photo CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 by William Newton
The Temescal Insitu mural is on the side of the building at 40th Street and Opal. The mural was painted by Kristi Holohan, and features the poem "Free Sunset" by Meg Claudel. It was painted as part of the Temescal Insitu project in summer, 2014.
Free Sunset
Lift my chin to the clouds, the heavens, the clouds
And wish or pray to wish for rain
To wash out the silence, the silence
He left me, behind the noise of highways
And trains at the intersection of 40th and Telegraph.
Dirty foot walks the broken streets
Dirty street breaks the feet of boys without socks
Boys without socks or gone to jail:
Boys without sunsets.
Boys with sunsets on the other side of the wall.
Broken sidewalks. Broken hearts.
Broken hearts.
Sunsets are free, he says
Once again outside my paid-for window
Sunsets are free
Behind the lines, a steeple, the lines
Once again paid for, this view
This view all the better on the hill
Outside the walls where children know death
More death than I
Ever will.
Walls between free sunsets and children not free
Children already gone
Past my share of grieving
And yours.
Your sunset's free, he says.
Photos CC SA-BY Our Oakland
