Cynthia Bryant is the current Poet Laureate for the city of Pleasanton, California.  Cynthia's passion for poetry came late in her life.  She says she began writing to save her life.  What began as therapy and healing from the past has blossomed into a vital connection to the present.  Cynthia has read her poetry throughout Northern California – not only in the customary venues of coffee houses and bookstores, but also the Federal Prison, continuation high schools, and battered women's shelters.  She has published eight chapbooks, her most recent, No Time To Shoot the Poets. Local recognition for her poetry includes awards from Ina Coolbrith Circle, D.A.C.A. Poet's Society, The Poets Dinner, Alameda County Fair, and Las Positas College.  Cynthia devotes much of her time and energy to making poetry accessible in the community.  She hosts the Century House Poetry series and open mic, where she continues to showcase a diverse range of poetic voices.  She maintains an email venue known to many, The Literary List and Poet's Lane her website, www.poetslane.com , as a clearinghouse for information of interest to local writers. Cynthia also hosts a radio show, Poet's Lane where she interviews poets and writers to listen to on the computer. Her latest project, Poems for the Iraqi People, began as a local opportunity for writers to express their feelings and thoughts to the citizens of Iraq.  Word has spread and she now has poems from all over the country, and as far away as Nigeria and a soldier in Iraq.  Cynthia sincerely believes that we can ‘change the world one poem at a time'.