public Service Center

Sue Granzella, writer, 3rd grade teacher, San Lorenzo School District Title 1 school

Lisa “Tiny” Gray-Garcia, Poor Magazine

Nicole Henares, high school teacher, SF United School District

Tehmina Khan, poet, faculty, City College of SF, Poetry for the People

Robert Kikuchi-Yngojo and Nancy Wang, Eth-Noh-Tec

Raluca Ioanid, poet, memoirist, nurse practitioner, Hendersonville NC

Jennifer Hasegawa, information architiect, ”La Chica’s Fieldguide to Banzai Living (Ominidawn 2020)

Kevin Madrigal, poet, food equity activist

Tureeda Mikell, poet, storyteller, culture bearer, “Synchronicity: The Oracle of Sun Medicine,” (Nomadic Press 2020)

Cristl Perkins, writer; educator, The Academy High School

Susana Praver-Perez, poet, Physician Assistant, Associate Medical Director, La Clinica de la Raza 

Tony Robles, poet, housing, disability and Filipino community activist

Cassandra Rockwood-Rice Ganem, founder, Eves at the Beat literary series

Dena Rod, writer, LGBTQ activist, chapbook “Swallow A Beginning” (denarod.com)

Shizue Seigel, director Write Now! SF Bay, editor, "Civil Liberties United," Endangered Species; Enduring Values"

Sriram Shamasunder MD, poet, physician, HEAL Initiative

Norma Smith, poet, community scholar-educator “Home Remedy” (Nomadic Press)

Kimi Sugioka, poet, educator, San Lorenzo School District, Wile and Wing”, Manic D 2020)

Kelechi Ubozoh, mental health advocate, poet, editor, “We've Been Too Patient” (North Atlantic Books 2019)

Sandra Wassilie, writer, caregiver

Malcolm Williams, poet, educator, Visitation Valley Middle School

Andre Wilson, writer, performer, small business manager at Ability Now Bay Area, serving adults with disabilities

  

 

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