Cherish the Lithesome Snake

PRAYER OF TREE SPIRITS
—Patricia L. Nichol, Sacramento

Oh, Great Being, hear our spirits housed in trees:
grant that we may be safe in our wooden shelters,
grant that we may anchor the sky to the earth,
grant that we may be full of your essence,
grant that we may revel in tree dances.

Oh, Great Being, let us ever transform with the light:
grow toward the solstice in the descending of the year,
grow toward greater life in the fulsome darkness,
grow to greater heights in the season of the sun,
grow until we become one with your great essence.

Oh, Great Being, may we be a habitation for all life:
shield and cherish the smallest nestling bird,
shield and cherish the lithesome snake,
shield and cherish the rooting life below,
shield and cherish our congruence with the divine.

__________________________

Thanks, Pat! This poem brings two things to mind today: the article in the Bee about the parrots in San Francisco losing one of their trees (did you see the movie about them?), and JoAnn Anglin's recent forward re: an artist who is doing a tree anthology and is looking for tree poems. Sorry; I've lost JoAnn's letter, but she might still have the information. Write to me if you need her address to get the OTHER address... Submitting to private anthologies is always tricky, since you don't know who you're working with or what (or when!) the final project will be, but heck, it might be fun.

If you're in the mood for a daytrip, Livermore's first Poet Laureate, Connie Post, writes to say that David Alpaugh and Robert Sward will be reading at the Martinelli Conference and Event Center tomorrow (Sunday 11/6) from 2-4 pm, 3585 Greenville Rd. in Livermore. Go to www.garrewinery.com for a map. Info: connie@poetrypost.com.

OR—head up to Oroville TODAY for the 13th Annual North Valley Belly Dance Competition at the State Theatre, 1489 Meyers St., 5:30-11 pm. ($12) Info: 530-589-0416 or www.homestead.com/bellydancecomp/welcome.html. Why am I posting a belly dance competition on a poetry site? Just because...

Two KILLER websites for poets: Bob's ByWay, a VERY comprehensive glossary of poetic terms (do you know what catachreses is? Epitrite? Epizeuxis?), and Jan Haag's The Desolation Poems, which is a compendium of examples of poems in various forms. She doesn't list the schematic for these forms, but has examples from most of them neatly catalogued. No need for addresses on either; just type in "Bob's ByWay" or "The Desolation Poems". (Who knows why Jan Haag calls them that...)

Let the mea culpas begin: Kate Wells' wonderful "Totem" poem got left out of the last Snake, so I promised I'd publish it shamelessly around town. I'm posting it here today because (1) it seems to go with Pat Nichol's tree poem [above] and (2) let it serve to warn you that the next Snake deadline is November 15. Oh—and don't forget the Towe Auto Museum poetry contest deadline is also November 15; see previous posts or the last Snake for details.


TOTEM
—Kate Wells, Placerville

Six black buzzards
collect on the dirt road.
Robes spread to catch
sun. They caucus
growing heat.
Let us circle.
Let us dine.
Let us pray the day
to death,
life,
wind.

____________________

Thanks, Kate!

—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. Previously-published poems are okay for Medusa’s Kitchen, as long as you own the rights. (Please cite publication.)