Of Marathons and Mirrors

FENCED IN
—Dawn DiBartolo, Sacramento

i fenced the hours
but minutes trickled thru

sticky puddles like
waffle syrup

to carefully crafted crevices—
space reserved for my

dripping / drizzling
the screaming, screaming

________________________

Thanks, Dawn!

•••Tonight (Friday, 7/21), 7 PM: Our House Defines Art poetry reading features Sacramento Rebecca Morrison (Eskimo Pie Girl) and Grass Valley-ite, After Hours Poet Will Staple. Free; an open mic follows. Our House Defines Art Gallery & Framing is located at 4510 Post St. in El Dorado Hills Town Center; from Sac., take the Latrobe exit off to the right (south); then turn left into the shopping center.

•••Today (Friday, 7/21) is the last day for Early Registration for the Sacramento State Summer Writers' Conference, coming up this August 18-20 at CSUS. Poetry workshops, led by Al Garcia, Josh McKinney, and Mary Mackey, include "The Publishable Poem"; "Invoking the Muse"; "The Sonnet & Its Variations"; "Pitfalls of the Novice Poet"; and "Accident as Method/Nuts & Bolts". Early reg. (by July 21) is $245; after that, it's $285. For an additional (optional) $50, you can reserve an individual 15-min. feedback session with a workshop leader on work you have submitted in advance. Info/reg: www.cce.csus.edu/writersconference or 916-278-4433 (x0), or find one of the many flyers that are travelling around the community, including at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sac.

•••Or git outta town: Tonight at 7:30 PM, Robert Hass, Harryette Mullen, Sharon Olds, C.D. Wright, and Dean Young will read their poetry in the Starr King Room at the First Unitarian Universalist Center of San Francisco (1187 Franklin Street at Geary). This benefit reading will raise money for the Poetry Scholarship Fund at the Squaw Valley Community of Writers. Books donated by the poets and their publishers will be available for purchase before and after the reading, and the poets will be available to sign books after the reading. BUY TICKETS NOW: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4297. (Please note: They will not be taking ticket reservations this year. Tickets are available for advance purchase now, and if they don't sell out, there will be tickets available at the door.) Info: www.squawvalleywriters.org/reading_events.htm or benefit@squawvalleywriters.org

•••Monday (7/24), 7:30 PM: Sacramento Poetry Center presents Christian Kiefer. Kiefer's latest book of poems is Feeding into the Winter from March Street Press, but other work more representative of his current output can be found at http://www.blackbird.vcu.edu/v2n2/poetry/kiefer_c/walk.htm. He is finishing up his Ph.D. in American Literature at UC Davis, and he keeps a blog [http://xiankiefer.blogspot.com] to record his musings about the music and recording business, including his lively Crowtown podcast. He has released two albums this year: The Black Dove with Sharon Kraus, and a solo project, Czar Nicholas is Dead. Both have MP3 tracks available at his Christian Kiefer website [http://www.christiankiefer.com]. Later this year, he plans to release a psychedelic-folk guitar freak-out with Tom Carter called A Rather Solemn Promise, and he expects several other projects to be released next year. Host: Tim Kahl. SPC/HQ for the Arts, 25th & R Sts., Sac. Info: 451-5569. Free. Open Mic.

_______________________

Marathon is cookin':

Next week's biggest (well, longest) event will be the Java City Poetry Marathon, which will feature poetry readings 24 hours a day for three days. What started as a birthday celebration for a 100-year-old tree outside of the 18th and Capitol Java City Café in 1986—dubbed the “Poet-tree” marathon—has evolved into a renowned literary event attracting the area’s most talented poets. The event was the brainchild of area poet B.L. Kennedy, who is leading the affair again this year. Starting Friday, July 28, at noon, Java City will host three consecutive days of 24-hour, non-stop poetry readings and performances by more than 150 Sacramento area poets and writers, ending Monday, July 31 at noon. The event will also serve as the public re-grand opening after major interior renovations have been completed at Java City.

The original marathon in 1986 lasted 173 hours and attracted hundreds of poets to the then-fledgling coffee house. To celebrate the 10th anniversary in 1996, B.L. Kennedy and Java City once again joined alliances and set an unparalleled 10-day poetry marathon, with nearly 1,000 people participating. During the 1996 event, prominent poets from across the country made the trek to Sacramento to join local poets, politicians, celebrities and Sacramento residents who partook in the 15-minute open-mike portion between scheduled poets.

Bari tells me that the reading slots for this year's marathon are almost full, except for Sat. at 2:30 AM, and Sunday at 11:30 AM; plus there are some open mic slots left. There ya go—your last chance to participate in what Bari SWEARS will be the last of the marathons...

Mirror, Mirror:

It's time for another Medusa give-away! You may've noticed that this week's Sylvia Plath poems (see Monday's and Tuesday's posts) had poems about mirrors. Send your own poems about mirrors to Medusa before midnight on Tuesday, July 25 and get a free poetry surprise in the mail! That's kathykieth@hotmail.com, or (postmarked) P.O. Box 1647, Orangevale, CA 95662. To inspire you, two with mirrors from Delmore Schwartz:

THE SIN OF HAMLET
—Delmore Schwartz

The horns in the harbor booming, vaguely,
Fog, forgotten, yesterday, conclusion,
Nostalgic, noising dim sorrow, calling
To sleep is it? I think so, and childhood,
Not the door opened and the stair descended,
The voice answered, the choice announced, the
Trigger touched in sharp declaratioin!

And when it comes, escape is small; the door
Creaks, the worms of fear spread veins; the furtive
Fugitive, looking backward, sees his
Ghost in the mirror, his shameful eyes, his mouth diseased.

_______________________

BY CIRCUMSTANCES FED
—Delmore Schwartz

By circumstances fed
Which divide attention
Among the living and the dead,
Under the blooms of the blossoming sun,
The gaze which is a tower towers
Day and night, hour by hour,
Critical of all and of one,
Dissatisfied with every flower
With all that's been done or undone,
Converting every feature
Into its own and unknown nature;
So, once in the drugstore,
Amid all the poppy, salve and ointment,
I suddenly saw, estranged there,
Beyond all disappointment,
My own face in the mirror.

___________________________

—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.)