Inkwells of the Heart

CREAKY LIDS LIFT
—Patricia D'Alessandro, Sky Valley, CA

from inkwells of the heart
when poets dip for ink
against the war

a gentle man named Samuel
who, with his wife protects
women against the violence
of men in Washington,

whose "sacred intervention"
collected 30,000 poems
against the war in Iraq
that Dr. Carlos Williams would approve

as leader of humanity
against all wars
so that the time for melting guns
to plowshares
is now prime.

____________________

Thanks, Pat! Ex-Sacramentan Pat D'Alessandro keeps in touch with the Sacramento poetry community via her poems and doodles and other artistic doings. Watch for more from Pat in the next Rattlesnake Review, due out in December (deadline for submissions: November 15).


ITEM
—William Carlos Williams

This, with a face
like a mashed blood orange
that suddenly

would get eyes
and look up and scream
War! War!

clutching her
thick, ragged coat
A piece of hat

broken shoes
War! War!
stumbling for dread

at the young men
who with their gun-butts
shove her

sprawling—
a note
at the foot of the page

__________________

WHEN THE WAR IS OVER
—W.S. Merwin

When the war is over
We will be proud of course the air wil be
Good for breathing at last
The water will have been improved the salmon
And the silence of heaven will migrate more perfectly
The dead will think the living are worth it we will know
Who we are
And we will all enlist again

________________________

Well, okay—maybe not all of us...

—Medusa

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.