Across the Street is a personal and political memoir in poems, showing how the poet's reflexive observations of the world around her shaped her lifelong commitments to social justice, equality, and peace. After her first 7 1/2 years in Ontario, California, Carolyn Howe lived for several years each in Guadalajara, Mexico; Denver and Greeley, Colorado; Eugene and Portland, Oregon; and Madison and Appleton, Wisconsin. She has lived in Worcester, Massachusetts since 1988. Each of these places shaped her world view and political orientations.