COPA DE ORO (THE CALIFORNIA POPPY)

Thy satin vesture richer is than looms
Of Orient weave for raiment of her kings!
Not dyes of olden Tyre, not precious things
Regathered from the long forgotten tombs
Of buried empires, not the iris plumes
That wave upon the tropics’ myriad wings,
Not all proud Sheba’s queenly offerings,
Could match the golden marvel of thy blooms.
For thou art nurtured from the treasure-veins
Of this fair land; thy golden rootlets sup
Her sands of gold - of gold thy petals spun.
Her golden glory, thou! on hills and plains,
Lifting, exultant, every kingly cup,
Brimmed with the golden vintage of the sun.

-Ina Coolbrith

Berklee’s poetry Walk was laid in October 2003 along Edison Street between Shattuck and Milvia Streets. The route includes 128 metal plates with excerpts from songs, each of which is related in one way or another to the city of Berkeley.

The plaque features a poem by the American poet Ina Coolbrith (1841-1928), one of the pillars of literature in the San Francisco Bay area, the first to win the title of Poet Laureate of California (also among men)