Santa Clarita is made up of people whose words are engraved within its streets — literally.
During the Santa Clarita Sidewalk Poetry Dedication at The Main in Old Town Newhall Thursday evening, the city of Santa Clarita recognized 10 poets whose words would be etched into concrete.
Mayor Pro Tem Laurene Weste welcomed the recipients and those who came to support them.
“It’s important for those people that are talented poets for us to show up and recognize them, celebrate their words and the good thoughts that they’re sharing in our sidewalks. Since 2019, our city has been stamping original poems into the sidewalk as a part of our sidewalk rehabilitation program,” Weste said. “What began as a creative experiment has now become a very beautiful tradition in our city.”
Weste discussed how the project not only brings the words of residents into the most “unexpected places,” but also even allows community members to reflect.
“Whether you’re going to stroll through one of our 40 parks, our community centers, or simply walking around town, the poems in our sidewalk invite you to pause, reflect and maybe even smile a little,” Weste said. “Since the project began, hundreds of submissions have been received. Tonight, we will honor 10 winning poets whose words will be immortalized in concrete this year.”
Those who presented their poems at the event, discussing various themes of nature, included Margaret-Suzanne Bowman, Forbes Black, Kelli Williams and Cheryl Thatt-Burbank.
Bowman’s poem, “Wildflower’s Reply,” touched on the themes of concrete and “[blooming] in sidewalk cracks.”
“I’ve been writing poems on and off throughout my whole life — short stories and everything. I hadn’t noticed the sidewalk poetry thing before, but I’m thankful I did last year, and I was like, ‘Oh I know exactly what to put in,’ and it was perfect. I was surprised when I was picked, and I’m really thankful,” Bowman said.
Bowman finds that the experience of writing, as a whole, is to not only express individualistic thoughts, but to merely connect.
“I love writing. I think that it’s an opportunity to really share what’s going on in my head and put it out there for people, and to find a way to translate something that people can understand,” Bowman said. “I think that’s such a huge part of writing poems or stories — you want people to share and connect with people that maybe you don’t know, or don’t even live in the same century.”
Black, whose poem did not have a title, discussed aging in the metaphor of riding a bike.
“My first published poem was when I was in Carpinteria Junior High School in 1975. I’ve been writing poetry on and off ever since — I’m sort of the ‘poet engineer.’ I really enjoy it, and I love this format. It’s the fourth time I’ve entered, and third time I’ve gotten up on stage,” Black said. “The first two years [that I won], the poems came to me shortly. This year, I had nothing until a week before the deadline, then all of a sudden I went to sleep one night and woke up the next morning [with an idea].”
According to Black, his poem is about his own role in Santa Clarita, as not only a poet, but also as someone who has ridden bikes throughout the years.
“It’s about how you impacted the town, and your role in Santa Clarita. I think a lot of people think of me as the crazy guy who they see biking around all the time, when I was a young guy and riding 60, 70 miles up in the mountains, to when I was a dad with young kids, showing them all around, and then gradually getting older,” Black said. “Overall, I find an emotion, and I expound on that emotion in my poetry. It’s nice finding people who can relate to what you’re saying, and being able to share it with people who appreciate it.”
