Poet Karen Mobley reads "Spokane" during meeting poetry segment

Council meeting participants included a scheduled poetry segment in which Karen Mobley read her poem "Spokane." Mobley introduced the piece as coming from her recent book, 6 b Pencils, and noted it had appeared in an anthology assembled by state poet laureate Todd Marshall. The reading referenced local places and images—Manito Park, Drumheller Spring, a Japanese garden built in 1961—and blended observational detail with personal and historical references. The poem includes lines about cycling community memories ("Our children ride around town on metal goats and carousel horses"), local businesses and individuals, and more oblique historical references ("If you dig down, you might find the bones of salmon or Chinese in opium dens"). The segment was presented as a literary offering rather than a policy discussion and did not include motions, votes, or administrative action. No formal decisions or directives resulted from the reading.