First Person

The Grace of The Material World

posted December 21, 2011
by wmyers








By Wayne Myers

When someone's dog slips its collar
and runs across the yard to lick
my hand or when
a hummingbird stops and hovers
right in front of me and slowly
draws closer until it's close enough to
bow upon the dazzled air and touch my nose (very
gently) with the tip of it's microscopic
beak or when
the wind and the ocean and the stars cascading
overhead suddenly blur together and become one thing,
one seamless, immeasurable moment   read more >

Three Poloroid Pictures of Astonishing Clarity

posted December 05, 2011
by wmyers








By Wayne Myers

1. dope-house, 1977
 


in this one he is standing in the hallway

illuminated by a bare bulb in the ceiling.

the bulb is casting a shadow that nearly obscures his entire face.

his hair is as white as milk

his skin the color of an old copper coin:



in the play of harsh light falling 

upon his immense shoulders

the stumps where his wings were

are prominent.
 




   read more >

   

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Trower Could Be Homeless Again

    If you’ve followed this blog since it launched 20-months ago, you probably know who Raymond Trower is: Raymond “Street Voice” Trower that is. If you haven’t, and don’t, I’ll tell you.
    Ray was a frequent contributor to this website’s First Person column. He published The Santa Barbara Community Street Voice, a newsletter full of homeless peoples’ writing and resources for them and other economically stricken Santa Barbara residents. When he moved from Casa Esperanza into a studio apartment in January 2010, he became a homeless advocate, serving on the board of Bringing Our Community Home (BOCH).
     Last May, after two years in Santa Barbara-- one year at Casa and one year in his room at The Victoria, Ray moved back to Oklahoma. Now he’s on the verge of becoming homeless again.

    This isn’t how it was supposed to go   read more >

Hohenstein and McCallum Got Each Other's Back

    As a single mom living in Santa Barbara, I sometimes think I’m pretty strong. But one thing is certain, I have nothing on Debbie Hohenstein, a 50-something woman who is homeless and living at Casa Esperanza. Or Cindy McCallum, for that matter, who is also staying at the shelter.
    I spent time with these two women Wednesday evening and came away feeling like a wuss. I could never handle the challenges these women are facing with the humor and grace they exhibited around the Happy Table -- the ordinary patio table where they congregate at Casa. I would crumple into a ball and weep. 
    I went to Casa on Wednesday night to talk to McCallum. For anyone who doesn’t read this blog regularly, she’s the woman who was discharged from Cottage Hospital's ER with a bus token to the Rescue Mission on October 28th and, with left-side paralysis and some cognitive disability, spent the next three nights on the   read more >

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