One of my oldest friends is Rafael Gonzalez – poet, writer, teacher, spiritual leader. He lives only a few blocks from my mother and taught with her at Laney College in Oakland. He’s one of my oldest family friends, one who has known me all my life.
Pete & I had a great time this past weekend, as we were able to see Raphael speak and read some of his poetry (in both Spanish and English). The reading was in celebration of “Doorknobs & Body Paint Fantastic Flash Fiction An Anthology” in association with riverbabble, an online writing magazine. Leila Rae introduced the afternoon’s start and Bara Swain was the MC.
If you haven’t read Raphael’s poetry and strong political essays, please go to his blog and take a gander. Perhaps the most beautifully startling poem is the one he wrote (in both Spanish and English, which is his multi-lingual practice) on the day of September 11, 2001. Here is his blog entry for Sept 11, 2008 which features the poem, as well as his Sept 11, 2007 entry with even more commentary.
More pictures can be found here at my Flickr page.