​POETRY   
"Early coral light"
                                     Photo by Weebly.com                                    
Vertical Divider

Open Diary
by Mark Thoma

​Early coral light
and a shape-shifting cloud, pudgy
gray, veering south in flight
leaves an exquisite smudge
upon this page of sky
an imprimatur to certify
the current journal publishing
itself on a winter morning
for no one to see, no brush
with swollen fame, no glory
for an open diary
the sky a bindery
of sorts, albeit too loose
to bind firmament immense
or seal within covers dawn diffusing
yet refusing to condense
on a singular sheet of sky.
Vertical Divider
​​Mark Thoma has practiced medical social work for thirty years and is semi-retired. He recently took his first OLLI class. Mark likes to cook, make bread from the The Tassajara Bread Book, hike, read, write poetry, and help maintain a neighborhood garden. Mark's first encouragement for writing came from his fourth grade Creative Writing teacher (yes! a teacher just for creative writing!) when he was ten years old. He has been writing poetry on and off since. Mark lives with his husband in San Francisco.
Other works in this issue:
Poetry: 
​Stovetop Coffee

Vertical Divider

We Welcome Comments
Vistas & Byways Review is the semiannual journal of fiction, nonfiction and poetry by members of Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at San Francisco State University​.​
Vertical Divider
​Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at San Francisco State University (OLLI at SF State) provides communal and material support to theVistas & Byways  ​volunteer staff.