Expressing Myself Through Poetry

<p>Phyllis Pilisuk grew up in New York. Her life was filled with the excitement of the city the sounds and sights the museums shows and department stores all just a bus a trolley or subway ride away. It was also a life filled with loss and grief for an older sister and for her mother both of whom died while she was a child. While still a teenager she experienced early symptoms of multiple sclerosis. She married did graduate work at Harvard and the Universities of Michigan and California and raised a family in Berkeley California where she has lived since 1967. In her words:</p><p><I>I did it all as a wife a mother and a grandmother of twins. I worked through two graduate degrees short careers as a researcher and as a social worker and a long time peace activist - but always haunted by the shadow of multiple sclerosis. Yet I was always seeking joy and meaning. My voice tried to find expression through pottery and painting but I was not quite fulfilled. Then I found poetry and it has stayed with me to savor and to share.</I></p><p>She studied with poets Marcy Allancraig Julie Gamberg and Donna Davis. Her work has appeared in such anthologies as <I>Bay Area Poet's Coalition. Across the Generations Landmarks and Landings</I> and <I>Woman Seed.</I></p>