Albany Wrote A Poem!

It's been almost a month since the in Albany, where many eager, nervous and brave Albanians of all ages stopped by the Albany Arts Committee booth and eyed a strangely speckled canister labled "Poetry." Most of them eventually agreed to write a line or two about what Albany meant to them, or how they felt about spring, or anything at all, really. 

I was ready to do some adding, sculpting, and editing to piece all the slips of paper into a poem, but the fascinating thing was...I didn't have to. They rolled out of the canister and practically formed themselves into this four-stanza poem of praise for our town. Maybe you recognize a line you wrote?

The Albany Mile

Get the facts straight: Albany is beautiful in the springtime

Wonderful people, vistas, calm moments

Peaceful place where the Ohlone roamed.

Breezy, cool and wet, springtime for flowers in Albany --

When I find myself in my home town,

Hope will bloom.

Oceanview children growing as our garden grows

Very sweet, it has tasty things to eat.

My dog is fat -- everybody needs love!

Marin School is helping the world

By saving water and planting new plants

Cornell School gardens give us lunch.

Albany is the best place to raise a family and

Has the best schools ever.

City with old hippies, still living some of their dreams

One square mile, blue collar, expanding --

When I walk the Albany mile, it makes me smile

And smile.  Riding a bus to the library,

Back on the path to the bay. On the train to Berkeley,

Bike back to Albany. Green leaves grow brightly in the sun

Beside a glistening small stream, passing beneath

A bart train rushing past.

Redtails' screams turn to music as they tumble

Towhee wings a-tremble, killdeer in rhythm

As they approach each other. Goin' to the Bowl,

Then the Stroll -- living in the Albany Hill

Lots of joy and lots of fill. Always hear the whistle blowing

Never know which way it's going.

Hold on, I can't hear you -- the bart is passing by...

Quiet again. A dose of oak from the Hill.

See the Albany poetry blog here.