CMF school, Solano college hold poetry evening

October 14, 2025

California Medical Facility (CMF) at Vacaville hosted an evening of poetry in mid-September.

The event was sponsored by CMF’s Mountain Oaks Adult Education Center in partnership with Solano Community College. The poetry evening included Warden Sircoya Williams, staff, incarcerated residents, and members of the community.

CMF poetry night with the warden reading a poem. — *Warden Sircoya Williams also participated.*

The evening opened with a poem by Warden Williams titled, “I’m here.” In the poem, she shares the challenges of being a CDCR administrator while showing up as her authentic self in light of the demands and expectations of a complex job. Warden Williams acknowledged both the challenges and the rehabilitative successes taking place at CMF. The poem by the Warden set a tone of honesty and vulnerability weaving through every piece that followed.

After the warden 12 CMF residents shared their poetry. The poems expressed adversity, transformation, and cultural pride. The poems offered by the residents were rooted in struggle, hope, and the constant effort to become a better version of themselves.

Two members from the community also shared their poetry.

Tongo Eisen-Martin, former Poet Laureate of San Francisco, was the featured poet of the evening. The other was Aimee Zawitz, who shared a poem paying homage to Mayo Angelou.

Many other community members were in the audience including professors and support staff from San Francisco State University’s Project Rebound program and Solano Community College.

The power of the event lay in its dual nature: recognizing how transformation demands witnessing struggle, not hiding from it. Also, it shows how personal transformation requires joy to fuel resilience.

This joy is not denial but a companion to loss. As several poets said, you cannot hold delight authentically unless you have also embraced the suffering beside it.

An audience member later described the event as an opportunity to “see into the world behind the face of each poet.”

This offered both speaker and listener a chance to see not just the roles we occupy, but the shared humanity beneath our roles.

Story Jeremiah Holland, physical education teacher, and incarcerated resident Richard Moye
California Medical Facility
Submitted by Jessica Bowman, Associate Superintendent, Region 2
Office of Correctional Education