As the Dark Wheat Listens

JANUARY BLEAKNESS
—Michelle Kunert, Sacramento

It's a storming rain on the second day of the new year
such a pain to take down now the house Christmas lights
although they socked up the electric bill
they seemed to bring such excitement cheer
that now seems nowhere near
as the weather reminds me emotionally
that I have spared nothing for after December
And the football games on the television
just doesn't make me forget
the despair of the tax return

_______________________

Thanks, Michelle (you got THAT right...)! Michelle says she's working at the Hornet Bookstore now at CSUS; stop by and say hi.

JoAnn Anglin writes: To lose yourself in a beatific picture of poets, find the January 06 issue of Sacramento Magazine. Turn to page 23, the photograph of Straight Out Scribes. Elegant. Earthy. Rich. Gorgeous. [You’ll come up with your own adjectives!]

The Scribes, VS Chochezi and her equally-talented mother, Stajaabu, are a Sacramento treasure. Google up Straight Out Scribes for a schedule of where they will be reading, and when. (VS has a poem in the latest Snake.)

Jeanine Stevens will celebrate the release of her chapbook, The Keeping Room, from Rattlesnake Press next Wednesday, January 11, at 7:30 pm at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento. Refreshments and a read-around will follow; bring your own poems or somebody else’s. Free. Info: 442-9295. Herewith is a yummy sample:


SEA GULLS IN BATH
—Jeanine Stevens, Sacramento

At Aquae Sulis, Roman generals hold silent court.
Green waters barely ripple old melodies on lute strings.

August heat demands open windows, eight sleepless
hours traded for a few brief breezes. Herring gulls

perch on every sill: gold-rimmed lids, light yellow
irises like tiny spinning suns—gawk as if humans

had just arrived in England. They rampage
ear-creasing, high-pitched squawks—kyow and hyah,

doubling longer notes far beyond measured decibels.
Bird noise seems to taunt moonlit statues. The silver

spires of Bath Abbey dwarf the largest commander
who gazes inward, melting dreams in submerged pools,

so far from home. Across the River Avon, a stone
labyrinth—worm trails and hexagons slither and gleam.

__________________________

Thanks, Jeanine!

Do you subscribe to the free e-calendar, Poet's Lane? Pleasanton Poet Laureate Cynthia Bryant will send you continual (several a day!) notices of Northern California poetry happenings (events, deadlines, releases, workshops, etc.). She writes: I have just added another new page on Poet’s Lane website for 2006-New Year Poems, so if you have written one and would like to have it included, send it my way with your picture, name and any thing such as email or webpage to add: cynthia.bryant@comcast.net.

Complete info: Poet's Lane, The Literary List, Cynthia L. Bryant, PoetsLane@comcast.net, www.poetslane.com, 925-398-8846. Most of the events posted are for the Bay Area, which you may or may not find useful, but Cynthia posts other items, too, such as the following:

2006 San Francisco Writers Conference
Feb. 17 thru 19 (President's Day weekend)
Mark Hopkins Hotel

Poetry faculty includes Brad Henderson (UC Davis) and Andy Jones (host of the "Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour" radio show, Wednesdays at 5pm, on KDVS-90.3 FM). They will present a session, "Putting Poetry into Your Prose" and host the Open Mic Poetry Readings on Friday and Saturday night during the conference. For more information about the conference, go to www.sfwriters.org or call Elizabeth Pomada at 866-862-7392.

_______________________

BEGINNING
—James Wright

The moon drops one or two feathers into the field.
The dark wheat listens.
Be still.
Now.
There they are, the moon's young, trying
Their wings.
Between trees, a slender woman lifts up the lovely shadow
Of her face, and now she steps into the air, now she is gone
Wholly, into the air.
I stand alone by an elder tree, I do not dare breathe
Or move.
I listen.
The wheat leans back toward its own darkness,
And I lean toward mine.

_______________________

—Medoosa (or is it Med-you-sa?)

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.)