Slop and Cobbles

DEATH OF A PAIR OF SHOES
—Jorge Guillén

They're dying on me! They've lived
Faithfully, Christian
Servants honored
And happy helping

And pleasing their master,
A tired traveler
Reading to quit
For peace of soul and foot.

These soles know. They know
Step by step long rambles
And wet days, floundering
Among slop and cobbles.

Even the color drains
From the sad skins
Which, plain as they were, livened
Some forgotten festival.

All this announces a ruin
I don't grasp. The affliction
Of living corrodes honor.
They're running. Specters! Shoes!

(Translated from the Spanish by Philip Levine)

_______________________

Today's Events:

•••This afternoon (6/17), Novelist and Poet-Pal Bill Pieper, author of Fool Me Once; Gomez; and Belonging is the featured speaker at the Arden-Dimick Library, 891 Watt Av., Sac., at 2 PM. Free. Info: 916-264-2920. Bill received the 2003-2004 Best Fiction/Drama Book Award from the Northern California Publishers and Authors Association.

•••Tonight (6/17), The Underground Poetry Series features Born 2B Poets, Franklin and Kika, Jason Banks, and open mic. Underground Books, 2814 35th St., Sac., 7-9 PM. $3. Info: 916-737-3333.

About Monday's SPC Reading:

Yesterday we mentioned David Humphreys' reading at the Sacramento Poetry Center, Headquarters for the Arts, 25th & R Sts., Sac. this coming Monday (6/19) at 7:30 PM. It turns out that the information we received was incomplete—David will be joined by Sacramento Poet Laureate Julia Connor, as well as Poet Nancy Wahl. A great line-up, for sure—be there!

Things Roll On:

Send me a poem of yours about things—ANY Thing(s) by midnight on June 20, and I'll send you a free copy of B.L. Kennedy's new rattlechap, The Setich Manor Poems. (Or, if you have that, another rattlechap of your choosing.) Send them to kathykieth@hotmail.com, or P.O. Box 1647, Orangevale, CA 95662.

Speaking of Things, Poet and Rattlechapper Allegra Silberstein of Davis wants to know if anybody out there has the number "1090" on their house and would like to have her beautiful stained glass window that incorporates same. She rescued the window from her old house, and would like someone who can use it to have it. Write to me if you're interested, and I'll pass the word along.

________________________

ON A GIRDLE
—Edmund Waller

That which her slender waist confined
Shall now my joyful temples bind;
No monarch but would give his crown,
His arms might do what this has done.

It was my heaven's extremest sphere,
The pale which held that lovely deer.
My joy, my grief, my hope, my love,
Did all within this circle move.

A narrow compass, and yet there
Dwelt all that's good and all that's fair;
Give me but what this riband bound;
Take all the rest the sun goes round!

_______________________

things that keep
—dawn dibartolo, sacramento

a scooter left
smack-dab in front
of my dryer, but
crunchy socks
tucked neatly
into sofa cushions;
doesn't match, but
little boys don't care
and little girls
quickly come to

being sought
to fill the silence
~ sometimes,
because i so enjoy the quiet,
the sound of invention
as fully as the wonder of youth
~ sometimes

they crowd me
on the couch
and i don't mind so much
because i fear empty nests

these things...keep,
wait to remind me
of what's real
when I so often forget.

______________________

Thanks, Dawn! The book is in the mail.

—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.)