Maya and Barry Spector

Maya and Barry Spector have been involved as performers and in the production of The Great Night of Rumi, a yearly celebration of spoken word poetry and music. This event, held in the San Francisco Bay Area, plays to an audience of hundreds of delighted spectators.

Maya works as a children's librarian in Palo Alto, California. She also writes poetry and is nationally renowned as a story teller. Her creativity spills over into the visual arts.

Barry Spector writes about American history and politics from the perspective of mythology and archetypal psychology. Although not a poet himself, Barry feels that the revival of spoken poetry and storytelling is a key to cultural renewal. He is a regular performer at Great Night of Soul Poetry events in the Bay Area. He and Maya present Oral Traditions Salons at their home. The only rule is no reading! He runs a furniture moving company, but he would rather move your soul.

December in the Desert

The first rains bring green leaves bursting from the dry spikes of the ocotillo.

A few are tipped with flame red flowers, hints of the show that will blazon forth in Spring.

It is quiet here among the red rocks,

Only the call of a crow... two, three times before it disappears overhead.

The prickles of cactus and steep rocky slopes trick the stranger into thinking the desert a harsh and hostile place.

But sit for even a short time and a sweetness settles over you, a surprising tenderness to the land.

The sun dips down behind the mountain crags early this time of year.

Darkness begins to deepen the colors of the rocks and turns all the greens of the plants to gray.

Tiny lights twinkle down in Borrego Springs.

Then, suddenly, a huge orange saucer of a moon rises quickly from behind the slope.

This earth is full of surprises,

Gifts like Christmas presents that open themselves before your eyes.

Winter winds will come here, and rushing rains and flash floods.

The depth of darkness will lift, and Spring will come dancing her colors in.

But for now I do not wish away this darkening December day for future glories.

This quiet sweetness is blessing enough.

                                                      Maya Spector