Meaning to Try

OCEAN BREEZE
—Theresa McCourt, Sacramento

Here in the valley,
the sycamores toss back and forth
against gray sky, the trees rhythmic turbulence
a leafy echo of great waves assailing a rocky shore.

Beneath our rose-covered archway
the glass bell booms lightly,
mimicking the warnings found at sea.

Outside, I stand on the concrete step,
pull in the freshness of the air,
a reprieve from heat and dust.

Suddenly, what I yearn to do
is send you the insistent rustling of our trees,
the way salt water reaches even those of us
who live so far inland.

_______________________

Thanks, Theresa! Pick up a copy of the latest Rattlesnake Review at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sac., for a very interesting article by Theresa McCourt, describing her experiences at the Napa Valley Writers Conference this summer. Theresa is a member of the SPC Hart Center Workshop that meets on Tuesday. Hopefully she will send us more of her wonderful poems in the future.


Tonight:

•••Thurs. (9/28), 8-11 PM: Vibe Sessions at Cobbler Inn, 3520 Stockton Blvd. (next to Colonial Theater). Hosted by Flo Real. $5. Open mic for comedians, singers, poets.

•••Also Thurs. (9/28), 8 PM: Poetry Unplugged features Matt Amott, Bill Carr and Alexus Luna, w/open mic before and after. Luna’s Café, 1414 16th St., Sac. Info: www.lunascafe.com or 916-441-3931. Free. Matt Amott, co-founder of Six Feet Swells Press with Todd Cirillo and Julie Valine, is a poet with the combined attitude of Lou Reed and Dean Martin. Matt has developed this unqiue style and laid-back delivery which tend to cut through the moment with sweet cynicism and sentiment. See the latest issue of Rattlesnake Review for a sample of his work. Bill Carr, Poet, Artist, Dramatist, Teacher, has been a contributor to the Sacramento poetry community for some 20+ years. Bill has a very interesting approach to his specialize poetics in the way that he manipulates and incorporates voice and sound, always keeping track of audience and space. In the words of Poet B.L. Kennedy, Bill Carr is one of those special treasures that must be experienced in presentation. Alexus Luna, a young poet who is new to the Sacramento scene, promises an enteraining delivery with her self-styled confessional City poetics that will pull the audience into a whirlwind of sensous exploration. All of this tonight at Luna's, and open mic, besides!


Check out SPC:

•••Monday, Oct. 2 (7:30 PM): Sacramento Poetry Center presents Andy Jones, who teaches writing and literature classes at UC Davis after having run the English Department's Computer-Aided Instruction Program for many years. He also hosts "Dr. Andy's Poetry and Technology Hour" on KDVS each Wednesday afternoon at 5 PM. In February, 2006, Andy's book of poetry, Split Stock, was published by John Natsoulas Press. The co-author of Split Stock is Brad Henderson. That's Monday at HQ for the Arts, 25th & R Sts., Sac.

NEW! Check out the .mp3s of Camille Norton’s reading on Sept. 25 at http://sacramentopoetrycenter.blogspot.com/2006/09/camille-nortonsept-25.html


Hint, Hint:

Give 'em Shelter Poetry Chapbook Competition sponsored by Pudding House Publications, the largest literary small press in America, is looking for chapbook contest entries NOW. Postmark deadline 9/30: 10-36 pages of poems, any style or form or subject. PH often offers publication of up to 20 from the pool of favorite entries. Mss are not returned. Include $15 reading fee, SASE, send to Pudding House, 81 Shadymere Lane, Columbus Ohio 43213. Judge is PH editor Jennifer Bosveld. See http://www.puddinghouse.com for more info and to explore publishing company's attitudinal sense. [Jennifer says she is low on manuscripts this year; take the hint, guys and gals—get ‘em in there!]


Taylor Graham-a-Thon:

On Monday, Oct. 2 (7:30 PM), Snake Pal and Rattlechapper (Living with Myth) Taylor Graham will be reading in Davis at The Other Voice, hosted by James Lee Jobe. The Other Voice meets in the library of the Unitarian Church at 27074 Patwin Road in Davis. Open mic follows, so bring along a poem to share. Taylor's newest book, The Downstairs Dance Floor, is winner of the Robert Phillips Poetry Chapbook Prize from Texas Review Press; this year's judge was well-known poet and educator R.S. Gwynn. TG will also read in Sacramento on Sunday, Oct. 22 at 4 PM in an event co-sponsored by The Book Collector and Rattlesnake Press; more about that later. Here's a sample from TG, whose work regularly appears among the pixels of Medusa:


HIS MOTHER’S GARLIC PRESS
—Taylor Graham, Somerset

The only thing of hers you ever wanted.
She could strike an argument
quick as a kitchen match. She could chop
and mince and slice your words
and serve them with sauce for dinner.
You’ve never had a press that worked
as well, squeezing each clove
to smithereens. Now you’ve got hers
over her dead body. Tonight,
this must be a mother-in-law head
of garlic that you’re crushing,
so pungent, your eyes sting
with old tears.

______________________

Thanks, TG!

Speaking of Jim Jobe, he sent me another Fall poem (just in time), in the form of a letter addressed to me. What a silver-tongued devil he is...


AUTUMN

-for Kathy Kieth-


Dear Kathy,

The singing leaves and punted footballs drop, and the valley

suddenly seems to have sprouted pumpkins, and a surprising

chill in the early morning brings rosy youth to my braced cheeks.

Autumn returns like my wildest cousin, the one who chased girls

and rode bulls and died young, and now the strong light of day

balances with the sweet lure of night, a wildness, a softness,

an easy sort of golden yellow. Careless. Dear.

This is the autumn I pass fifty years—I match the season!

Summer has passed, but I don't miss it, I loved most of it,

and the rest I can let go. Winter is coming, I'll be ready.

But first I think I'll hold each single autumn day, windy and crisp.

At least this: I'll try to hold them, Kathy, I do mean to try.


—James Lee Jobe, Davis

______________________

We all mean to try, JJ—we all do mean to try.

—Medusa

Medusa encourages poets of all ilk and ages to send their poetry, photos and art, 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.)