{"id":21989,"date":"2015-06-04T00:01:29","date_gmt":"2015-06-04T07:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/?p=21989"},"modified":"2015-06-04T00:01:29","modified_gmt":"2015-06-04T07:01:29","slug":"two-california-poets-one-romantic-the-other-not-so-much","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/two-california-poets-one-romantic-the-other-not-so-much\/","title":{"rendered":"Two California Poets: One Romantic, the Other Not So Much"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"California<\/a>
Rebecca Foust\u00a0read from “Paradise Drive: Poems,”at Book Passage Corte Madera. Photo by Barbara Newhall<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Barbara Falconer Newhall<\/em><\/p>\n

Ina Coolbrith palled around San Francisco with the likes of Mark Twain, Jack London and Bret Harte. Rebecca Foust hangs out\u00a0with PTA moms.\u00a0Coolbrith was a denizen of the 19th century. Foust is alive and well right here in the 21st century.\u00a0Coolbrith was a romantic. Foust\u00a0is wary.<\/p>\n

Both are California poets\u00a0who have made the San Francisco Bay Area their\u00a0home and subject.<\/p>\n

California Poet Rebecca Foust: Sonnets for the Suburbs<\/strong><\/h6>\n

With her latest book of poetry,\u00a0Paradise Drive<\/em>, just published,\u00a0Foust takes the age-old sonnet to new heights \u2013 and lows \u2013 as she bends and reshapes the form to skewer the upscale moms (herself included) of suburban Marin county:<\/p>\n

Everything was plu-perfect, gosh-darn-it<\/p>\n

till Pilgrim\u2019s kid got tagged autistic<\/p>\n

And the PTA moms froze her out . . . .<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And this:<\/p>\n

. . . . where to find<\/p>\n

the manual that tells how to respond<\/p>\n

to the loved child who from his snug bed<\/p>\n

whispers, I wish I were dead, Mom<\/em>?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

California Poet Ina Coolbrith: Post-Gold Rush<\/strong><\/h6>\n

Here\u2019s a \u00a0stanza from Coolbrith — very 19th\u00a0<\/sup>century and a very much in\u00a0contrast to Foust\u2019s edgy, thoroughly 21st<\/sup> century voice.<\/p>\n

And I could kiss, with longing wild,<\/p>\n

Earth\u2019s dear brown bosom, loved so much,<\/p>\n

A grass-blade fanned across my hand,<\/p>\n

Would thrill me like a lover\u2019s touch.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We have Aleta George to thank for bringing Ina Coolbrith out of the dustbin of history. The poet\u00a0has been the object of George’s patient, passionate research for some years. And now finally, her biography, Ina Coolbrith: The Bittersweet Song of California\u2019s First Poet Laureate<\/em>, is published and out there.<\/p>\n

\"Cover<\/p>\n

\u201cParadise Drive: Poems,\u201d by Rebecca Foust, Press 53, 2015, $14.95, paper.<\/p>\n

\u201cIna Coolbrith:<\/a> The Bittersweet Song of California\u2019s First Poet Laureate,” by Aleta George, Shifting Plates Press, 2015, $19.95, paper.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

More California writers at “Armistead Maupin: The Man Who Wrote the Quintessential San Francisco Novel on a Newspaper Deadline,”<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0“Forgiveness is Tough — Atonement Even Tougher”<\/a>\u00a0and “Gary Kamiya — A Fun Guy Sings a Love Song to San Francisco.”<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"writers.<\/a><\/p>\n

Ina Coolbrith palled around San Francisco with Mark Twain, Jack London and Bret Harte. Rebecca Foust hangs out with PTA moms. Both are California poets. Read more.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21960,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[70,50],"tags":[1486,1490,34,1491,1459,1489,1492,1493],"class_list":["post-21989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-openers","category-on-writing-reading","tag-aleta-george","tag-california-poets","tag-dont-miss","tag-ina-coolbrith","tag-poetry","tag-rebecca-foust","tag-san-francisco-poets","tag-women-poets"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21989\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}