In transit

Take a good look around in all directions. You are at the Berkeley train station, under University Avenue, and you stand atop a Xučyun Ohlone village. Here, beneath a freeway overpass, amidst a jungle of concrete, three bright murals and two poems, bring color and life to an otherwise dreary place. Find the mural on the west wall near the railroad tracks and inspect it closely. Get to know the faces of the figures depicted in this fabulous scene. A group of people is assembled by an open train door, and among the motley crew are some of the activists, thinkers, politicos, and anonymous characters who have created modern Berkeley. This is the work of artists John Wehrle, Dan Fontes, and Besty Davis. Turn around and find the lines of poetry written sequentially on the girders overhead. Facing east, for passengers disembarking from the train, we read these lines:

Welcome back,
Here you are where beach was
Where ancient pedestrians
Gathered oysters and acorns
Where tracks cross shellmounds
Where hidden creeks and freeways flow.

We are in a place of transit. Life is dynamic and our memories are often painful and painfully short. Our futures shift between bleak and bright. Let’s try not to worry about the past and future, and let’s immerse ourselves in a vibrant present, no matter the weather. As we walk today we will follow many paths. Some of these paths will be figurative—stories and words. Others will be tangible and tactile, built on the vestiges of human habitations past and present.