James Baldwin proposed that it is, ultimately, the poets--that is, the artists-- that know what it is to be human, who are most qualified to tell us about ourselves. The poet's report is the one that only the poet can tell--clergymen can't do it, labor unions can't do it, politicians can't do it, etc.
Enter "Encore", poems by North Beach poet Diego DeLeo, whose report is the wisdom that has fermented in his mind and spirit for 80 years. The poems in Encore beg the questions of humanity--who are we? What is our place in the world and how beauty can overcome all that exists to destroy it. Some poets cultivate their craft in writing programs or via academia while others cultivate it through life experience--sharing insight garnered through surviving and--in that process of continuing the journey--break through with insight into who we are as people in relation to the past, to the natural world, and to each other.
Inhabiting the poetry of Diego DeLeo is the world which his eyes behold, a world filled with the food of metaphor--sequoias that loom larger than skyscrapers, the wood on which he travels life's journey, the dawn, the night sky, the seasons--all making up the tree of love. With wisdom of life lived, Diego gives us the tree of meaning:
Gratitude, patience
Understanding, generosity,
Compassion, friendship:
branches of the same tree.
If you grow one
The others will
spring out of you
Such wisdom is gleaned through a life lived in North Beach where those values were so graciously manifested--a fabric that Diego helped to weave as a 17 year old immigrant who worked as a bricklayer, becoming part of the foundation of the North Beach community. Perhaps you have seen Diego on one of his daily walks through the neighborhood. A strikingly handsome man of 80 years, he bears a striking resemblance to the late actor Cesar Romero. He exudes warmth and a sense of humor that is engaging as he continually explores the neighborhood, his home, that continually provides inspiration for his poetry. The music of his native Italian has not left his tongue, as well as the spirt--syllables drawn out in soulful inflections--words weaved within the contours of his native tongue within an English construct, staying true to the soul that is Diego and those that came before him.
Diego DeLeo is an eviction fighter. He was served an Ellis Act eviction in 2013 and has waged a fight to stay in his North Beach home where he resided with his late wife Josephine for over 30 years. Diego's heart is the heart of North Beach, its changing landscape brought on by an economic crisis that has hit long time tenants and residents extremely hard--expecially seniors. In the poem, "On Shining Days", Diego takes us to Washington Square.
Sitting in Washington Square
like a human ornament
waiting for some of the regulars
to show, i accept both:
The natural selection I feel
And the social selection I see
The poems in "Encore" are a beautiful assemblage of what is means to be human. It is a mandate, a warning to San Francisco that its life blood is being drained because its humanity is being diminished in the pay to play political and economic atmosphere that is choking the community, the life from the city where poets and artists struggle to stay and testify and families and seniors get evicted from their homes. This debut book from Diego is an instruction manual in preserving the soul of San Francisco, an articulation of what a bankrupt landscape is and how we can save what's worth saving.
The poetry in "Encore" is powerful, invoking the soul and spirit of a natural poet who began writing at age 77. The poems articulate the richness of the city that is beheld in the eyes of this sensitive, insightful poet, intent on illuminating its beauty in resistance to the siege on its very soul by those whose ears are deaf to the report that only the poet can make.
Diego DeLeo, Bravo!