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.