San Luis Obispo has many temporary residents. They arrive by bus or train and are gone in a matter of days, weeks, or even months. Matthew Monsen is one such transient (he doesn’t like the term homeless). He arrived in mid-April, wrote a flurry of poems, offering to recite them at local businesses in exchange for such necessities (or luxuries, depending on your perspective) as food or a haircut. Carrying a half-dozen notebooks filled with riddles, sketches, poems, and ramblings, Monsen credits poetry with helping him overcome his addictions to cocaine and alcohol.
During his stay, he often asked people he met to give him a word of inspiration, a word to describe nature, a tree, spring. From these words, he spins a poem. Some of his pages have titles but no words. Among his works in progress is a poem about the cigar shop downtown and Couch Potato.
The poem below expresses Matthew’s enthusiasm for nature, for SLO, and for spring.
Spring’s Coming,
Spring’s Near
Spring’s coming!
Haven’t you heard?
Look at the
Flowers and breathe in
the air,
Spring’s Coming…
So they say!
Why not just look around you and
give it a wear
Morning’s dewdrops
gently drying on
a rose’s petal…
Enter in…
the Afternoon!
and
the Sun…
in All its
splendor.
gently unfolding into delicate curves of joy
and Colors beyond
the imagination
of a painter’s palette
Yes! Spring is Coming!
Spring is near.
Blink of an eye…
it’s already here!
This article appears in Apr 29 – May 6, 2010.
I had the pleasure of meeting Matthew today in downtown Santa Barbara. He is such a great spirit!
I got to meet him a week ago, hanging out in front of Art Central in SLO. We chatted a bit. Decent fellow, doing his poetry and art. Had to leave a few dollars with him, remembering how others have helped me out when I’ve been in need also. May he have a nice and peaceful journey all along his route.