Words in the Poems are excerpts from focus group conversations.

All poems arranged and composed by Ramona Beltran, PhD, MSW

Knowing you Denver – Time of Day

Black to blue

Blue to red

Red to orange

Gold

Sunrise

Take deep breaths

The sun on the mountains,

The sparkle on the skyline

Reminds me to look up

Everyone is still sleeping

Except the birds, the trees, the sky

Colfax is quiet

No cars in the car wash

Nobody in the bars

Just me and the barista.

And coffee

Remember to pour a cup for ancestors

Altar

A place to remember.

I listen, hear.

The pocket of time without movement. Quiet.

Winter, Snow glimmering and sound muffled silence.

Deep breaths

The day feels possible, peaceful

Slowly,

In whispers then waves

Hear neighbors, housed and unhoused.

The world comes alive.

I journey outside

Talk to people

Greet people

Unhoused, homeless, without house

But always respectful, open.

An invitation.

Late afternoon

Fall, the colors changing

From green to red to yellow

In one place.

Busy, wild

The sun hits the skyline

Again, reminds us to look up!

People moving, going

Conversations, cacophony

When nobody is listening

I love to listen.

Summer

Afternoon thunderstorms

Booming, breathtaking

Cooling the air,

Respite from heat

Dance into the golden hour

Purple, pink, orange, magenta

Silver that slices your eyes

But you keep looking

In awe

Sunset

Something about Denver

A city/not city

Constant connection to nature

If you allow it.

Thin line of light hovers

Over the mountains

Blue to Indigo

Indigo to Black

Night time

Beautiful magic

Big open skikes

Cool air/crisp air

Polluted yet,

I can see the big dipper,

Orion’s belt.

Reminds me to look up!

Dead of night

Dark yet bright

Moon reflecting on snow

Shimmers

Nocturnal,

Darkest night slowly creeping to morning

A time, where I talk to god.

I talk to my ancestors,

Feel them more deeply.

The veil of light lifting.

Black to blue

Blue to red

Red to gold

Sunrise

Knowing You Denver – Average Citizen of Denver

Average

What is average?

The center, the norm?

Complex timeline of place, displacement

Young, active, white, rich

Access to the gear

All the gear

Knowledge of the gear

Fun and funny

But gatekeeping too

Recreate or relationship

Keeps Indigenous people out

Social gatekeeping

Trail running

Do more

Go harder

Recreate

Climbing, hiking, mountaineering

Climbing a 14er is not hiking

You could die

Edge of death

A Subaru commercial

Subaru to mini-van

Oh god, I’m part of the problem!

White, privileged, middle class,

Expensive real estate,

Homogenized

Outsider assumptions confirmed

Mountains in the morning

Bars at night

Citizens

What about non-citizens?

There is tension.

A divided city

Segregated

Sectors

Separated

Diversity without communication

In small spaces, kind, friendly, open

On the road, rage

Aggression

Stupidity

6th and Lincoln

A guy on a scooter wearing no helmet

Almost hit by two cars.

Come on!

These are our laws, our people.

Adventurous

Risk takers

Willing to be brave

Navigating spaces

Traveling

Travelers

A turnstile

City of transplants

Transient

Nature lovers

High degrees

Casual, creative, comfortable

But what does the data say?

Fastest growing city for 20-30 year olds

#1 City for displacing Latinos

Who are we building for?

Who WAS the average citizen?

And why are they not now?

Average is loaded

Watered down

Average is visibility,

Access to power

Vocal time on the mic

Received with respect without background

No history

No timeline

Who lived here 100 lifetimes ago?

Who gets the space?

Who is the face?

Neighborhoods, dispersed

It’s cold,

It’s hot

We all dress in layers.

Knowing You Denver – Sensory Experience

When I close my eyes, I see

A series of city

Cityscape

Urban

Metropolitan

Then I travel outward

I see Federal and Alameda

Colorful

First geography

Family, home

Mountains

Free space to breathe

When I close my eyes

I see the skyline

Getting bigger

Buddhist temple

Thunder

Lightning

Rain

Clouds in the sky

I’m in the middle

Grey on one side

Blue on the other

So beautiful

Mountains.

When I close my eyes

I see as a child

Looking out the window

The grasslands change

To high desert

To city

Skyline

Stacking

Waterways Flowing

Confluence

An intersection of culture and community

Always mountains.

When I close my eyes

I see East Park Hill in the 90s

Alley ways

Gang violence

Mighty mart on the corner

I’m in the city

And I made friends.

When I close my eyes,

I see inviting, happy

Then I settle in

I see sorrow

Gentrification

A city in an identity crisis

Melting pot

Moving, leaving, coming, going

Darker side of the city

Encampments everywhere

People pushed out of their homes

Mountains.

When I close my eyes

I see the globe

Growing up it was extremely diverse

Mexican families, mine included

Central American

On one side a white Lesbian Couple,

On the other side, a white Gay couple

Across the street, a white guy with rottweilers

Fairmount, Baker

Running around,

A kid bike ride downtown

Freedom

African refugees

Vibrant

A place where the world found a home

The Cornerstore,

La Tiendita

Now, a brewery.

Now, everywhere around me

Development

Quick buck,

Big boxes

Won’t outlive the mortgage

Beside beautiful brick homes

Mom was a housekeeper

Dad worked in construction

And we had enough.

Not so much anymore.

9/11

Housing market crash

Recession

Pandemic

Compounding trauma.

Mountains.

This is what I see.

Denver’s Greatest Resource – KYD

Title: This Ecosystem

This laughter

This standing ovation

To the people

To the ecosystem

Older people

Younger people

A team to support

Help

Bolster

So many spaces of belonging.

H Mart

Airport

Museum

Murals

Botanic gardens

Art

In every neighborhood

To carry us through

These dark times.

It’s fine.

I’M FINE.

EVERYTHING is fine.

And there is the laughter, again

The reminder of release

You can only get in community

Here

The sun

Sunshine

All year long

The land

Water

The mountains

Foothills

Rolling valleys

High plains

Arid desert

All converge here

Feel them in your bones

On your face

Clear skies

Something about that open sky

A promise of possibility

Of opportunity

This city

Right in the middle of the country

And in the middle of the Americas

A throughway for interconnection

A network to the world

And the people

Who stay

Who travel through

Their tenacity and resilience

This invitation to energy, action

We are invested.

Even when and if

Flimsy connections

Late-stage capitalism

Cut us off from this land

From each other

From the root

We are seeking

To create connection

To place

To land

To geological time

There’s my reminder 

Take a deep breath

(Inhale, Exhale)

That connection

Is already here

Still here

We want to be HERE

To protect this

A unifying point

It’s hard to ignore

The beauty of natural resources

Nature

Earth

We keep her close

Wildlife co-existing with city

Bald eagle over my house

Prairie dogs on the plains

Fox roaming through my yard

Coyotes on the streets

Mountain lions

Deer on Arapahoe road

Cranes and birds in migration

Reminds me of home

The reservation

This is their land

And

Iconic spaces are held in public trust

Green spaces

Sentient

We can control our destiny

Hold in trust

For us

To benefit us

It’s our responsibility

To protect

This city and culture

Built by the people

It’s people

It’s people.

To truly Indigenize

Sometimes you just have to sing

To call the cows

Red road circles

Three sisters garden

Corn beans and squash

We come together

To learn from one another

About witches

About king tutt’s penis

About cat’s held up in battle

Everybody can be

Everybody is a little bit of an anthropologist

Interested in learning

Understanding

Curiosity

Empathy is the long game

It’s people

It’s us, people

This laughter

This applause

This mic drop moment

This ovation

This ecosystem.