A Little Less War, part of the Everyday Poems for City Sidewalk project, Saint Paul, Minnesota, October 2008, photo © 2008 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
A little less war,
A little more peace,
A little less poor,
A little more eats.
I had planned to write another mandala post tonight, but the time got away from me. I’ve been learning to navigate the new WordPress 2.7 release and I think I’m going to like it. It’s faster and more user friendly, and, of course, WordPress support is unprecedented. But it always takes time to learn something new, so I decided to do another short post, more poetry from Everyday Poems for City Sidewalk.
The project, a collaboration between Saint Paul Public Works and Public Art Saint Paul, is the brainchild of Marcus Young, Artist In Residence of the City of Saint Paul, Minnesota. I did a first piece about the project earlier this week (Sidewalk Poetry — Public Art At Its Best) and thought I would post another poem while it’s fresh in my mind.
The untitled poem in the photograph A Little Less War was written by Eyang Wu. If you’d like to take a slow walk down long city sidewalks and view the poetry for yourself, here’s a link to the map of the section of Saint Paul where the poetry is located. And while you are slow walking in the December chill, remember — Awaken, Awaken, Awaken! Do not waste this precious life!
Eyang Wu is a retired Chinese opera artist originally from Hangzhou, China, and now a resident of the United States. His poem was first written on a kite and flown at Saint Paul’s annual Earth Day celebration, Wishes for the Sky.
— bio from the book Everyday Poems for City Sidewalk
-posted on red Ravine, Friday, December 5th, 2008
-related to posts: Got Poetry? (National Poem In Your Pocket Day), Celebrate Poetry (Let Me Count The Ways
redravine.wordpress.com 
Nice poem, and thank you for sharing. I’ve only been to St. Paul once, years ago, so little chance for me to see the sidewalks in real life.
LikeLike
J, thanks. Honestly, I don’t get to Saint Paul as much as I’d like to either. 8) It’s usually when I go to the Fitz or some literary or art event that I head across the Mississippi river. I don’t know why that is except to say it goes both ways with those who live in Minneapolis and those who live in Saint Paul. Hey, maybe you’ll make it back again someday.
LikeLike
Hey, QM, I met someone in the elevator at my hotel in Saigon who next year is moving to Minnesota to join his parents and siblings. Is Minnesota a big destination for Vietnamese immigrants?
I like the poem. Very simple.
LikeLike
How synchronisitic is this? A poem about a little less war, a little more peace posted from here in the USA and Ybonesy comments from Saigon … a peaceful Saigon. The poem is eerily touching on its own, but in this context, I have goosebumps.
When did it start snowing in red Ravine? That is such a perfectly shivery addition to the peace sidewalk. Very cool!
LikeLike
ritergal, I had not put that juxtaposition together between our posts. Good observation. Yes, ybonesy is probably in Danang by now, on the coast of the South China sea. I hope it does feel peaceful there for her and that she gets to walk for a few moments on a beach.
Meanwhile, here on red Ravine (and in Minnesota) we got a snowstorm last night. It’s fun to be able to turn the snow on for the month of December. There’s something kind of festive about it. 8)
Last night in Minnesota, we had an Alberta clipper drop down from Canada. Only a few inches out where we are but we were over in Saint Paul last night for an art event and it was really coming down — windy, too. Windy and cloudy and cold this morning. A peaceful Saturday inside.
LikeLike
ybonesy, it would be interesting to hear about how his family ended up in Minnesota (RE: your comment 12/5 4:24).
Of course, my curiosity got the best of me and I had to do a little research on your question about the Vietnamese in Minnesota. I knew more about the Hmong, where 50% of the population resettled into the Midwestern states of MN, WI, and MI.
Minnesota has the 13th largest Vietnamese population in the US, the 2nd highest Hmong population (California is first), 6th for Cambodian, 3rd for Lao. I guess those are still fairly high when you look at the whole nation.
Vietnamese populations are highest in CA and then many of the Southern states – TX, VA, NC, FL, GA, LA. (BTW, NM is 38th in rank.) There’s a good article by Mark E. Pfeifer (Bio LINK) from the Asian American Press Newspaper in St. Paul, MN. He worked at the Hmong Cultural Center in St. Paul until 2006. Liz went to a workshop there a couple of years ago.
He’s also set up a couple of extensive websites, great resources:
Vietnamese Studies Internet Resource Center (LINK
Hmong Studies Internet Resource Center (LINK)
Here’s an excerpt from:
2000 Census Shows Contrasting Growth and Settlement Patterns of 4 Major Southeast Asian Origin Groups — Vietnamese, Cambodian, Hmong, and Lao (LINK)
The article doesn’t go into why these different areas of the country were chosen. It’s more fact related but there may be more information at the two Resource Centers link mentioned above.
Here are a few more links I found. Keep in mind, most articles like this are based on census results so some of these are fairly old and under reported. I’m sure the numbers may be much larger.
Asian-Americans in Minnesota from MN Dept of Admin – maps and populations from 1990s (LINK)
Ranking of 50 States by Vietnamese Population (from most populated to least populated) 2000 U.S. Census State Population Data from NAVASA (LINK)
LikeLike
[…] way across the world and holding the space (imagine virtual map pins with tiny red-dotted heads!). Because of one of your travel questions, I learned today that Minnesota has the 13th largest Vietnamese population in the […]
LikeLike
I went to St. Paul last week to pick up tickets at the Fitzgerald for Michael Greenberg. He’s going to be in town in February to read from his new memoir, Hurry Down Sunshine. I listened to the book on CD, and I highly recommend it. His daughter went through a complete mental breakdown when she was 15. It’s the story of his journey through those months in the psych ward. It’s only five CDs long.
It was absolutely freezing when I ran two blocks from my parking spot to the Fitz; I couldn’t wait to get into the warm lobby. But I was stopped dead in my tracks when I saw one of these poems in the sidewalk. A few steps later, there was another one. When the weather is more cooperative, I’d love to spend a lazy day walking and reading.
It’s really quite lovely to have poetry in our lives this way…coming up from beneath our feet.
LikeLike
Teri, that is wonderful that you stumbled on a few of these poems walking into the Fitzgerald. I like what you say, too, about poetry coming up from beneath our feet. We don’t usually experience it that way. Let me know if you remember any of the lines from the sidewalk poems you read. Maybe I can find them in the book. Thanks so much for stopping by today.
LikeLike
Oh, Teri, I forgot to mention, thanks for the tip about Michael Greenberg. It makes me want to listen to it now. I hesitate to start another book in print because I have a few going. But maybe I can squeeze another in in the car. Can’t wait to hear what you learn about the writer at the Fitzgerald in February.
LikeLike
[…] and one of our readers spotted a poem near the Fitzgerald Theater. She left these words about the project in a comment on red […]
LikeLike
[…] -related to posts: State Of The Arts (haiku for Kuan-yin), Wet Cement (It Only Takes A Second), A Little Less War […]
LikeLike
[…] Leaves His Mark On Albuquerque, Wet Cement (It Only Takes A Second), virgin cottonwood haiku, A Little Less War, Birthday Of Mabel Dodge […]
LikeLike