If Despair is Our Portion

DECEMBER NIGHT
—D. H. Lawrence

Take off your cloak and your hat
And your shoes, and draw up at my hearth
Where never woman sat.

I have made the fire up bright;
Let us leave the rest in the dark
And sit by firelight.

The wine is warm in the hearth;
The flickers come and go.
I will warm your limbs with kisses
Until they glow.

____________________

TWOFOLD
—D.H. Lawrence

How gorgeous that shock of red lilies, and larkspur cleaving
All with a flash of blue!—when will she be leaving
Her room, where the night still hangs like a half-folded bat
And passion unbearable seethes in the darkness, like must in a vat.

____________________

Tonight is RattleRead #22 (I think), featuring Fun Guy and Cool Poet William S. Gainer, who comes to us all the way from the wilds of Grass Valley, where men are men and women are glad of it. Come hear him read from his new rattlechap, To Run With The Savages.

Also premiering tonight will be Indigo Moor's littlesnake broadside, Nomads, and an action-packed Rattlesnake Review #8 will emerge, as well. And I hear there will be wine...


LOGGERHEADS
—D.H. Lawrence

Please yourself how you have it.
Take my words, and fling
Them down on the counter roundly;
See if they ring.

Sift my looks and expressions,
And see what proportion there is
Of sand in my doubtful sugar
Of verities.

Have a real stock-taking
Of my manly breast;
Find out if I'm sound or bankrupt,
Or a poor thing at best.

For I am quite indifferent
To your dubious state,
As to whether you've found a fortune
In me, or a flea-bitten fate.

Make a good investigation
Of all that is there,
And then, if it's worth it, be grateful—
If not, then despair.

If despair is our portion
Then let us despair.
Let us make for the weeping willow.
I don't care.

________________________

—Medusa (who is definitely ready for some wine...)

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.)