Throw the Bums Out!

POLITICIANS IN MY FRIDGE
—Homer Christensen, Folsom

I look around in the dim light for something new

(Actually, I’ll settle for anything edible,
but I still hold out hope).

“Oh, shoot, has this gone bad?
And this? It cost a fortune...”

Things smell bad under a downy cover,
and I muck about, rearrange,
and shut the door in disgust.

I don’t have the courage to throw anything out.

_______________________

Thanks, Homer, for the Election Day poem! Don't forget to vote! :-)

Speaking of throwing things out, the Moving Experience triggers all sorts of poetry:

MOVING UNDER THE BLANKET
—Kathy Kieth, Fair Oaks

We bought an anaconda
of a quilt: moving house
has us startled: we are
being dismantled
box by box: replaced by

the generic—new art, new walls,
new bedding: a stiff sky-blue
monster-quilt that is not yet
broken in: huge, down-filled

explosion of a blue anaconda
that swallows us every night
as we try to move our legs:
try to get our bearings:
try to get away…

_______________________

Pat Pashby replies:

A MOVING MOMENT
—Patricia A. Pashby, Sacramento

She cries—
never again
will I do this for you—
sorting, packing, tossing treasures.
He smiles.


Thanks, Pat! Look for Patricia Pashby's littlesnake broadside, Potpourri, at The Book Collector—or SASE me and I'll send you one.
_______________________

Calendar Updates:

Some additions to this week's calendar:

•••Wednesday (11/8), 8 PM: The Second Wednesday Reading Series of the MA program at UC-Davis presents the poetry and fiction of writers Michael Clearwater and Reema Rajbanshi. Café Roma (3rd & University Sts., downtown Davis).

•••Sat. (11/11), 4 PM: Manzanita writers and friends of Manzanita writers (all editions) are invited to read their work at Hein & Co. book store in Jackson, located off of Hwy 49 in downtown Jackson on Main Street. (It's across from the cooking store.) Hein & Co. is one of the treasures of the Mother Lode. A great bookstore! Manzanita Editor Monika Rose says: bring your books and maybe Wolf will sell them for you on consignment. Info: 209-754-0577 (Monika) or 209-223-9076 (Wolf Hein).

•••Sacramento Poet and Rattlechapper Susan Kelly-DeWitt and her son, Michael Kelly-DeWitt, will have their art in a one-night show coming up Saturday, November 11. The show will be held at Acacia Hall, 2354 Forrest, Sac. (at the corner of Forrest and Del Paso Boulevard) from 5-8 PM.


Calendar Correx:

Yesterday I said that Clark Ashton Smith would be performing at The Book Collector on Sunday (11/12), 4-6 PM; clearly, this is impossible, since he's dead. Instead, it is Donald Sydney-Fryer who will be performing from Clark Ashton Smith's Four Fables. The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sac. Free.

More disturbing is the confusion about the Bistro 33 reading in Davis. I received a note from Somebody saying it was happening this week (tonight), and Poetry Now has it listed as tonight, also. But Rae Gourirand sent out an e-mail saying it was next week; I wrote to her, and she claims she double-checked it, and that it is, indeed, happening on the 14th (NEXT Tuesday). The host is Andy Jones: aojones@ucdavis.edu. I recommend you go straight to him...


So what's up with the Snake?

Today you should have the November Snakebytes (Late-bytes, this month) in your e-mail box. In it, you will note:

•••Reading tomorrow night at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sac.: Jane Blue (Turf Daisies and Dandelions), with a littlesnake broadside (Connections) from Cleo Fellers Kocol. 7:30 PM.

•••Also premiering tomorrow: the latest Snakelets, the free journal of poetry from youngsters ages 0-12. Next deadline is February 1.

•••Coming later in November: the latest issue of VYPER, the free poetry journal from young people ages 13-19.

•••December's releases will be Spiralchap #6: Poems in Two Voices from Joe and Susan Finkleman (two-voice poetry by the two of them, plus art from Joe), and littlesnake broadside #29 from Sacramento Poetry Center President Bob Stanley. Wednesday, December 13 will be the official release/reading date for these authors.

•••And the next deadline for the free poetry journal from adults, Rattlesnake Review (#12—an even dozen!) is coming up SOON—it's Wednesday, November 15. Send 3-5 poems, name and address, e-mail preferred, no bio/cover letter/previously-pubbed/simultaneous submits. Send art, too, and photos and doodles, and reviews—especially mini-reviews of books and workshops and events (maybe you want to query first on those, though...).

•••And the ever-PMS-ing Medusa is always hungry; the daily blog has a ravenous appetite for poetry, Nor-Cal and otherwise. Lately I've been lax on the photo/drawing posts, but I bet I could remember how, if you sent me one...

By the way, if you're not receiving the monthly Snakebytes e-mail and would like to, e-mail me at kathykieth@hotmail.com.

_______________________

October has passed, but here's a Fall poem from David Humphreys, whose Poets Corner reading series in Stockton will present devin davis this Sunday (11/12) at the Barnes & Noble in Weberstown Mall, 7 PM:

THE FIREMAN'S WIFE AND ERNEST HEMINGWAY
—David Humphreys, Stockton

October is everyone’s favorite month
with temperatures in the seventies,
not too hot or too cold.
Went to Fort Bragg over the weekend,
our girls' soccer team had a tournament.
Won two games on Saturday.
Saturday night went to the beach
and did a bonfire with marshmallows,
a beautiful happy bunch of kids.
Parents are great too, love soccer, watching
their kids play well, everything about it.
They hate it when we lose.
Sunday morning we won the first game,
two to zero. That got us into the final.
The other team got a goal in
the first half. One of our girls had a shot
hit the cross bar but it didn’t go in. They
played very hard but in the end
the other team won it one-zero. Too bad,
maybe next time. It was a long drive home
through the dark forest past the moonlit lake.
Don’t think we forgot anything.

________________________

—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.)