Poetry: Tão Clara by Ana Sjobon
Tão Clara
by Ana Sjobon
Clara como a luz
que irradia do sol
Clara me conduz
mesmo me deixando só
Ela já se foi
mas é dificil acreditar
a saudade me corrói
pois me ensinou a caminhar
ás vezes sinto sua presença
me da forças e me acalma
como uma bússola que guia minha alma
sou seu legado
sua partida não foi em vão
seu exemplo é minha motivação
So Bright
by Ana Sjobon
Bright as a light
That resonates from the sun
So bright that guide’s me
Even when on my own
She is already gone
And it’s hard to believe
Your absence corrodes me
As you taught me to live
Sometimes i feel your presence
It strengths and sooths me
Like a compass for the soul
I’m your legacy
Your departure was not in vain
Your example is my motivation
Ana Sjobon is a Business major student at CCSF.
Poetry: Intension by Alexandra Saba
Intension
by Alexandra Saba
Oh how selfless and true we could be if we only learned to communicate more effectively.
Oh me, oh my, oh dear
how our words spill carelessly
dribble like mother’s milk from a babe’s mouth.
We can plant these seeds carefully if we hold them in steady hands,
dig holes with intention.
Mend pains of nonchalance
through calculation.
Reckon healing with sedulously poised letters
balanced on cracked lips.
Alex Saba is a poet and student at CCSF. She enjoys psychedelic trance, dancing in the rain, talking to cats, singing to the moon, and hailing the glow cloud (all hail).
Poetry: La Petit Mort by Alexandra Saba
La Petit Mort
by Alexandra Saba
Glowing
crashing
waves flit
across
the nebulous terrain
of my body.
Aching.
Arching.
Crash.
Echoing ripples
reverbing back
into my surrounding reality.
Warm, white glow
blankets me
lulls me
into sleep,
little slice of death
tingling
tasting sweet.
Alex Saba is a poet and student at CCSF. She enjoys psychedelic trance, dancing in the rain, talking to cats, singing to the moon, and hailing the glow cloud (all hail).
Poetry: The Hobo Ride, by Gloria Keeley
The Hobo Ride
by Gloria Keeley
the night railroad holds sleepers
each with their own dreams
the train in the rain whistles
lonely on skinny rails
rolling the canyons
boxcars hold card games
the flickering lanterns lend
credence to kings and queens
corn stalks the land
nests dry in the moonlight
grass grows around baby birds
beaks red from cherries
fed by their mothers
the early morning breeze
ripples the fish-full pond
the hobo rides the freight
after tramping the yards
the main line tunnel
where souls are hidden
spoon the smokestack veins
indians set ears to ground
sense the ancient rumble
riding down the double E’s
Gloria Keeley is a former student of CCSF. She attended City in the late 60s and taught for CCSF for 34 years. Her writing was included in the 1968 issue of Forum and she was editor of the 1969 issue. Her poem “Billie” won the 2016 Forum Online writing contest.
Poetry: Sober by Jake Ortega
Sober
by Jake Ortega
Moving on sounds simpler than it is
I can’t move on if you don’t let me go
I can’t count how many times I’ve heard it
“Just give it up!”
“Do something else to substitute it!”
As if I haven’t tried
Despite the brand you left on me
As blatant as the day it started
Your influence seems superficial to them
But that’s just the man that I portray
The pain continues because I try
I try to salvage what remains
And every day that precipice gets wider
Every hour you goad me to take that leap of faith
I’ll never be rid of you until I do
And you wave that opportunity like a checkered flag
Assured that I won’t even try
It’s a distance you know I can’t overcome
You drink my misery like beer
But I’m the one who’s off my face
As the world goes ‘round without me
I can’t lay down without holding on
I used to relish such spirituous delights
Part of the plan you’ve laid before me
Your laughter echoes through my being
A face beneath my jaundiced skin
Cackling at the husk you inhabit
Knowing that all that I carry with me
Is everything that I have
And everything that I am
Your presence threatens to consume me
But with your presence I must live on
In hopes that my appeasement is enough
And if the day comes that you depart
The vacancy of your being may be too inviting
For another to take your place
Do I have you, or do you have me?
Poetry: Abstraction by Alexandra Saba
Abstraction
by Alexandra Saba
Isolation
creates abstraction
modelled choices
emerge
muddled voices
submerged
complex suppression:
illumination,
clarity
bit by
bit
bit by
bit
(encapsulating) shadows
e c h o i n g
language
level by
level
layer by
layer
self-contained
embodied within.
Meet the Editors 2017 [Part Two]
Today we’re meeting the head genre editors!
These talented folx are in charge of maintaining the submission logs of their specialty, organizing the submissions, and leading reader discussions. They’re also responsible for editing, author revisions, proofreading, and work in conjunction with the Managing Editor to communicate with authors and artists.
Bryce Riegel is our Fiction Editor
Bryce Riegel moved to San Francisco 7 years ago for school (with a B.S. in biochemistry with a physics minor). He’s now a carpenter and spends most of his time remodeling houses and apartment buildings in the city. In his free time he’s either writing short stories or reading them.
Kriz Natalie Monrose is our Nonfiction Editor
Kriz Natalie Monrose is your Transgender gender fluid non-fiction editor! Thank you for reading this blog. She likes all animals, especially cats and snakes! She’s looking for a husband. To apply, email submissions@forumccsf.org.
Kevin Cosby is our Poetry Editor
Kevin Cosby lives and works in San Francisco. He recently #####%%&&
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Meredith Brown and Lulu Samuel are our joint Visual Arts Editors
Lucretia Rhys Samuel is a Visual Arts Editor on this edition of Forum. She is a poetry-writer and a zine-maker residing in the Richmond District of San Francisco. She is currently studying Creative Writing and Visual Media Design at CCSF, working at the San Francisco SPCA, and spending too many hours hogging the xerox machine at the public library publishing her own zines.
Meredith Brown is a lifelong learner from Tracy, CA. She believes in empathy, art and science.
Happy UN World Poetry Day!
A decision to proclaim 21 March as World Poetry Day was adopted during UNESCO’s 30th session held in Paris in 1999.
One of the main objectives of the Day is to support linguistic diversity through poetic expression and to offer endangered languages the opportunity to be heard within their communities.
The observance of World Poetry Day is also meant to encourage a return to the oral tradition of poetry recitals, to promote the teaching of poetry, to restore a dialogue between poetry and the other arts such as theatre, dance, music and painting, and to support small publishers and create an attractive image of poetry in the media, so that the art of poetry will no longer be considered an outdated form of art, but one which enables society as a whole to regain and assert its identity.
The selection of poetry below is not even a scratch at the surface of poetry all over the world. Take a moment to think about how you feel, talk and write about poetry. Poetry can be heartwarming, sublime, hilarious and political all at once.
What do you like about it? What don’t you like? What inspires you?
Poem by Evelyn Kok-Buschelman
( Eternal )
Green lake still silent
Mountains grounds kept rain laid deep
Lucid moon sun seep
Forum Magazine 