And Blam! It's December...

HAIKU: WINTER
—Brigit Truex, Placerville

I.
River etched in ink.
Midnight moon above snowfields,
washed with sapphire light.

II.
Five midwinter crows
strung like notes on the taut wires:
see the song take flight.

III.
Image reversal:
snow-laden fir boughs bend down,
sweep the pool of clouds.

_______________________

THE OLD POET
—Brigit Truex, Placerville

Raindrops—
tiny chimes—
fall from leaves
to the pool where a faded moon
rests among moss-green clouds.

The old poet pauses,
listening.
There is a new song
as autumn's first cricket
plays his part.

_______________________

Thanks, Brigit! Brigit Truex, Jeanine Stevens, Charlene Ungstad and Rebecca Morrison will be reading at the Sacramento Poetry Center (HQ, 25th & R Sts., Sac) next Monday, Dec. 4 at 7:30 PM. It will be a night to celebrate the Celtic, with Celtic poetry, dishes, libations, music, broadsides and photos. Bring your own Celtic poetry/stories/goodies to share—anything from Northern Europe qualifies. Open mic to follow, and refreshments. Free. All of these ladies have ties to the Snake: Jeanine has a rattlechap out (The Keeping Room); Brigit has one to come (A Counterpane Without, in February 2007); Rebecca (of "Eskimo Pie Girl" fame—see link to the right of this) had poetry in the very first Snake; and Charlene writes reviews for us from time to time. So I can vouch for them all—writers extraordinaire! (See elsewhere in this posting for tasty samples of Brigit's and Jeanine's poetry.)


Also next Monday—another one of those lollapalooza [sp?] poetry nights!:

•••7:30 PM: The Other Voice presents Hannah Stein and rattlechapper (The Land) Susan Kelly-DeWitt at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis, 27074 Patwin Road in Davis. James Lee Jobe will be your host. Call 530-750-3514 for details, or go to http://uupoetry.blogspot.com for bios, sample poems, and directions. This is a free event, and after the featured poets there will be an open mic.

•••7 PM: Poets Marie J. Ross and Elizabeth Parrish will be reading from their new chapbook, Lavender Fields, at Java Aroma/Stockton Empire Theatre (1825 Pacific Ave., Stockton, cross-street Walnut). The readers will be followed by a book-signing and open mic.


And as for this weekend:

•••Tonight (Friday, 12/1), 7 PM: Terry Moore will open for Brian McKnight at the Memorial Auditorium, 1401 J St., Sac. Also featured will be LaToya London. Ticket info: www.isoundtracks.net. Watch for an interview with Terry in the next Rattlesnake Review, due out Dec. 13.

•••Then Sunday (12/3), 6 PM: PoemSpirits will present Albert Garcia & Skunk Talk. Featured poet Albert Garcia—like Merwin, Hall and Williams—writes on "ordinary wonders" of work, family and rural life with, as Gary Short wrote, “love, complexity, sadness and celebration.” Published in many literary journals, and in U.S. past-Poet Laureate [and UU] Ted Kooser’s "American Life in Poetry" column, Albert lives in Wilton, has taught English for 17 years and is Dean of the Language and Literature Division, Sacramento City College. We have invited him to bring his books, Rainshadow and Skunk Talk, to sell. Also, Nora Laila Staklis will present a brief overview of poet and essayist Carolyn Forche, famous for her anthology, Against Forgetting: Twentieth-Century Poetry of Witness, on poetic remembering of events of trauma and tragedy. Location: Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento Foyer/Lounge, 2425 Sierra Blvd., Sac., 2 blocks north of Fair Oaks Blvd., between Howe and Fulton Aves. Info: Tom Goff or Nora Staklis, 916-481-3312, or JoAnn Anglin, 916-451-1372. Free; snacks available; open mic: bring a poem of your own or another’s to read.

_______________________

FIREFALL
—Jeanine Stevens, Sacramento

We stood in fantasy
watching the red waterfall
tumble, roar from the summit
sparks snapping down
into Yosemite Valley,
never thinking about fire danger,
rangers below, ready
with a few water buckets.

How could we not?
Not know the simplicity,
marching into that docile crowd,
an ancient land we thought
we knew, avoiding the bigger
blaze? —leaving singed boots
to stomp out brushfires
for years to come.

_______________________

—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.)