The Silent Murmur of a Pen

BIRTHDAY CANDLE FOR EDWARD SCHOEN
February 14, 2005
—Katy Brown, Davis

Under a waxing moon, the clouds part to show a star:
one spark in the vast beyond.

You are as close as breathing on still nights like this.
I imagine you pointing over my shoulder
while you help me sight along your arm:
that’s Betelgeuse, the red star in the right shoulder of Orion:
the Hunter of Winter—see his belt? He chases the Bull.
You know your mother is a Taurus.
You named the summer wildflowers for me;
showed me how to catch a fence lizard with a blade of grass;
made flutes from alder branches; sang me lullabies.
You could tie a fly, dress a deer,
and nail a duck with a single shot.
You taught me it was wrong to kill for sport:
we ate every scrap of game and tanned the leather for clothes.

Your friend Rock would drive his rickety camper
from San Lorenzo just to “talk philosophy” with you.
When you were too sick to leave the house,
the priest came by to talk theology.

I try to explain to your granddaughter the rarity of comets
and lunar eclipses. And I try to tell your star-stories—
but lack your words.
You would have been 100 today.
A red candle gutters for you on my dark mantle.

(4th Honorable Mention, Ina Coolbrith Contest, 2005)

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Thanks, Katy! Katy is Marketeer-in-Residence for Rattlesnake Review; watch for her next column in Snake 8, due out in December. Have you sent in your poems (etc.) yet? Deadline is November 15, just one slim week from tomorrow!

In need of a quick $10,000? Semaj Publications in Denver writes to say: The Color My Poetry, Color it Mine, International Poetic Expressions Convention/$10,000.00 Poetry Contest will be held in beautiful Denver, Colorado from July 21st - July 23rd, 2006. This will be the best poetry Convention/contest ever presented/assembled. The Color My Poetry, Color it Mine, International Poetic Expressions Convention/$10,000.00 Poetry Contest mission is to unify people of all races, creed and colors from all over the world and let their voices be heard through their creative works of poetry. Contestants will be judged by a fair and unbiased panel of judges who shall award well deserved prizes to contest participants and winners.
For info, check www.semajpublicationsofdenver.com.

Catherine Fraga can be heard tonight at HQ (25th & R Sts., Sac.), sponsored by the Sacramento Poetry Center, 7:30 pm, or next Sunday (11/13) at the Barnes & Noble in Stockton (Weberstown Mall), courtesy of Poet's Corner Press, 7 pm. Info for Sunday: 209-951-7014.

Wednesday (11/9), Rattlesnake Press presents Allegra Jostad Silberstein at The Book Collector (1008 24th St., Sac.), 7:30-9 pm., to celebrate the release of her new chapbook, In The Folds. A read-around will follow; bring your own poems or somebody else's. Also released that night will be Claudia Trnka's littlesnake broadside, Public Places, Private Spaces, and Snakelets 5, the journal of poetry from youngsters 0-12.

This Thursday (11/10), Suzanne Roberts appears at Luna's Cafe, 1414 16th St., Sac., for Poetry Unplugged, 8 pm. And Friday (11/11), Mary Dawson and Beulah Amsterdam will read at the Davis Unitarian Church library, 27074 Patwin Rd., Davis, courtesy of The Other Voice reading series, 7:30 pm. Info: 530-753-2634.

Here is a taste from Allegra's new chapbook:

FLIGHTS
—Allegra Jostad Silberstein, Davis

A feather
floats
lifted into
a laughter
of leaves
turning and
returning
like thoughts
spiraling
in the silent
murmur
of a pen
brushing
words
on blue sky
lines.

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Thanks, Allegra!

—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.)