Tag: San Francisco

San Francisco and Coit Tower

Welcome to Poetry Friday! Today we are hosted by Patricia Franz on her blog Reverie, which is HERE. Thank you, Patricia for hosting. I look forward to reading your blog and others this week.

I have not been posting regularly because of travel to see my grandson in Pacifica, California. I just returned after three weeks and have too many things I’d like to share. I have been planning to go to a certain site for a while, but last week I finally made it to Coit Tower in San Francisco.

Coit tower was built in 1933 with money bequeathed by Lillie Hitchcock Coit to be used to build the tower as well as a monument that would celebrate San Francisco’s fire fighters. As a young girl she was rescued from a burning building and her life saved by fire fighters. She never forgot it. If you like, see a photo and read more about it Here.

After the tower was built, In 1934 a group of artists employed by the Public Works and Art Project, a precursor to the Works Progress Administration (WPA), filled its walls with murals. They depict Americans doing all kinds of work and living diverse lives. The murals are inspiring, a celebration of workers during the Great Depression.

Part of a mural named FARMER by Clifford Wright (1900-1996)

Part of a mural of industries of California by Ralph Stackpole. These women are canning.

A small part of the mural LIBRARY by Bernard Zakheim (1896-1985) Libraries were an important part of life in the early 20th century.

There was too much for me to take in! There was too much to see. These pictures are a small part.

And this is the view of San Francisco Bay from the top of Coit Tower. Treasure Island and Yerba Buena island are in the distance.

My trip wasn’t all sight seeing, we spent a lot of time with baby Tommy. But would like to report that San Francisco was peaceful, beautiful, and a welcoming place even if it’s a little foggy.

San Francisco Fog

Thick grey fog layers
on ocean, beaches, bridges--
so you feel your way.

©Janice Scully 2025

Halloween is next week and I’m heading to Poetry Palooza at Highlights. It’s been a while since I’ve hung out with a large group of writers, except, of course, on Poetry Friday. Happy Halloween!

Welcoming a New Baby

I have been away from Poetry Friday since August and am delighted to be posting again. I was worried I’d be too rusty or my website wouldn’t know me. But now as I write, it seems like I never left.

My little grandson was born in a big rush two days before Christmas, eight weeks early, miles away in California and the sea.

So my husband Bart and I left snowy New York

for chilly northern California.

In the December Christmas Poetry Swap organized by Tabetha Yeatts, I received this lovely poem written by Tabatha. She knew I was awaiting my first grandchild.

EMERGENCE
      for Janice by Tabatha Yeatts

A New Baby,
like a sky vibrant
with the northern lights,

draws us together 
where we gaze 
exhilarated

upon this gift--
The world,
Illuminated.

I love “like a sky vibrant.” Every child is so different and each “illuminates” the world in a new way.

But now, on January 31st, Tommy Bartholomew has been with us a month. He was born quite early, and we were so worried! But thankfully, he is fine, and will be able to leave the hospital soon.

I wrote this in response to Tabatha’s poem:

FOR TOMMY B. 

we will watch; 
wait each day
as this new star
marks his path.

Will we understand
what he brings 
from so far away?

We will make sure he knows
he is part of a family
and we have been waiting
breathlessly to meet him
 
in our world of oceans,
rocks, and endless sky.


©Janice Scully 2025


POETRY SISTERS prompt:

Tricia, one of the POETRY SISTERS suggested we write a tanka followed by a haiku in response to it. It was written in honor of the doctors and nurses in the N.I.C.U at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. It was a wonderfully supportive place, kind and professional.

THE N.I.C.U. December 23, 2024

in between two worlds
a tiny boy, eyes still shut,
cannot leave here yet.
kind nurses swaddle and feed,
keep him warm and safe.


sudden arrival!
doctors hustled late at night,
work that never ends.

© Janice Scully 2025

I’ve anticipated claiming a new little word this year and I think it has to be HOPE. Hope for all babies, all families, hope for our country. I’ll see what I can come up with. Happy Belated New Year, everyone!

Lost Trail, a poem

Welcome to Poetry Friday, this week hosted by poet Marcie Flinchum Atkins Here. Thank you Marcie for hosting.

I’ve been away for a couple of weeks. I traveled to California to see my son’s wedding. While there, I met and got to know Philip’s delightful new in-laws, who are from China. Phil arranged some pre-wedding activities that included some lovely Chinese food, a trip to a State Park, and a ferry to Alcatraz Prison! It was fun and I do love history and cool souvenirs.

Because of Meng and her parents, our small family is much bigger and my world is full of new things to learn, like Chinese for instance, (at least within my limited capability). Meng was an amazing translator. I also discovered the WeChat translation app and spoke to Meng’s Mom directly.

The wedding took place at the San Francisco City Hall. I figure that since I mentioned the wedding during my last post along with a haiku, I have to follow it up with a photo. Below is Phil and Meng.

Meng and Philip

Other brides and grooms waited their turn, all so different. It was a joyful, bustling place.

The next photo is my husband and I, me wearing an emerald green scarf that is a gift from Meng’s generous parents that displays a Chinese painting from the 1100’s. No, the scarf is not that old.

Besides the good news of the wedding, one of my poems was published this week.

Lost Trail, can be found this week in the Tiny Seed Literary Journal, and I’ve written it here:

Lost Trail

One day,
walking with my mother,
she stopped. 

It was early spring.

She cupped in her hand 
a stem of tiny white flowers,
so bright they glowed
among matted leaves at the base
of a pine.

because of the way
she recognized the pale buds
as friends,
I now understand
she had been here before

and I imagine that
someone once took her walking
and with soft knowing eyes,
bent over the same
wondrous flowers
and said,
"See? Trailing Arbutus!
Native to here."

I wish I'd asked, "Who?"

©Janice Scully 2023

It’s been a summer full of love, and hopefully I will have time to write more poems and work on revision in the coming months. I look forward to checking out the posts from the Poetry Friday community this week.

What is Poetry Friday? Look Here.

I wish everyone a leisurely summer with time off, and some shady cool places in which to hang out. (It’s 95 degrees here in Syracuse today! I know it’s not the only sweltering place. )