Salted and Crazy

RADIO POEM
—Judy Halebsky, Sacramento

Your poetry is
atonal he says.
(I'll kick his
Philip Glass
ass) (but
that’s not what
I say). I say
I’m putting
John Cage into
text. (Cage is
text)(is
music))(text is
music)(music
is silent)(is
this safe
sex?)(are we
safe?) Are you
talking about
sound music?
No I’m talking
about text
sound. (found
sound)lost
text).Do you
want to go to
Napa? Take
your clothes
off. We don’t
have enough
time. What’s
time?

__________________

Tonight (Thursday, 2/23): Judy Halebsky, Sydell Oliver, and Terryl & Eric will be reading at Poetry Unplugged, 8 pm at Luna’s Café, 1414 16th St., Sac. Judy will have copies of her new littlesnake broadside, Almost Turning Over, to pass out. Info: 916-441-3931. You can also catch Judy reading at a music and art event in Davis on Friday the 24th. It starts at 4pm and is at Cafe Roma, 233 3rd Street in Davis. By the way, The Sacramento Bee today says that Judy is Grass Valley-based, which is not accurate; she's actually a doctoral candidate at UCD. Still, Medusa notices that the Bee has placed more poetry readings in its "Best Bets" column in the Scene section recently—a welcome improvement.

So where are we, Snake-wise? Judy's broadside is starting to appear around town; official "premier" is March 8 at the reading/release party for Frank Taber's new rattlechap, Northwind on I-5, at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sac., 7:30 pm.
Rattlesnake Review acceptances are out; lemme know if you sent poems but haven't heard from me (kathykieth@hotmail.com). Snakelets 6 is emerging from the what-we-used-to-call typewriter, one page at a time; it, too, will premier on the 8th. VYPER, the teen journal, has a deadline of March 1!!! And gird up your loins for the Second Annual Rattlesnake Birthday Party on April 12, featuring Straight Out Scribes, a sumptuous buffet, and too many other surprises to list!

But first we have to get through March, which is Poems-For-All's Fifth Anniversary! March 1-31, in cooperation with HQ partner Asylum Gallery, the Gallery will hold an exhibition of the over 500 miniature booklets published in the series in the last five years. Is that cool, or what? You can view the wee chappies during regular gallery hours, or while attending readings at HQ.

More from Judy Halebsky:

DADDY SAYS HE TEACHES
—Judy Halebsky

Daddy says he teaches people about people
but that’s not really the word
I want to know the word
so when people ask me what he does
I can tell them

He won’t tell me because I don’t know
he thinks I won’t understand
but I just want to know the word
so I can tell other people
like passing along a note I won’t read
or a cup of water I won’t spill

____________________

SING THE BODY
—Judy Halebsky

Wrinkle me, wrinkle me, weather me
like a high school midnight
like a train out of town
bend me stretch me thin as ice
snap me spread me drop me mid flight

a thousand and a thousand pieces
string me like clothes on a line
scratch and melt my failures
get me salted and crazy
throw me sling me lay me
weather me like stone

_____________________

Thanks, Judy!

—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.)