Sylvia and Her Mirrors

WORDS
—Sylvia Plath

Axes
After whose stroke the wood rings,
And the echoes!
Echoes traveling
Off from the center like horses.

The sap
Wells like tears, like the
Water striving
To re-establish its mirror
Over the rock

That drops and turns,
A white skull,
Eaten by weedy greens.
Years later I
Encounter them on the road—

Words dry and riderless,
The indefatigable hoof-taps.
While
From the bottom of the pool, fixed stars
Govern a life.

_______________________

In Spite of the Heat:

There are quite a few readings and other happenings around this area this week— some of which filtered in to Medusa after I posted yesterday, so I added them later in the morning. Hopefully you didn't miss them; maybe you'd better check yesterday's post again, just to be sure.

Today (Tuesday, 7/18), starting at 10:30 AM, Friends of the Rocklin County Library will offer used books, videos and DVDs for sale. 5460 Fifth St., Rocklin. 916-624-3133.

Strolling Down the Lane:

The indefatigable Cynthia Bryant, Pleasanton Poet Laureate and Poet's Lane Maven writes: I am looking for comments, criticism and praise for The Literary List, the email venue from which Poet’s Lane sends you information on poetry/writing venues, opportunities and special events. I will put comments up on the Literary List page of www.poetslane.com. Tell your friends, poets and other fellow writers about the Literary List and have them email me (Cynthia at PoetsLane@comcast.net) with their request to be included.

Novelist Amy Tan to Appear in Grass Valley in October:

Tickets have just been released for Wordslingers 2006, featuring an evening with famed novelist Amy Tan. The event, presented by Literature Alive!, a Nevada County non-profit, will take place Saturday, October 21, 2006 beginning at 7:30 PM at the Veteran’s Memorial Hall in Grass Valley. It is expected that the event will sell out, so early ticket purchase is advised. Tickets for the main auditorium are $25 in advance, $30 at the door, $22 for Literature Alive! members (must show membership card); bleacher seats are $15. Check the Sacramento Poetry Center (SPC) blog (there's a link to the right of this column) for a listing of places where tickets may be purchased, including The Avid Reader in Sac. and Davis, and The Book Collector in Sac.Info: 530-272-5812 or visit the website at www.litalive.org. Wordslingers 2006 is underwritten by Caseywood, Q&Q Construction, and Back to Health Chiropractic.

_______________________

MIRROR
—Sylvia Plath

I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions.
Whatever I see I swallow immediately
Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike.
I am not cruel, only truthful—
The eye of a little god, four-cornered.
Most of the time I meditate on the opposite wall.
It is pink, with speckles. I have looked at it so long
I think it is a part of my heart. But it flickers.
Faces and darkness separate us over and over.

Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me,
Searching my reaches for what she really is.
Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon.
I see her back, and reflect it faithfully.
She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands.
I am important to her. She comes and goes.
Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness.
In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman
Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.

_______________________

CONTUSION
—Sylvia Plath

Colour floods to the spot, dull purple.
The rest of the body is all washed out,
The colour of pearl.

In a pit of rock
The sea sucks obsessively,
One hollow the whole sea's pivot.

The size of a fly,
The doom mark
Crawls down the wall.

The heart shuts,
The sea slides back,
The mirrors are sheeted.

_______________________

—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.)