Melinda Palacio, Santa Barbara Poet Laureate
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| Flowers for Poets |
*An earlier version of this column was published in the Santa Barbara Independent
National Poetry Month ends with a city college poetry workshop and a reading at the Arlington with National Youth Poet Laureate, Amanda Gorman. However, Santa Barbara poets, myself included, will continue to poet during the coming months. Santa Barbara will host at least four poetry events in May. We are blessed with a vibrant poetry community. At my writing workshop at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, every seat was filled. I was thrilled to see how many people came to spend a couple of hours writing ekphrastic poetry, poetry in response to art. An unlikely couple who attended was Santa Barbara Middle School student, Ellery Green and her mom. Ellery inspired everyone with her poetry and sketching skills. During the workshop, she had time to compose three poems. The future of poetry is safe.
Another young, local poet, Takunda Chikowero, took to the stage on Saturday at our Poetry in the Parks event. He read his award-winning Earth Day poem. Takunda is in the fourth grade at Isla Vista Elementary and the winner of the 2024 MLKSB Poetry Award. The young student is in the process of writing his first poetry book. What I didn’t mention when I introduced him was that he is the younger brother of Kundai Chikowero, Santa Barbara’s Youth Poet Laureate Ambassador. For six consecutive years, Kundai won the poetry competition at the Martin Luther King Santa Barbara Essay and Poetry Awards program, from 7th through 12th grade. She was mentored by Sojourner Kincaid Rolle. I’ve also worked with her over the years to present her poetry at the MLKSB awards celebration. She was always a natural and needed little coaching. Every year, Takunda would watch his older sister prepare for her award-winning poem at the Arlington Theatre. Now, he is following in her footsteps. It’s a joy to see his progress as a young poet.
Santa Barbara County is currently searching for its next Youth Poet Laureate. The program was established in 2022 with Madeline Miller serving as the inaugural Youth Poet Laureate and Kundai Chikowero as Youth Poet Ambassador. Applications are due May 20th by midnight PST. Contact yplsbc@gmail.com for more information.
Another fun poetry connection is with Joshua Alan Richardson (pronouns they/them) who attended my Día de los Muertos Poetry Reading at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art last November. At the time I didn’t know they wrote poetry. Later, when we met again at the Alhecama theatre, where Joshua was the event attendant, they mentioned being a poet. It’s nice to see the various poetry connections around town. When Joshua asked me for advice on how they might get published, I suggested the online submittable site, where you can send in poems to various journals, publishing houses, and contests.They shared some poems with me. This week’s poem and its translation in English comes from Joshua Alan Richardson, who publishes under the pseudonym Criollo.
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| Joshua A. Richardson aka Criollo |
Naufragar en el amor
By Criollo
Te sigo buscando
en la playa, la arena
entre cada ola
y en la marea.
Esperaba que ya soñando
en mi mente te hallaría
tal vez en mis fantasías
o despierto por la mañana.
Aún sigo pensando
que en la luz del día
vinieras y me dirías
las palabras que tanto quería
oír de ti la última vez.
Pero ya al no encontrarte
fuera de las ganas
que yo tengo de amarte
en mis mareos
me hundo por mi estupidez.
To Drown in Love
By Criollo
I keep looking for you
on the beach, the sand
between each wave,
and in the tide.
I was hoping that once dreaming
in my mind I would find you
perhaps in my fantasies
or awake in the morning.
I still think
that in the light of day
you would come and tell me
the words that I had wanted so much
to hear from you last time.
But now that I can’t find you
out of the desire
that I have to love you
in my dizziness
I sink for my stupidity.
Bio:
Criollo is a California-born Salvadoreño. They recently graduated from UCSB with a Bachelor's in Anthropology and a minor in Spanish. Their previous works have been published by UCSF Mission Bay Hospital. They are currently working on a collection of poetry and looking to create comfortable and accessible spaces for Chicanx/Latinx art and literature in Santa Barbara and the Central Coast.
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