Poetry Connection: Connecting with Poetry, Art, and Neighbors in Need of a Repair

Poetry events kicked up after a slight respite for the holidays. I attended the Blue Whale Reading two weeks ago, featuring poets Cie Gumucio and Daniel Thomas. It’s a joy to be in community with fellow poets. This series always offers a few open mic opportunities to those who arrive early enough to sign up for one of the coveted spots. Poet Kimbrough Ernest arrived early enough to sign up for the open mic and dedicated her poem to Renee Good, saying the name that was on many of our minds on January 14. 

Poetry reminds us of what we hold dear. It’s both a way to share our collective joy and grief. When our current Poet Laureate, George Yatchisin, asked me to contribute an ekphrastic poem to the Fare Trade exhibit at City Hall, I chose Patricia Clarke’s photograph, “La Super- Rica Taqueria, Santa Barbara (2015).” The Fare Trade exhibit was impressive on many levels. The addition of the Papel Picado hanging from the ceiling already said Fiesta and drew the eye to the corridor in City Hall, where people usually go when they need to pay a bill or find an important legal document. The art on the walls was photography by Brett Leigh Dicks and Patricia Clarke, all featuring photographs of taquerias and diners. I chose Clarke’s “La Super- Rica Taqueria, Santa Barbara (2015)” because it was the first eatery I went to upon arriving in Santa Barbara 25 years ago, an initiation for most newcomers. When I sat down to respond to the photograph and compose my ekphrastic poem, I also had Renee Good on my mind. ICE looms large in my everyday thoughts. As a participant and fellow listener, I enjoyed the variety of poems inspired by the exhibit and the standing-room-only crowd. 

The next day’s Repair Café provided another soothing balm and a chance to bond with the community; there was even free on-demand poetry by Simon Kiefer. I participated in my capacity as a musician on guitar and ukulele with the Ladies’ Strumming Social Club, which provided entertainment. The Repair Café is not a restaurant that serves food. It’s a community movement and a pop-up at the CEC’s Environmental Hub on 1219 State Street, Suite A. The donated space at the CEC’s Environmental Hub is a perfect fit. The space is large enough for volunteers to bring in repair tools with the comfortable feel of meeting in a neighbor’s home. The bimonthly event is powered by volunteers who help keep things out of the landfill by repairing broken items, everything from knife sharpening to bicycle, electrical, and sewing repairs. 

I wasn’t too surprised to see my friend Lora Martin at one of the tables, fixing things with her sewing machine. Lora knows her way around a sewing machine and is more than happy to volunteer and share her skills. “I wanted to help and support our community, and I believe in the Repair Café’s mission,” she said. “We throw too many things away.” Lora found out about the Repair Café through social media and sent an email to offer her services. She was able to fix my torn canvas tote bag. I saw a few friends who also needed sewing repairs. Fellow poet Monica Mody had a garment mended that her mother had gifted her. 

Empowerment and education are other components of the Repair Café. In some cases, volunteers can teach people how to make their own future repairs. The next Repair Café will be at the Environmental Hub on March 21 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. If you have a skill or knack for fixing things, the all-volunteer movement known as the Repair Café could use more volunteers. Contact info@repaircafesb. 

This weekend, enjoy poetry and music outdoors with the annual gathering to honor the life and work of poet and pacifist William Stafford, featuring Poet Laureate Emerita Emma Trelles who says she has been enjoying her deep dive into Stafford’s work in preparation for her reading. She adds that his work is especially timely now, with our rights to protest literally under attack. Gather in community, nature, and poetry Saturday, January 31, at the First Crossing Day Use Area on Paradise Road in Los Padres National Forest at 2 p.m.

With Renee Good on my mind, I am including my ekphrastic poem, “Canopy Over Milpas and Alsphonse”, written in response to Patricia Clarke’s photograph “La Super- Rica Taqueria, Santa Barbara (2015)” from last week’s Fare Trade exhibit and “Collective Nouns” by Kimbrough Ernest. 

Canopy Over Milpas and Alphonse  

Melinda Palacio

The friend I invited to lunch declined, not for fear of ICE.
She is not worried for herself, but for me. 
‘Can’t make it, watch out for ICE,’ she said, fancying herself funny. 

I go along with the joke, as nothing will keep me 
from stopping by the restaurant that’s easily overlooked
with an empty dirt lot next to it, low ceiling. 
Thick roots give rise to spindly branches and a lush.
top-heavy Laurel Fig, an outstretched canopy over the world.

I tell my friend I have a strategy for defeating ICE. 
Say I will expose how much of a good citizen I am
by rattling off the names of all the state capitals, an old party trick.
ICE fools can’t name all the states, let alone their capitals.
Can words like Tallahassee, Phoenix, or Annapolis save me
from cruelty, from disappearing citizen me?

They know, we all know, that when they come for my brown skin,
but end up killing a white woman, a mother, a poet, a kind woman,
an ally who never expected to take three bullets in the face for me,
for all of us, their souls are lost.

People in line, hoping to receive the last Alambre de Pechuga are absent.
Beneath a blue sky, houses in the distant ridge, the neighborhood terrorized
by ICE is a community of families, firefighters, shopkeepers, caregivers, cooks,
bookkeepers, servers, mechanics, dishwashers, doctors, musicians, and educators,
nestled around the Milpas landmark, known as la Super Rica. 

COLLECTIVE NOUNS 

by Kimbrough Ernest

For Renee Nicole Good 

A murder of crows, a harem of seals, cauldron of bats. 

Perhaps a penumbra of poets. 

A memory of elephants, crash of rhinos. Flamboyance of flamingos. 

Write a weariness of protestors. 

An ambush of tigers, the starlings’ murmuration. A raft of otters. 

But a putrescence of masked thugs. 

About the Author: Kimbrough Ernest lives in Ventura, California, and teaches poetry through California Poets in the Schools. A prize-winning poet, she has been published in several anthologies, including Women in a Golden State, San Diego Poetry Annual, To Give Life a Shape, Rare Feathers, and Psalms of Cinder and Silt. She likes to tell a long story in a short poem.

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Poetry Events:

Thursday, January 29

Poetry discussion on Emily Dickinson. Special event hosted by PL George Yachtisin and UCSB Professor Elizabeth Heckendorn Cook, free event; food and drink for purchase, Santa Barbara Wine Collective, 131 Anacapa Street, Ste. C, 5:30 pm.

Friday, January 30

Santa Barbara Public Library Open Mic. The Library’s Open Mic is open to all forms of expression, including spoken word, music, poetry, comedy, and dance. Central SB Public Library, Fireplace Room, 6-7:30 pm. 

Saturday, January 31

William Stafford Reading, Annual gathering to honor the life and work of William Stafford,

meet at the first Crossing Day Use Area on Paradise Road in Los Padres National Forest, featuring the former Santa Barbara poet laureate Emma Trelles, along with Nicolas Vivanco on classical guitar, 2 pm.

Sunday, February 1

EP Foster Library, Enid Osborn and Mariano Zaro, 651 E. Main St., Ventura, CA, 3 pm, host Phil Taggart.

Sunday, February 8

The Poetry Zone Monthly Reading, Karpeles Manuscript Library, 21 W. Anapamu St., Santa Barbara 1:30- 3 p.m.

Monday, February 9

Chaucer’s Books, Enid Osborn and Daniel Thomas, reading from their new books, 3321 State Street, Santa Barbara, CA, 6 pm.

Tuesday, February 10

Lowstate Salon, An evening of supportive creative writing. The host will come with writing prompts and activities to get the creative work flowing. Bring paper, pens, and some willingness to write something new, weird, and wonderful. After the writing session, there will be time for anyone who wants to read or discuss their writing. Join us for the inspiration and community with other creatives and writers. The Blue Owl, 5 W Canon Perdido Street, Santa Barbara, 7-9 pm.

Sunday, March 1

EP Foster Library, Judith Pacht, 651 E. Main St., Ventura, CA, 3 pm, host Phil Taggart.