Skreaking Under the Eaves

This Saturday, August 20, will be Arts Day at the State Fair, beginning with poetry festivities at 11 a.m. on the PG&E Center Stage. Cal. Poet Laureate Al Young will appear at 11:30; Sac. PL Julia Connor at 12, and Cal. High School Poet Laureate Lindsey Smith (from Annapolis in Sonoma County) at 12:15, followed by the Sac. Metro. Arts Commission's World Arts and Poetry Slam at 12:45. From then on, the day will proceed with several dance troops, including Tongan and Polynesian. For further info, check the State Fair website (just Google up "Cal. State Fair").

And also check The Sacramento Bee "Scene" section today for an interview of the above-mentioned Lindsey Smith. I didn't even know we HAD a High School Poet Laureate!

After you spend Saturday morning listening to all these Laureates, head up the hill that evening to the Grass Valley Center for the Arts, 314 W. Main St. in Grass Valley for some Cowboy Poetry featuring Mick Vernon, Janice Gilbertson and Harold Roy Miller, 7:30 p.m. $5 ($1 for those under 18). Refreshments, open mic.

Here are a couple of poems from Patricia Wellingham-Jones of Tehama. Not coincidentally, one of them is about bats...


JENNY MADE ME PROMISE
—Patricia Wellingham-Jones

that I wouldn’t say a word
when that day in mid August arrived

She gets teary-eyed
at the thought of summer’s end

So today I don’t email her
nudge smile or wink

as I feel the planet shift
beneath my feet

Jenny won’t let herself notice
yet the smell of the land changes

A cool breeze lifts the hair
on my arms leaf edges crisp

days are hot evenings mellow
children race their last before school

and my nose twitches to catch the first
faint whiff of autumn bonfires


UNDER THE EAVES
—Patricia Wellingham-Jones

a window screen rattles
gray air stirs
with a soft black brush

Wings beat
frantic
voice skreaks in waves

Migrating bat
tries to find
her new home

___________________

Thanks, Patricia! My apologies, though, to both her and Taylor Graham (see yesterday) for my failure to indent—HTML has me bumfuzzled. (In Patricia's bat poem, envision the middle line of each stanza moved slightly in...)

—Medusa (skreak skreak skreak—I love that word! Skritching and skreaking...)

Medusa encourages poets of all ilk and ages to send their poetry and announcements of Northern California poetry events to kathykieth@hotmail.com for posting on this daily Snake blog. Rights remain with the poets.