It's the Ants, You See...

SEPTEMBER AGAIN
Despair has its own calms.
—Dracula by Bram Stoker

Morning light changes, takes
on greys, fog lingers over
asphalt, just the slightest
gauze wavering. My daily
hikes slow to weekly;
instead of vertical climbs,
(gorging on stolen
blackberries), I’m sleeping-in,
reading a mild novel about
vampires. I’ve never liked
being bitten against my
will, new friends with long
canines; even staying up all
night has lost its appeal. Too
little daylight brings all the old
sadnesses foreword, lined in
pairs and marching past like
trained monkeys. My animal
body, autumn’s disinterested
limbs, all wrapped with yesterday’s
newsprint, the words left blurred
in fog’s settling. So little desire
to be touched, for breech of
skin, for immortality.

—Colette Jonopulos, Eugene, OR

______________________

Thanks, Colette! She took mercy on Medusa and sent in a poem, as did Brad Hamlin. Together, the two poems bookend the shifting of the months:


GHOST WIND
—Bradley Mason Hamlin, Sacramento

In Sacramento
October creeps in
with the best weather

finally not hot anymore
and not yet too cold

orange & white
pumpkins laughing
against your door

red, brown, yellow leaves
crisp
crunch under
rake

giving way to the chill
that's coming—

you've got your coat on again,
feels fine to have that force field
as the autumn brings
the urgency

of other people's thoughts
the whispers
inside your ear canals
and it's okay

you know
it's all right, you're haunted,
but you've always
been that way.

____________________

Thanks, Brad!

Medusa will be taking a wee break; it's the ants, you see... [see below]. In her absence, you have some assignments: (1) send poems; (2) sign up for the Sac. Poetry Center Writers Conference Oct. 7-8 (write to Robbie Grossklaus at dphunkt@mac.com for a form); (3) send more poems; (4) go through Rattlesnake Review #7 and get responses ready for some of the columns in there, like Taylor Graham's and Katy Brown's; (5) send even MORE poems. And maybe go to a reading, too:

All are invited to come hear Indigo Moor, featured poet at the PoemSpirits’ first fall reading this Sunday (10/2), 6:00 pm. A true bi-coastal poet, Indigo has become known for his writing and his presentation, both in Northern California and along the Boston-New York area. He was a 2002 recipient of a Cave Canem Writing Fellowship, a finalist for the 2005 T.S. Eliot Prize awarded by Truman State University, and the 2005 winner of the Vesle Fenstermaker Poetry Prize for Emerging Writers. Co-host Nora Staklis will offer a brief presentation on Enheduanna, a Sumerian princess and the earliest known author in world literature, some of whose writings survive on cuneiform tablets. Stay for our open mic and refreshments. We invite you to bring a favorite poem to read. Location: Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento; 2425 Sierra Blvd., Sac. (This is 2 blocks north of Fair Oaks Blvd, between Howe and Fulton Avenues.) Info: Tom Goff, Nora Staklis (481-3312) or JoAnn Anglin (451-1372).

And Monday (10/3), Ilya Aminsko will be featured at HQ (25th & R Sts., Sac) at 7:30, hosted by the Sacramento Poetry Center.

Medusa will be back Wednesday (10/5).


MEDUSA
—Kenneth Fearing

A man is a maze of ants in dark endeavor.
What did the ants do with Medusa's head?
They stood on her brow, sweating beads of lead,
And pried up her nose, with their need for a lever.
The way an ant is valorous and clever
Is in his deep bowels; they never get fed.
And a maze of ants in the dark fields of dread
Are eating their Medusas down forever.

There may be one exception to that rule.
In vines of crooked lightning a hushed fool
May see lost roads that skirt his memory.
He hears old portals vibrate windily,
And listens back to them, locked as a vow.
This is the time he hears them shut...now, now.

______________________

By the way, the October Snakebytes, if you got it, has a mistake: littlesnake broadside #16 is by IRENE LIPSHIN, not Lynn Lipshin, as it says. Arghhhhhhhhh...

—Medusa (here we come, Sammie! Hang onto your wigs and keys!)

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.