April is National Poetry Month, and the Post is celebrating by featuring poems about Alameda penned by local writers. This week’s featured poet is Alameda Poet Laureate Kimi Sugioka. She shares with us two pieces titled Alameda in the Time of the Great Turning and Pelicans of Alameda.
Alameda in the Time of the Great Turning
Ohlone land of the Chochenyo tribe
island of oak and redwood, sacred soil,
navy base and Gold Coast playground
Island of families, babies, beaches and barbecues
Island of egrets, pelicans, dowagers, terns
Island of crow and mourning dove
In this time of smoke, plague and rage
our quiet, tree-lined streets simmer and wait
Each moment multiplies
spirals into a future
we cannot know
Here at the pivot point
we hold our breath
and wait with faith
with trepidation
together
Alameda
Ohlone land of the Lisjan tribes
and Chochenyo tongue
may we heed the posture and prayer
of those who came before
and emulate their light tread
upon this land of plenty:
shad, stickleback, coho, goby
pipefish, sculpin, flounder, perch
coyote, mountain lion, gray fox, raccoon
ground squirrel, cottontail, opossum, deer
It is in this moment we decide:
do we make homes for the homeless
or let them languish beneath freeway underpasses?
do we care for our anguished and despairing
or stare from Crown Beach as they drown before us?
or let them suicide in a storage room
when they can no longer afford the rent?
do we send crisis workers to
assess reports of erratic behavior or
a ‘strangely’ dancing man of color
or send police to strongarm the situation?
Do we nourish the land or continue to exploit her?
Do we explore and support our plurality of color and culture
or grasp at the scraps of a failed ideology?
It is in this moment
we choose
who we want
to become
Alameda
Ohlone land of the Chochenyo tribe
and long gone oak forest
we rest on your sands and mounds
we ask for the wisdom to hold
the land and its creatures
in equal esteem
to abolish our fear
of one another
that we may tread this path
as community
as relations
together
Pelicans of Alameda
Squadrons of pelicans
wing westward and loll
in the Alameda sanctuary
20 to 30 at a time
Up to 6 feet of beak
Dalmatian (not the dog)
wend through 30 million years
speaking only to their kin
and silently slaying the sky
Reminding us
not to lose faith because
not all flight is armored
and feted in metal and synthetic
two-legged customers
Not all winged creatures
have been changed or
broken by human betrayal
Not all humans want
to desecrate and
commodify nature
Some
just want to watch
pelicans
fly
Kimi Sugioka is the Poet Laureate of Alameda. She also is a mother, educator, and songwriter. She earned an MFA from Naropa University and has published two books of poetry, the newest of which is Wile & Wing on Manic D Press. She has been published in numerous anthologies. As an active board member for literary arts organizations, she curates and hosts readings in Alameda and San Francisco. She believes that creating community through art is a revolutionary act.
