A new collection of poetry published by San Francisco-based Eye Publish Ewe includes poetry from nine Street Roots vendors, including me, Bronwyn Carver.
“Flowers of the Litter: poetry of and for people living on the street” hit the shelves Aug. 12, but several authors will participate in a reading at Blanchet House on Sept. 29 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. The event will include opportunities to purchase the book and it’s available through numerous online retailers.
In addition to my poetry, the book features many poets who routinely grace Street Roots’ page 12 and poetry zines: Dumpsta D (655), Daniel Toole (571), George McCarthy (246), Arc Angel Mykaiel (409), Shaggy (719), Joseph “Whitecloud” Smits (712), Kat Black (339). The book also includes the posthumous publication of beloved Street Roots vendor Maddy Brown-Clark.
“It feels pretty amazing,” Smits, who will be published in a book for the first time, said. “It feels nice to be part of something bigger.”
Smits said his poetry is “relatable, things that everyone can relate to,” including personal stories like how his grandmother, a Cherokee Nation member, gave him the name “Whitecloud.” Smits credits the creative writing workshop at Street Roots where attendees learn about all the different styles of poetry. Smits also adds that the writing group gave him the courage to submit his poetry for publication in Street Roots.
McCarthy, another mainstay in Street Roots’ poetry offerings and readings, found encouragement in being published in the book.
“I am so happy to have this opportunity to get published,” McCarthy said. “Street Roots gives me an opportunity to do this, and it’s just encouraging to see your work in print now.”
The curator-author
In the winter of 2015, during the holiday season, Mimi German was in downtown Portland and saw everyone dressed up in beautiful clothes stepping over those without housing. It was then she saw the homeless population with new eyes.
German, a curator and poet behind “Flowers of the Litter,” was living in St. Johns at the time. Introducing herself to her homeless neighbors started with simple things, like trying to get rides for those with appointments, raising money for tents, and trying to help in any way she could for years.
During this time, all she had seen and experienced came out in poem form. Those poems expressed joy, laughter, sorrow, dismay and what survival does to a homeless person, those she called friends, all from the lens of a housed person.
One of her previous poetry books, “Beneath The Gravel Weight Of Stars” recounted events of those she had come to know calling them friends and the privilege of being a part of their community. German helped build alternative temporary shelters called “Tarpies.”
German also worked on trying to house those over 55 years old. It was during this work that German saw faults in the system and became angry. Again, her own hopes for those she knew seemed far away. It was this that became the idea for a fourth book.
For her fourth book, “Flowers Of The Litter,” her inspiration was “acts of kindness and by our ability to grow love into love, to love more, to love better.” German’s focus for this book is “to repair the chasms, bring housed poets together with unhoused, do away with divisions and come together to bring a common humanity to the fore.”
German called upon her friend in the United Kingdom, Karlostheunhappy, for help in gathering poets both housed and unhoused to write together with uplifting words and compassion.
It was Karlostheunhappy who lent the title for the book saying,
“It just appeared out of the anxiety of trying to find lines of hope for a community bereft of nearly all hope,” Karlostheunhappy said.
This collection of poems are curated by housed poets hoping to bridge the gap, shortening distances to create unity for those unhoused poets appearing in the book. German has been an avid reader of Street Roots for quite some time and this led to asking Street Roots poets if they wished to submit what could become a book.
Editor’s note: Author Mimi German plans to donate profits from book sales to four nonprofits helping homeless people. If you’d like to directly support vendor poets for their contributions to the collection, you can tip them via@StreetRoots on Venmo by entering their names and badge numbers in the notes.
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This article appears in September 18, 2024.