INSIDE OLLI
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Location of the new OLLI Classrooms - photo by Kathy Bruin
Book Review:
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Diane Frank
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This is a beautiful anthology of poetry from Blue Light Press, published in 2021. All poems were selected by Diane Frank and Prartho Sereno in this wonderful collaboration.
Diane Frank is a popular instructor in the OLLI Program at SFSU who has taught so many of us in her amazing OLLI writing classes. She also leads writing workshops and is the Editor and Publisher of Blue Light Press.
Prartho Sereno was Poet Laureate Emerita of Marin County and teacher in the schools since 1989, and is a painter as well. The delicate image on the cover artwork for this anthology, was painted by Prartho.
There are some talented poets who are OLLI members whose pieces are included in this anthology—you know them all . . . Heather Estes, MJ Moore, Angie Minkin and me. We're in the company of 113 richly creative, award winning writers including Stephen Dunn, Lucille Lang Day, Dorianne Laux, George Wallace, and Naomi Shihab Nye.
Diane Frank is a popular instructor in the OLLI Program at SFSU who has taught so many of us in her amazing OLLI writing classes. She also leads writing workshops and is the Editor and Publisher of Blue Light Press.
Prartho Sereno was Poet Laureate Emerita of Marin County and teacher in the schools since 1989, and is a painter as well. The delicate image on the cover artwork for this anthology, was painted by Prartho.
There are some talented poets who are OLLI members whose pieces are included in this anthology—you know them all . . . Heather Estes, MJ Moore, Angie Minkin and me. We're in the company of 113 richly creative, award winning writers including Stephen Dunn, Lucille Lang Day, Dorianne Laux, George Wallace, and Naomi Shihab Nye.
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The anthology title might confuse some, as it did me. Were we writing specifically about our Pandemic experiences? Yes—in a sense. I think it was how we viewed life through the lens of this new and cruel disease. The Covid Pandemic was our constant companion for three years.
Our world saw the deaths of 6.4 million people. No country was spared. Here in the United States, a developed nation with advanced technologies, 1.4 million people died—families, friends, and strangers. Tremendous strides have been made in the detection, prevention and medical treatments of this disease. But the deaths, new variants and infections continue today. Sadly, it's still around but we manage to keep it at bay.
The Pandemic took much from us. It was relentless and rampaged through our lives. But as Diane so eloquently wrote, the Pandemic also gave us some gifts— "One of its most radical gifts was Time. And another was Ourselves."
After living in constant fear, we learned to remember our strengths, and rebuild our lives. Some of us (albeit following the guidelines from the CDC) lived in crippling isolation, masked-up and be-gloved. MJ Moore wrote perfectly succinct opening lines--
"Stay alert, don't walk too close,
zigzag up the street,
honor contagion's choreography."
Our world saw the deaths of 6.4 million people. No country was spared. Here in the United States, a developed nation with advanced technologies, 1.4 million people died—families, friends, and strangers. Tremendous strides have been made in the detection, prevention and medical treatments of this disease. But the deaths, new variants and infections continue today. Sadly, it's still around but we manage to keep it at bay.
The Pandemic took much from us. It was relentless and rampaged through our lives. But as Diane so eloquently wrote, the Pandemic also gave us some gifts— "One of its most radical gifts was Time. And another was Ourselves."
After living in constant fear, we learned to remember our strengths, and rebuild our lives. Some of us (albeit following the guidelines from the CDC) lived in crippling isolation, masked-up and be-gloved. MJ Moore wrote perfectly succinct opening lines--
"Stay alert, don't walk too close,
zigzag up the street,
honor contagion's choreography."
2
Dogs still barked loudly and annoyingly. The pigeons in my backyard never stopped their loud cooing even though I'd bang on the windows to try and dissuade them. It's almost like they were telling me "Hush Elsa - we’ve been silent and stifled so long—cannot do it anymore.”
The talented poets in the anthology found the music in their souls.
As Linda Enders said in her poem--
"the time had come to light candles against the gathering dark"
One hundred thirty-one poets have written beautiful and inspiring pieces, after years of living through this viral terrorist invasion and finding the seeds of hope.
However, I will confess to finding it difficult to always talk negatively about the Pandemic. It gave me the most precious gift of time to spend with my dying partner, rediscovering what we loved about each other, before we had to say goodbye.
Heather Estes and her daughter sewed masks "We sew masks with stars and strawberries, black squares for her friend, blue fish for her dad."
These poems will inspire you—to put it in the vernacular of our times—they will blow you away.
I want to leave you with what Angie Minkin wrote online:
“This Pandemic is truly a puzzle. We keep trying to figure out where we are, but really we must return to ourselves, to hope and to love. Read these poems and breathe again."
The talented poets in the anthology found the music in their souls.
As Linda Enders said in her poem--
"the time had come to light candles against the gathering dark"
One hundred thirty-one poets have written beautiful and inspiring pieces, after years of living through this viral terrorist invasion and finding the seeds of hope.
However, I will confess to finding it difficult to always talk negatively about the Pandemic. It gave me the most precious gift of time to spend with my dying partner, rediscovering what we loved about each other, before we had to say goodbye.
Heather Estes and her daughter sewed masks "We sew masks with stars and strawberries, black squares for her friend, blue fish for her dad."
These poems will inspire you—to put it in the vernacular of our times—they will blow you away.
I want to leave you with what Angie Minkin wrote online:
“This Pandemic is truly a puzzle. We keep trying to figure out where we are, but really we must return to ourselves, to hope and to love. Read these poems and breathe again."
Editor's Note: This book, published by Blue Light Press, is available at Amazon.com and other booksellers. Amazon's price was $4 in Sept. 2022.
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