On Aug 8, 2022 I drove to the top of Haleakalā, a dormant volcano on Maui, and wrote a poem for a couple from the Netherlands. I later found out the poem was for Mieke Smulders, who was in the last days of her life, due to complications after a brain surgery. This poem is dedicated to her and to her daughter Eva.
#poetry #typewriter #typewriterpoetry #poetforhire #hawaii #maui #haleakala #endoflife #stars #letyoublossom
Music and poem by B Bernthal.
How precious is this world, now / on the brink of devastation? / The marble fortresses of commerce stand, taking / the gracious sunlight / between steel-glass shadows, / the human workers lining up / for cappuccinos, wearing business / casual attire, while / the powerful plot darkness / & the threat of light / evaporating / cities, bridges, 6000 years / of striving & survival. / Beloved world, / our enemies among us / settle at the very top. / They’re not impossible to topple. / They’re not impossible to topple.
I am so excited and honored to have the opportunity to offer a special version of my performance art piece “Artifact Sessions” engaging with the works of the singular Patti Smith @thisispattismith at the @sfmasonic California Lounge at her sold out concert tomorrow! If you’d like to have this experience, add on the California Room to your ticket, and come find me before Patti goes onstage.
Mystery Poems Opening Ceremony promises an interactive, multi-sensory experience in honour of the release of Strangers’ Poems “Mystery Poems Series 1.”
For just one night, Strangers’ Poems invites San Francisco to celebrate this achievement in the letterpress studio where these works were produced—San Francisco Center for the Book!
Poetry by @bbernthal
Live Soundtrack by Forest Floor @itinerant_home
Live embroidery by Benjamin Klein (BYO garments!)
Surprise activations by Strangers’ Poems
Poster by Spencer Bowen
Photos by @hollyjulietzimbert
Friday, August 15, 2025 | 6-8pm
Tickets are required for this event. They can be purchased at the door for a suggested donation of $10. Capacity is limited to 100 guests—early purchase is encouraged! Register at SFCB.org
#sfcb #events #mysterypoems #mysterypoemsopeningceremony #strangerspoems #letterpress #printing #typewriters #typewriting
Mystery Poems Opening Ceremony August 15, 2025 6-8pm at San Francisco Center for the Book
I invite you to join Strangers’ Poems in celebrating the release of Mystery Poems Series 1: hand-pressed broadsides of 12 selected works, based on 3 words shared by strangers. This series is the product of the past 8 years of my street poetry practice, brought into a new level of design and tactility in collaboration with Katya Kisin at @theaestheticunion and with the support and instruction of SFCB!
We will be joined by one of my favorite Bay Area musicians & composers—Forest Floor (aka Geoff Saba @itinerant_home ), who will be musically responding to what’s happening in the room in real time.
Also joining us will be sewist Benjamin Klein, embroidering fragments of my poetry onto clothing. BYO garments!
Come early and make your way through the many art activations we have planned for you.
Ticket link in bio!
Photos by @hollyjulietzimbert
Poster by Spencer Bowen
Poster Printing by @opticalsoundexperience
Feedback Loop, Ben Bernthal, 2025
This interactive, ready-made sculpture re-physicalizes the flow of questions, answers, and currency, and re-examines value, ideas, and personal information. One typewriter is labeled “questions only”, while the other reads “answers only”. A möbius strip of USD connects the two machines, lengthening and shrinking depending on the frequency of questions and answers typed by participants. Individual dollars, transformed by typewritten questions and answers, will be sold or auctioned at the end of the duration of the performance.
I’ll be premiering my prototype of this piece on Thursday 7/3/25 at @minimartsf during the Tenderloin Art Walk. Thanks to @victoryheir for offering the window space for me to show this piece for her first public performance!
Lately, I’ve been thinking of placemaking—creating spaces for dialogue, sharing, connecting. Using our minds and hands and language. This will be a new series. Community chalkboard. What are your three words?
We’ve got three words for you: Ben brought poems 💫
@bbernthal asked you to come up with three words in response to Auguste Rodin’s “The Three Shades,” and you delivered 👏
Thanks to everyone who submitted their three words, and congratulations to catkdominguez, @snailyshoobie , and @visheh_xyz , whose words Ben transformed into poems!
Want more of Ben’s poetry? Check out the link in bio to see what we wrote in response to “Ibis coffin” and Louise Nevelson’s “Sky Cathedral’s Presence I.”
[Auguste Rodin, “The Three Shades,” 1898, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Collection of the City and County of San Francisco, Gift of the Raphael Weill Memorial Committee]
#Rodin #ArtPoetry #DantesInferno
![@bbernthal can make a poem appear from just three words Visitors had the chance to share words inspired by Louise Nevelson's "Sky Cathedral's Presence I" with Ben so he could work his magic. @kalinachung chose the words "altered," "reinvigorate," and "uniform," and here's what Ben wrote in response.Read more of Ben's three-word poems at the link in bio. What words come to your mind when you see Nevelson's artwork?[Louise Nevelson, "Sky Cathedral's Presence I," 1959-1962,Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco purchase, Phyllis C. Watts Fund for Major Accessions © Estate of Louise Nevelson / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York]](https://sp1.picnob.com/p/pt_6865322445393059584069_0_aae6fc18c2303cdabb7ab9c0185db8d9.jpg?o=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&h=19467de6c869dd38c90e73fc1c82d2e3)
![We’ve got three words for you: Ben brought poems @bbernthal asked you to come up with three words in response to Auguste Rodin’s “The Three Shades,” and you delivered Thanks to everyone who submitted their three words, and congratulations to catkdominguez, @snailyshoobie, and @visheh_xyz, whose words Ben transformed into poems!Want more of Ben’s poetry? Check out the link in bio to see what we wrote in response to “Ibis coffin” and Louise Nevelson’s “Sky Cathedral’s Presence I.”[Auguste Rodin, “The Three Shades,” 1898, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Collection of the City and County of San Francisco, Gift of the Raphael Weill Memorial Committee]#Rodin #ArtPoetry #DantesInferno](https://sp1.picnob.com/p/pt_6773461142641755624523_0_18fa02ad502171198ec170e7d715f957.jpg?o=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&h=b25c64991ff68f4d536b37cb360a048d)
