Monks' feet clomping
through icy dark,
drawing sweet water.
***
Sparrows in eaves,
mice in ceiling—
celestial music.
***
Dark night—
plover crying
for its nest.
***
How terrible
the pheasant's call—
snake-eater.
***
Violets—
how precious on
a mountain path.
***
Dusk—though last
bell's faded,
air's cherry-rich.
***
Snow-whisk sweeping
this path,
forgets the snow.
_______________________
Today's poetry was written by Basho and translated by Lucien Stryk.
—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.)
Welcome to the Kitchen!—daily poetry from around the world (poetry with fangs!). Read our DIARY, the cream-colored section at the left, for poets local and otherwise. Then scroll down our GREEN AND BLUE BULLETIN BOARDS on the right for more poet-phernalia. And please feel free to be a SNAKEPAL and send your work, events and releases to kathykieth@hotmail.com—see "Placating the Gorgon" in the FUCHSIA LINKS right below here for info. Carpe Viperidae! Seize the Snake!
Pages
- HOME: Seven Days of Posts
- SNAKEWATCH: Who We Are Now
- PLACATING THE GORGON: Submissions/Inner Workings of the Kitchen
- CALLIOPE'S CLOSET: Muse Wrangling
- POETRY TRAPS We All Fall Into
- FORMS! OMG!!!
- MEDUSA MULLS PUBLISHING: Get your work out there~
- SOUNDS FOR SORE EARS: Local Poets Read
- SACRAMENTO POETRY DAY by PATRICK GRIZZELL
- UPCOMING NORCAL EVENTS
OUR BULLETIN BOARD ON THE KITCHEN WALL: Get Stoned on Medusa and Her Bad-Hair Days
Medusa: That moody Gorgon from whose head so many Snakes do sproingggg...
CARPE VIPERIDAE—Seize the Snake!
Snake Drawings are by
Sam the Snake Man—all except for the LittleSnakes at the bottom, which are courtesy of public domain.
Sam the Snake Man—all except for the LittleSnakes at the bottom, which are courtesy of public domain.
FOR YOUR READING PLEASURE~
Area journals to check out:
•••Brevities, the wee monthly published by Joyce Odam, seeks submissions of the proper size. Write to Joyce at joyceofwords@gmail.com for info.
•••Tule Review from Sac. Poetry Center: www.sacramentopoetrycenter.com
•••Canary, an environmental poetry journal, is ed. by Gail Entrekin, at www.canarylitmag.org
•••Ginosko; see GinoskoLiteraryJournal.com
For more journals, scroll down past this green box to the blue box below it, then keep scrolling past the calendar info to "Hot, Hot Journals Full of Hot, Hot Poetry!".
OUR SEED OF THE WEEK~
is Mother Earth.
Click on Placating the Gorgon or Calliope's Closet (in the FUCHSIA LINKS at the top of Medusa) for info on our Seeds of the Week (SOWs), and keep scrolling down this green board for different types of SOWs. But don't be shy: send poems/photos/art about other subjects, too, to kathykieth@hotmail.com/. No deadline on SOWS or any other submissions, and previously published work is accepted.
Need more SOWS?
For previous Seeds of the Week (also known as prompts) plus other cool stuff, scroll back up to the LINKS and click on Calliope's Closet. (Wow! What a list of SOWS we have there!)
OR... Go to Writer's Digest and find the poetry prompts at "Write Better Poetry": www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/poetic-asides/.
FOR THE POETRY GOURMET—
More Fine Sites for Your Daily Poetry Meditation...
ON THE AIR
SOUNDS OF POETRY—
•••www.poetrytechnology.com: "Dr. Andy's Poetry and Technology Hour" with Dr. Andy Jones (Weds. from 5-6pm on KDVS 90.3 FM)
•••Poetry Foundation’s "Poetry Off the Shelf", a weekly podcast at www.poetryfoundation.org/features/audio?show=Poetry%20Off%20the%20Shelf/.
•••Podcasts from the Writers on the Air Show: writersontheair.com/the-writers-on-the-air-show/.
•••Poetry Foundation’s "Poetry Off the Shelf", a weekly podcast at www.poetryfoundation.org/features/audio?show=Poetry%20Off%20the%20Shelf/.
•••Podcasts from the Writers on the Air Show: writersontheair.com/the-writers-on-the-air-show/.
FEELIN' FRISKY?
Click the dawg for some poetry terminology quizzes!
LITTLE TIPS FROM THE GRAMMAR GIRL
QuickAndDirty!
Click on Mignon for some fun tips about those tricky-snake, swampy confusions that pop up in grammar as we write.
LET MEDUSA SCARE YOU SILLY!
Medusa Cactus photo by Katy Brown
Belt yourself in and then click the pic to take a ride on Six Flags' Medusa!
AND TODAY'S WORD IS...
Click/pic to find out!
THE REST OF THE B-BOARD! Enter at your own risk; NorCal poetry is SMOKIN'!
Watch Medusa's UPCOMING NORCAL EVENTS page on a daily basis for what cooks in NorCal poetry! (Like everything else, it keeps on changing...) Other sites to check for poetry news and area events include:
•••www.facebook.com/sacpoetry.center
Don't see your reading event listed on Medusa? That's probably because you didn't send it to us! It's such a shame to invite poets to read for you, and then fail to advertise them. So try to get your message out in a timely manner.
•••SPC's Community Calendar of Lit. Events: www.facebook.com/groups/SPCgroup/?notif_t=group_name_change¬if_id=1468146125061336
•••www.facebook.com/El-Dorado-Poetry-1237910429583182 for news about what's going on in El Dorado County poetry
•••sacramento365.com (go to Poetry & Literature under Performance)
•••Want to learn about some Bay Area events? Debralee Pagan (debralee@astoundnet) publishes an e-newsletter called "Strictly East" (Poetry Past the Caldecott Tunnel)—email her for a free subscription. See also www.poetryflash.org/.
Don't see your reading event listed on Medusa? That's probably because you didn't send it to us! It's such a shame to invite poets to read for you, and then fail to advertise them. So try to get your message out in a timely manner.
POETS' PARK, SACRAMENTO
Open Circle, Poets' Park, Sac. Photo by Ann Menebroker
POET LAUREATE PARK, SACRAMENTO
Click pic for Trina Drotar's article about Sacramento's Poet Laureate Park, built in conjunction with Julia Connor and Sac. Metropolitan Arts Commission.
AND NOW FOR MORE FUN—
HOT, HOT JOURNALS FULL OF HOT, HOT POETRY!
Online and otherwise—
Here are some journals and other publications that are local-ish (okay, there are some Bay Area ones in here, too). If we've left anybody out, let us know!
Plus, keep an eye on the college scene. Some of those journals accept submissions from non-students, though they usually have more limited (mostly annual) deadlines. Go to Medusa's Hot Links for Calaveras Station, Penumbra, Suisun Valley Review, Cosumnes River Journal, but be aware that college journals come and go in this time of tight funding.
Plus, keep an eye on the college scene. Some of those journals accept submissions from non-students, though they usually have more limited (mostly annual) deadlines. Go to Medusa's Hot Links for Calaveras Station, Penumbra, Suisun Valley Review, Cosumnes River Journal, but be aware that college journals come and go in this time of tight funding.
BREVITIES
A Wee Wonder!
Joyce Odam's half-sized Brevities packs a wallop with its monthly collection of poets from around the country. E-mail Joyce about submissions at joyceofwords@gmail.com.
MUNYORI LITERARY JOURNAL
Joanne Hillhouse (photo by Andy Williams)
Click/pic to go to Munyori Literary Journal (online), edited by Sacramento's Emmanuel Sigauke and featuring writers from around the world.
SONG OF THE SAN JOAQUIN
Song of the San Joaquin (print), edited by James Schuman, is a quarterly journal of the San Joaquin chapter of Calif. Fed. of Chaparral Poets, Inc. Subject matter is the Central Valley, whether you live there or not. Click/pic for more.
MANZANITA WRITERS PRESS
Manzanita Writers sponsors publications, workshops and readings in Calaveras County under the guiding hand of Monika Rose. Click/pic for more.
GINOSKO
Click pic to download the Bay Area's online Ginosko Literary Journal, edited with a deft hand by Ron Cesaretti in Fairfax.
POETRY FLASH
Literary Review and Calendar
The venerable Poetry Flash (online, print), edited and published for a very long time by Joyce Jenkins, is the go-to publication for the Bay Area and much of NorCal. Click/pic for a look-see.
THE POEMING PIGEON
The Poeming Pigeon is a journal that's published by The Poetry Box, which used to be in our area but is now up north. They also publish books. Click pic for info, including journal deadlines.
LATEST CANARY!
Click/pic for the latest issue of Canary, an online literary/poetry journal of the environmental crisis, pub. by Hip Pocket Press. The Entrekins live in Orinda now, but they used to live in Grass Valley. HP Press also publishes books and the online Sisyphus.
________________
For more Bay Area journals, see:
•••www.metroactive.com/papers/sfmetro/12.07.98/litmags-9847.html for more Bay Area publications, such as
•••Syndic Literary Journal (syndicjournal.us)
•••SF Peace and Hope (sfpeaceandhope.com)
•••Haight Ashbury Literary Journal (www.facebook.com/pages/Haight-Ashbury-Literary-Journal/365542018331)
________________
OTHER PUBLISHER-FRIENDS
ABOUT THE SWAN
What's the Latest?
Click pic for what's new from Swan Scythe Press.
R.L. CROW
Bill Gainer's R.L. Crow Publications has a distinguished history of publishing distinguished poets. Click/pic to check them out.
LATEST FROM LUMMOX
Snake does like his juice!
HOT LINKS: More NorCal Poetry Resources & Other Items of Interest
- 916 Ink
- Academy of American Poets
- Blue Moon Literary & Art Rvw
- Bob's Byway (Poetic Terms)
- Cal. Fed./Chaparral Poets, Inc.
- Cal. Lawyers for the Arts
- Cal. Poets/Schools (CPITS)
- Calaveras Station (CSUS)
- Canary (Hip Pocket Press)
- Carol's Books
- City Lights Bookstore, SF
- Cosumnes River Journal
- Crocker Art Museum
- Dancing Poetry (AEI)
- Desolation Poems (Forms)
- Dr. Andy's Poetry/Tech. Hour
- Esalen
- Ginosko Lit. Journal
- Guardian (London)
- Haiku Corner (Japan Society)
- Haiku Society of America, Cal. Region
- Hip Pocket Press
- I Street Press
- Ina Coolbrith Circle
- Kamini Press
- Lib. of Congress Poetry
- Lummox Press
- Luna's (Poetry Unplugged)
- Manzanita Writers Press
- Moe's Books in Berkeley
- Munyori Literary Journal
- Nat'l Fed. of State Poetry Societies (NFSPS)
- Penumbra (CSU-Stanislaus)
- Poetry Archive
- Poetry Book Society, UK
- Poetry Daily
- Poetry Flash
- Poetry Foundation
- Poetry in Davis
- Poetry Out Loud
- poetry zendo by James Lee Jobe
- Poets & Writers, Inc.
- Poets Against War, Canada
- Poets House (NY)
- Presa :S: Press
- R.L. Crow
- Sac Metro Arts Commission
- Sac Public Library
- Sacculturalhub.com
- Sacramento365
- Six Ft. Swells Press
- SN&R All Poet's Corner (archive)
- Song of the San Joaquin
- Squaw Valley Writers
- Swan Scythe Press
- Tiger Tracks
- Tiger's Eye
- Time Tested Books
- Underground Books
- Uttered Chaos
- Wild Poetry Forum
MEDUSA'S RAP-SHEET! Archives: Finding Past Posts
Check out the Bad Girl Gorgon's past—What has gone before...
WANT TO FIND PAST POEMS THAT APPEARED ON MK?
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2006
(332)
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August
(25)
- Fiery Poetry and Fiery Events
- You Might As Well Live
- Lookee What I Did!
- The Towe of Poetry (& Po-events 8/28-9/3)
- Didja Miss Me?
- Sweet Disorder (& Po-Events, 8/21-27)
- Ouch—Ouput!
- Whee-Haw!
- Deciding to Try Words
- Scrabbling for Pennies in Dark, Tiny Halls
- Good Day for a Snake Poem
- Snakes on a Plane, Train, Automobile (& Po-Events ...
- Whined At Or Withstood
- Familiar Angels
- B&E
- While There Is Still Time
- How Quickly the Somber Line Lengthens
- To Be A North Star
- Kisses Flown to Darkness (& Po-Events 8/7-13)
- The Undertone of Solitude
- Can Fall Be Far Behind?
- Of Trains & Swans & Snow-Feathered Egrets
- Shadows of Moonlight
- Propositions About Life
- Serf To My Heart
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