by Nina Serrano
From Out of the Blue Introduction
Welcome to Out Of the Blue, my newest collection of poems. It presents poems written between 2013 and 2024, as I lived from age 79 to 90. In other words from old age to ancient. These poems, though written while an elder adult, reflect themes which concerned me throughout my life: Love, Cosmos, Nature, Family and Friends, Dreaming, and Poetic Literacy. They are the titles of the book’s sections.
I began writing poetry in 1969 at age 40. I was mostly concerned with love and societal diversity, especially the acceptance of the Latino community into mainstream American life. My two children had recently left home as adults as I entered the vibrant post-beatnik San Francisco Bay Area poetry scene. It was mostly a male environment which I joined with my emerging feminist consciousness. Over a period of years, I published a trilogy of books of heart poems: Heart Songs (1969-1979), Heart’s Journey (1980-1999), and Heart Strong (2000-2012), all now available on ninaserrano.com.
Out of the Blue is the first collection that moved away from the heart in its title, but not in its source. The title refers to the popular Colombian belief (my father’s birth place) that everything emerges from the blue, referring to the sky or the heavens. It seemed to me to be accurate and pleased me for the book title for my new volume which you are about to read.
May you enjoy Out of the Blue.
Please Welcome My Poems
My poems lay in waiting
ready for a jailbreak
at the first opportunity
Songs waiting for a voice and ears
I hunger like the honey bear for sweet nourishment
no concern how claws and fur can upset the apple cart
I remember the cart and the man who led it
with the horse who pulled it
These poems build meaning
out of a search for pleasure and peace
which is always already present
Please give a smile to greet them
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