About the Project

At Luminaria Arts Night in San Antonio, we set up shop on a street corner and offered to write senryu poems on the spot for any passers-by - all they had to do was share with us a memory connected with light, the theme for the night. (Senryu is a Japanese form consisting of 3 lines, 17 syllables.) The poems are posted here. We don't claim them to be masterpieces, but each one represents a moment when we sat down with a stranger, listened to what they had to say, and tried to give it back to them in a different way. Now that's poetry.

Comments are welcome - let us know what you think or write your own poem to share with us!

Aaron

She snuck into my room:
light, love radiating
from a paper heart.

Alex

Doctor's hands take me
to an internal landscape,
tingling points of light.

Alicia

Brightness from child's eyes
embraces mis abuelos
rocking on the porch.

Angie

Flowers frame her face;
I sing sunshine for the one
who changed my life.

Anonymous

Away from the sidewalks,
night all around me,
holding light in my hands.

Binisa

Candlelight casts a glow
on the faces of people
gathered to pray.

Brenda

A flashlight beam ends,
but candlelight connects us
one to the other.

Dayna

Red light
illuminating his face,
happy ka-linking in my heart.

Delhi

When I was born
fireflies floated
outside the hospital window.

Don

December: learning
about light, a force
of unity in the world.

Eric

Close my eyes:
the pictures inside my mind,
transforming luminescence.

Gustavo

My heart and mind turned on
like a light switch
when I saw my family's love.

Hector

Sun sinks behind mountains:
orange glow,
looking through the bus window.

Julie

We look up
as fire falls down the mountain
at the appointed hour.

Marguerite

Moonlight cuts the pitch black;
it follows me, shines for me,
speaks to me.

Mei and Chih

Walking down Main Street,
colored lights dance at Christmas
far from our home.

Michael

She shines in the sunlight,
reflecting beauty,
nurturing life in my soul.

Michelle

Morning sun wakes me:
I feel the light touch my eyelids
through the window.

Miranda

My father's strong hand
lifted me from darkness
that day in November.

Naomi

My daughters' spirits
radiate in my life;
they are my legacy.

Nina

Shadow of an ant grows
inside the rim
of an orange plastic flashlight.

Sandra

Ideas overflow,
light up and shine from my mind
for others, not me.

Vanessa

Canoe slices black night,
eyes of alligators
reflecting moonlight.