Welcome

Many of us love the poetry of Bill Trampleasure. This website presents many of them, and will include more over time. The site is maintained by Bill’s son Lee. To see a complete list of poems, visit the Table of Contents page.

photo of a covered bridge with trees around it

1993 postcards to Bill’s son Calvin

In cleaning my brother’s things, we came across these two postcards my dad wrote in August 1993. While the postcards are from other locations, the postmark shows my dad wrote (or at least mailed) these while he was in Berkeley.

photo of the United Nations flag with a cloudy sky background

Buy and fly the UN flag

Buy and fly the UN flag Fly it as a prayer for peace, speed the day when all wars cease. Fly it as a vote for Earth, by a midwife for global government’s birth. Fly it as an earthly embrace, give a healing hug to the whole human race. Fly it as a flicker of … Buy and fly the UN flag

photo showing two people smiling

Specs and sparks

Would you believe, my lovable, lovely wife— should I leave first, this grace filled sphere of life— that all the words of love I’ve ever written/said can never/ever become dead? For even beyond whatever life they’ll have within your soul, they’ll also always live within whatever cosmic speck or spark becomes my role. Yes, I … Specs and sparks

Lady’s Prayer

Bill Trampleasure’s Reflections following Friar Francis Baur’s sermon on “The Lord’s Prayer: The Vision of Jesus” First Unitarian Church of Berkeley, California
March 15, 1987

Bill’s wife Mary Lee dies

On December 26th, 2019, Bill’s loving wife Mary Lee died peacefully at Kaiser Hospital in Oakland. Mary Lee had been struggling with memory, vision, and mobility for several years, and was looking forward to her eventual death. You can read more about her at www.caringbridge.org/visit/maryleetrampleasure

image of a California license plate with the letters POEMSUN

Bill’s and Mary Lee’s license plate

Bill and Mary Lee spent much of the their married life without a car, but they did have this license plate on the Volkswagen bus they had for 10 or 15 years.

Last day delivering mail

Bill Trampleasure was a man of many passions. Whether you knew him through peace, prayer, politics, poetry, or public, I think he found his best peace when working for the Post Office. Bill was a natural at delivering mail. He loved to walk, loved to meet people, and loved to be outdoors (our family story … Last day delivering mail