Sunday, April 30, 2006

On Love and Barley

High wind—tea
leaves whip against
the brushwood gate.

***

Orchid—breathing
incense into
butterfly's wings.

***

Loneliness—
caged cricket dangling
from the wall.

***

Samurai talk—
tang
of horse-radish.

***

Cuckoo's cry,
bouncing
on lake-waves.

***

Irises blooming
from my feet—
sandals laced in blue.

***

Old fan scribbled
with poems—
shredded by summer's end.

***

Dying cricket—
how full of
life, his song.

***

Shower of white
plum blossoms—
where are the cranes?

____________________

Today's poems are from On Love and Barley: Haiku of Basho, translated from the Japanese with an introduction by Lucien Stryk, Penguin Books, 1985.

—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.)

Saturday, April 29, 2006

The Stories of Trees

AND TREES CAUGHT FIRE
—Brigit Truex, Placerville

Early this morning
the sun came
too near the earth
and trees caught fire.

Midday broad embers remain
leaf-shaped
flame-shaded
slowly they crisp and fall.

Dusk haze rises from the ground
like smoke
unable to smother the glow
even the pond seems to burn.

Fallfleshed mooncold
black on black
the trees conspire
against the distant star.

In the morning
they blaze again
throwing back their light
they mock the sun.

_______________________

Thanks, Brigit! Brigit Truex will be reading at the Appel Gallery
by "Tree Stories" poets at 7 pm tomorrow night (Sunday, 4/30). Appel Gallery is located at 931 T St. Sac., at the corner of 10th & T Sts. Regional poets reading include Joseph Finkleman, Susan Hennies, Rebecca Morrison, Taylor Graham & Brigit Truex. Please join them for this closing celebration of "Tree Stories", a showing of mixed media photographs by Judith Monroe. If you didn't get a chance to see "Tree Stories" yet, this will be a great opportunity to see the images in person. To learn more about the on-going Tree Stories project, see http://www.tree-stories.blogspot.com. Also see yesterday's post for more poetry events happening this weekend.

Brigit Truex, one of the Red Fox Underground poets who are so energetic, workshopping together at 8 a.m. on Sunday mornings (!!!), will also be reading in Grass Valley on May 18, along with Laura Pendell and rattlechapper James Lee Jobe at the Nevada County Poetry Series. The show will be in Off Center Stage (the Black Box theater, enter from Richardson Street) at the Center for the Arts, 314 W. Main St., Grass Valley, CA, 7:30 pm.
Tickets can be purchased at the door for $5 general, seniors and students, and $1 for those under 18. Refreshments and open-mic included. Info: (530) 432-8196 or (530) 274-8384.

Don’t forget to send in poems by May 1 for Snakelets, the journal of poetry from kids 0-12, and VYPER, for ages 13-19. Send 'em to kathykieth@hotmail.com. And the deadline for Rattlesnake Review #10 is also coming up in a couple of weeks: May 15. Send 3-5 poems, no bio/no cover/no prev-pubs/no simul-subs.

Gail Entrekin of Grass Valley will be reading at the Sacramento Poetry Center next Monday night, May 1. That's Headquarters for the Arts, 25th & R Sts., Sac., 7:30 pm.

In addition to the SPCA Book Sale today (see yesterday's post), there will also be a book sale at the Franklin Library from 1-4 pm at 10055 Franklin High Rd. in Elk Grove. Buy one book, receive a children's book for free. Benefits the library branch. Info: 916-264-2920.

Confidential to Don Anderson, who posted yesterday's "comment" (see bottom of yesterday's post): Sure—anything you send Medusa (kathykieth@hotmail.com), she will gladly post!

________________________

UNDERNEATH
—Brigit Truex

below the
rock-choked
soil, ground
immobile
even to that
unsprung
coil of flesh
gloved
in a girdle of
unsparked
diamonds
round &
round it
curls upon
itself
ready
to stretch
& surprise
once the
separate
paralysis of
each smooth
muscle
is released
& the sleeping
winter of
death
is escaped
once hunger
greets
the gentle
mouth
easing open

does the
spring
green air
know
fear?

________________________

SLOW DANCING
—Taylor Graham, Somerset

I stand with my back against an oak —
actually two oaks that have wound
their trunks together as if they’d been
slow-dancing, her head on his shoulder,
her golden leaves disheveled in light.

That’s what comes of slow-dancing,
my mother might have said, as if she
knew. As if she’d once heard music
sweet as Orpheus when she was young.
As if she’d ever been as young as these

two oaks that grew into one tree rooted
like any other oak in the woods, but
their good grain so curved and spiraled,
they’re useless for lumber, the way
they just stand here, dancing.

(originally published in Freshwater; also appears in Living With Myth, published by Rattlesnake Press in 2004)
________________________

Thanks, TG—another hardy Red-Foxer! Taylor Graham will also be reading at the Appel Gallery tomorrow night.

—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.)

Friday, April 28, 2006

Me, Wag

THE BALL POEM
—John Berryman

What is the boy now, who has lost his ball,
What, what is he to do? I saw it go
Merrily bouncing, down the street, and then
Merrily over—there it is in the water!
No use to say "O there are other balls":
An ultimate shaking grief fixes the boy
As he stands rigid, trembling, staring down
All his young days into the harbour where
His ball went. I would not intrude on him,
A dime, another ball, is worthless. Now
He senses first responsibility
In a world of possessions. People will take balls,
Balls will be lost always, little boy,
And no one buys a ball back. Money is external.
He is learning, well behind his desperate eyes,
The epistemology of loss, how to stand up
Knowing what every man must one day know
And most know many days, how to stand up
And gradually light returns to the street,
A whistle blows, the ball is out of sight,
Soon part of me will explore the deep and dark
Floor of the harbour...I am everywhere,
I suffer and move, my mind and my heart move
With all that move me, under the water
Or whistling, I am not a little boy.

________________________

•••Tonight (4/28) at 5 pm. is the deadline for Sacramento News & Reviews’ Student Poetry Contest. Go to www.newsreview.com to enter online.

•••Another deadline is this Sunday, April 30, when
The Sacramento Bee's Second Annual Share a Story Children's Book Drive will end. The goal is to collect 60,000 new and "gently used" books for young readers at 75 sites throught the region and to devote them to nonprofit agencies, which will place them in children's homes. Last year, 48,000 books were collected. Books in Spanish, Russian and Hmong languages are also hoped for, in addition to tax-deductible cash donations, and volunteers are needed to help sort the books. The Borders chain is offering a 15% discount on books bought and donated to the drive. For info on donating or volunteering: 916-556-5667 or www.sacbee.com/bookdrive.

Lots going on this weekend, even if you don't go to the Tango festival, the Scottish festival, etc. etc.:

•••Saturday (4/29): The Central California Art Association & Mistlin Art Gallery announce that April is National Poetry Month, and to celebrate this, the Gallery will be featuring poets William O'Daly, Karen Baker, and debee loyd this Saturday at 4 pm on 1015 J St. in downtown Modesto. (Karen Baker and debee loyd are rattlechappers!)

•••Or on Saturday (4/29) from 12-6 pm, go down to the Berkeley Poetry Festival, featuring readers from the Bay Area poetry community: SF Poet Laureate Jack Hirschman, Jack and Adele Foley, Jennifer Stone, Julia Vinograd, Dorothy Jesse Beagle, Louis Cuneo, Lucy L. Day, Tim Donnelly, Randy Fingland, Gail Ford, Haleh Hatami, Dale Jensen, Debra Khattab, Kirk Lumpkin, Maggi H. Meyer, Phillip Nails, Mark Schwartz, Tsahai Under and Judy Wells. North Berkeley Sr. Center Main Auditorium, 1901 Hearst St. (at Martin Luther King Way), Berkeley. Info: 510-981-5190 or mothershen.com. Free; open mic.

•••Also Saturday (4/29): "The Show" presents Butterscotch, Born 2B Poets, and an LSB band jam session, 7-9 pm, Wo-se Community Center, 2863 35th St., Sac. $5. Info: 916-455-7638.

•••Sunday (4/30) Appel Gallery in Sacramento is hosting a reading by "Tree Stories" poets at 7 pm. Appel Gallery is located at 931 T St. Sac., at the corner of 10th & T Sts. Regional poets reading include Joseph Finkleman, Susan Hennies, Rebecca Morrison, Taylor Graham & Brigit Truex. Please join them for this closing celebration of "Tree Stories", a showing of mixed media photographs by Judith Monroe. If you didn't get a chance to see "Tree Stories" yet, this will be a great opportunity to see the images in person. To learn more about the on-going Tree Stories project, see http://www.tree-stories.blogspot.com.

•••Also Sunday (4/30), the Nevada County Poetry Series will continue to celebrate National Poetry Month by holding the last of its open-mic readings at Booktown Books & Tomes. Open-mic readers are invited to submit their poems for possible inclusion in the NCPS 2006 Anthology. The free reading will be held from noon to 3 pm at Booktown Books and Tomes, 107 Bank St. (corner of South Auburn) in Grass Valley. Info: (530) 432-8196 or (530) 272-4655.

•••Also Sunday (4/30), Sutterwriters and It’s A Grind Coffee House have teamed up to bring a public reading of Blood on the Page: Collected Writings of Sutterwriters to the Natomas area. The free reading will be held at 7 pm at the It’s A Grind Coffee House, 2731 Del Paso Rd., Sac. Sutterwriters, a component of the Literature, Arts and Medicine Program (LAMP) of Sutter Medical Center, was originally established in February 2002 with the mission to give patients, health professionals, caregivers (and just about anyone) a safe place to express themselves. During each two-hour session, participants write and respond to each other's creative work. The group is widely diverse with the only common denominator among members is that they have something to write about. Currently there are six Sutterwriter groups operating Monday through Friday. A Sutterwriters group meets every weekday and is open to everyone. Fees, if any, are are minimal. This is not an exclusive club and it's not just for writers. It's a place to come to express yourself in a meaningful way about things you otherwise might not talk about, explains Chip Spann, director of Sutterwriters.

•••Also Sunday (4/30): the 15th Annual Festival de la Familia, a Celebration of Latino Cultures, will be held at Cal Expo from 9 am to 6:30 pm (1600 Exposition Blvd., Sac.). Admission is $6, or free for those over 60 or under 12. Parking is $7. Plenty of programs from all the arts; check out the Spoken Word Poetry of the Natomas School of Performing Arts at 11:15 a.m. in Bldg. B. Info: www.festivaldelafamilia.com.

•••And there's the SPCA Book Sale to honor its 40th Anniversary: more than 10,000 new and used books at Marketplace at Birdcage, next to Longs Drugs in Citrus Heights. Runs through May 7: 10 am-8 pm weekdays and Saturdays, 11-6 Sundays. Watch out, though—they will also have adoptable pets on display! Prepare to be strong, both about the books and the pets...

_______________________

SONNET 115
—John Berryman

All we were going strong last night this time,
the mots were flying & the frozen daiquiris
were downing, supine on the floor lay Lise
listening to Schubert grievous & sublime,
my head was frantic with a following rime:
it was a good evening, an evening to please,
I kissed her in the kitchen—ecstasies—
among so much good we tamped down the crime.

The weather's changing. This morning was cold,
as I made for the grove, without expectation,
some hundred Sonnets in my pocket, old,
to read her if she came. Presently the sun
yellowed the pines & my lady came not
in blue jeans & a sweater. I sat down & wrote.

________________________

DREAM SONG #14
—John Berryman

Life, friends, is boring. We must not say so.
After all, the sky flashes, the great sea years,
we ourselves flash and yearn,
and moreover my mother told me as a boy
(repeatedly) 'Ever to confess you're bored
means you have no

Inner Resources.' I conclude now I have no
inner resources, because I am heavy bored.
Peoples bore me,
literature bores me, especially great literature,
Henry bores me, with his plights & gripes
as bad as achilles,

who loves people and valiant art, which bores me.
And the tranquil hills, & grin, look like a drag
and somehow a dog
has taken itself & its tail considerably away
into mountains or sea or sky, leaving
behind: me, wag.

_______________________

—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.)

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Mais Oui!

LA BELLE SAISON
—Jacques Prévert

Starved lost frozen
Alone without a cent
A girl of sixteen
Standing still
Place de la Concorde
At noon August Fifteenth


THE LAST SUPPER
—Jacques Prévert

They are at table
They eat not
Nor touch their plates
And their plates stand straight up
Behind their heads.


SCHOOL OF FINE ARTS
—Jacques Prévert

From a plaited basket
The father picked a little paper ball
And he threw it
In the bowl
Before his fascinated kids
Then sprang up
multicolored
The great Japanese flower
Instantaneous water-lily
And the children were hushed
Wonderstruck
Never later in their memory
Could this flower fade
This sudden flower
Made for them
Instantly
Before them.


I'm posting Prévert today because on Saturday, May 13, the Alliance Française de Sacramento will present Poésie en mai: from Villon to Prévert, a reading of 15 poems from the 15th to the 20th century in French and English, 5-6 pm. The reading will be held at the Alliance Française on 1721 25th St., Sac., $4 for members, and $6 for non-members. Seating is limited, so please RSVP ASAP (no later than May 10): 916-453-1723.

Tonight (Thursday, 4/27) will be another Think Postcard workshop, this time at Luna’s Café (1414 16th St., Sac.) at 5 pm. Then, at 8 pm, Poetry Unplugged will feature poet/performer D.R. Wagner. This rare reading and performance brings the multi-talented D.R. to the Luna stage, showcasing just some of his multi-means of expressing the impossible. D.R.’s fame reaches back to the mimeograph revolution. His woven poetry—employing textiles to display text, texture and colour—is amazing and the source of numerous galleried art exhibitions throughout the country. He has worked in written word and sound for jazz, rock, ambient, lounge and country ensembles.

See Medusa’s March 21 post for details of the postcard project. Events will continue through June; check www.sacculture.com for a complete schedule. To obtain blank postcards or inquire about hosting a workshop, call 916-566-3986.

Don’t forget to send in poems by May 1 for Snakelets, the journal of poetry from kids 0-12, and VYPER, for ages 13-19. Send 'em to kathykieth@hotmail.com. And the deadline for Rattlesnake Review #10 is also coming up in a couple of weeks: May 15. Send 3-5 poems, no bio/no cover/no prev-pubs/no simul-subs.


TRAVELING SHOW
—Jacques Prévert

Happy as the trout climbing the torrent
Happy the heart of the world
On its waterspout of blood
Happy the barrel-organ
Bawling in the dust
With its citrus voice
A popular tune
Without rhyme or reason
Happy the lovers
On the Russian mountains
Happy the russet-haired girl
On her white horse
Happy the brown boy
Who waits for her smiling
Happy this man in mourning
Standing in his skiff
Happy the fat dame
With her paper kite
Happy the old fool
Smashing plates
Happy in his carriage
A very small baby
Unhappy the draftees
On the rifle range
Sighting the heart of the world
Sighting their own heart
Sighting the heart of the world
Bursting out laughing.

_______________________

—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.)

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Snakes and Beetles and Monks

THE MONK
—Gail Entrekin, Grass Valley

Zipping out our road this morning
in my green Beetle, up ahead,
along the shoulder in the steam of sun,
there materialized a monk in saffron
and scarlet robes, shaved head,
walking away from me. As I passed
I turned back to see his face.
I must have looked … surprised, delighted
intrigued … I was all those things –
the mystery of his presence there –
a Tibetan monk on Wet Hill Road
beside a row of cedars, talking
on a cell phone.

I drove to the gym, lifted weights,
did yoga, took a shower, still
in the glow of that moment, so that
turning onto my road, heading home,
I was not even surprised to see him again
miles up the road from our earlier passing,
this time heading toward me, no phone
but what looked like fat yellow ear muffs
or head phones, and as I passed
he lifted his hand, met my eyes,
smiled with delight as though,
exactly as though, we had scheduled
this meeting, had been coming toward
each other from two distant places
all our lives.

_______________________

Thanks, Gail! Gail Entrekin will be reading at the Sacramento Poetry Center next Monday night, May 1.

Tonight (4/26) is the monthly Hidden Passage Poetry reading from 6 to 7 pm at Hidden Passage Books, 352 Main St. in Placerville. It's an open-mic read-around, so bring your own poems or those of a favorite poet to share, or just come to listen.

Here's a snaky Medusa poem from D. Jayhne Edwards:

FUGITIVE FROM MEDUSA'S HAIRNET
—D. Jayhne Edwards, Santa Rosa

there's
a
snake
in-my
watery
wash
basin

no eyes
no mouth
no fangs
no tail

he?
she?
it?
often
appears
after-I
comb
my hair

writhing
slithering
his?
her?
its?
way
downward
toward the drain:

One human hair

_______________________

Thanks, D-Jayhne!


THE HOUSE WAS QUIET AND THE WORLD WAS CALM
—Wallace Stevens

The house was quiet and the world was calm.
The reader became the book; and summer night

Was like the conscious being of the book.
The house was quiet and the world was calm.

The words were spoken as if there was no book,
Except that the reader leaned above the page,

Wanted to lean, wanted much most to be
The scholar to whom his book is true, to whom

The summer night is like a perfection of thought.
The house was quiet because it had to be.

The quiet was part of the meaning, part of the mind:
The access of perfection to the page.

And the world was calm. The truth in a calm world,
In which there is no other meaning, itself

Is calm, itself is summer and night, itself
Is the reader leaning late and reading there.

________________________

—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.)

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Even a Turkey Can Be a Peacock

TEASING OUT THE PEACOCK
—Kathy Kieth, Fair Oaks

Sharp air of a February morning: sunny
slate-gray street lined with wild

turkeys: white frost-puffs pulling
dinosaur necks that bob, stoop,

comb suburban shrubbery, then
squawk and scatter at the rumble

of a garbage truck. . . Even a turkey
can be a peacock when the sun slants

over mahogany feathers: brief winter
light-coquette of a sun winking

its way through all this auburn:
combing for signs of spring: teasing out

the teals and the violets, ceruleans
and beryls, the verdigris: finally

releasing the harlequin dancer
that hides inside each of these

dark mountains of brown. . .

_______________________

Plenty of turkey courtship around here these days, gray weather be damned. Speaking of birds, today Walter de la Mare would be 133 years old. This poem (from his children's poetry book, Peacock Pie) is one of my all-time favorites, as the birds sweep in (read it out loud!). And check out Peacock Pie for beautiful sounds and other wonderful surprises. Happy birthday, Walt!

THE STORM
—Walter de la Mare

First there were two of us, then there were three of us,
Then there was one bird more,
Four of us—wild white sea-birds,
Treading the ocean floor;
And the wind rose, and the sea rose,
To the angry billows' roar—
With one of us—two of us—three of us—four of us
Sea-birds on the shore.

Soon there were five of us, soon there were nine of us,
And lo! in a trice sixteen!
And the yeasty surf curdled over the sands,
The gaunt grey rocks between;
And the tempest raved, and the lightning's fire
Struck blue on the spindrift hoar—
And on four of us—ay, and on four times four of us
Sea-birds on the shore.

And our sixteen waxed to thirty-two,
And they to past three score—
A wild, white welter of winnowing wings,
And ever more and more;
And the winds lulled, and the sea went down,
And the sun streamed out on high,
Gilding the pools and the spume and the spars
'Neath the vast blue deeps of the sky;

And the isles and the bright green headlands shone,
As they'd never shone before,
Mountains and valleys of silver cloud,
Wherein to swing, sweep, soar—
A host of screeching, scolding, scrabbling
Sea-birds on the shore—
A snowy, silent, sun-washed drift
Of sea-birds on the shore.

________________________

MAYDAY! Poems needed by May 1 for Snakelets, the journal of poetry from kids 0-12, and VYPER, for ages 13-19. Send 'em to kathykieth@hotmail.com. Also on May 1: Gail Entrekin will be reading at Sacramento Poetry Center; more about that later.

Tonight (Tues., 4/25) there will be a teen poetry open mike and music night at 6:30 at the Galt-Marion O. Lawrence Library as part of TV Turnoff Week. Free; 1000 Caroline Ave., Galt. Info: 916-264-2920.

Congrats to Laverne Frith for winning this year's California Federation of Chaparral Poets, Inc. Pegasus Award, and to Elsie Whitlow Feliz for winning their Roadrunnerup Award. And to littlesnake broadsider Indigo Moore, who has just received a fellowship to attend both sessions of the Summer Poetry workshops in Idyllwild, July 16-22. (To make this news all the more impressive, he didn't even apply!—He was nominated.)

One more poem for the birds; it's a Russell Edson kind of day:

THE BATH
—Russell Edson

A man was taking a bath in a tub of turkey gravy; floating a rubber duck to while away eternity. Eating mashed potatoes, dipping forkfuls in his bath...

It was gorgeous, the whole thing, he thought, me in soak with a duck, having mashed potatoes and gravy, while out there a whole crazy world...

_______________________

One more thing: rattlechapper and fellow poet/publisher/blogger James Lee Jobe's mother is seriously ill; click on the link to the right of this for details. And think good thoughts about JLJ and his family.

—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.)

Monday, April 24, 2006

ByWays & Desolation (& Po-Events 4/24-30)

HOW TO TRANSLATE THE POEM
—Taylor Graham, Somerset

It’s a rhyme I used to know
by heart,
but in another language.
A stanza about water splashing
into a stone basin.
The shadow of a curtain
at some window.
Stars played
in the slow current.

Translations are easy
for the young, when the mind
is flexible as a meniscus
and the water’s a swirl
of colors.

Maybe the imagination stiffens
with age and grammar
and logic’s gray circuitry.

Oh, the diagrams
that will never dance.

_______________________

Thanks, TG! Taylor Graham will be reading with others at the Appel Gallery next Sunday night at 7 pm; see the calendar below for details.

Poets Corner Press announces that congratulations are due to Chapbook Poetry Contest winner Nancy Wahl of Sacramento for her manuscript, "Proof of Life", which won a First Place Award of $500.00, plus publication. The Poets Corner’s contest was judged by Julia Connor, current Poet Laureate of Sacramento. See poetscornerpress.com for details (or click on the link next to this column).

And speaking of Julia, check out the current Sacramento News & Review for a wonderful feature on Think Postcard, Julia Connor’s Poet Laureate project. (See Medusa’s March 21 post for details of this project.)

Check out poetic forms on Bob's ByWay (a VERY comprehensive glossary of poetic terms), and Jan Haag's “The Desolation Poems”, which is a compendium of examples of poems in various forms. Just Google ‘em up: “Bob’s ByWay” and “Desolation Poems”. And keep on clicking the SPC blogsite for pix and other lively things; it currently features some way-cool photos of our Red Fox Underground friends from Placerville and environs.

Here are this week’s events—send me correx or additions or embellishments—and I hope you’re sitting down, considering how long this is!

•••Tonight (4/24), due to the unexpected passing of JoAnn Purdy, David Purdy's wife, the reading at the Sacramento Poetry Center that was to feature Rain Ananael and David Purdy will be held as a commemorative evening dedicated to the spirit of JoAnn Purdy. Anyone who knew JoAnn or knows David (who will not be in attendance) and would like to contribute to the evening's reading is welcome to come. 7:30 pm at Headquarters for the Arts, 25th & R Sts., Sac. Because of the special nature of this evening, the open mic will be postponed until the following week.

•••Wednesday (4/26) is the monthly Hidden Passage Poetry reading from 6 to 7 pm at Hidden Passage Books, 352 Main St. in Placerville. It's an open-mic read-around, so bring your own poems or those of a favorite poet to share, or just come to listen.

•••Thursday (4/27) will be another Think Postcard workshop, this time at Luna’s Café (1414 16th St., Sac.) at 5 pm. (See Medusa’s March 21 post for details of the postcard project.) Then, at 8 pm, Poetry Unplugged will feature D.R. Wagner.

•••Friday (4/28) at 5 pm. is the deadline for Sacramento News & Reviews’ Student Poetry Contest. Go to www.newsreview.com to enter online.

•••Saturday (4/29): The Central California Art Association & Mistlin Art Gallery announce that April is National Poetry Month, and to celebrate this, the Gallery will be featuring poets William O'Daly, Karen Baker, and debee loyd this Saturday at 4 pm on 1015 J St. in downtown Modesto. (Karen Baker and debee loyd are rattlechappers!)

•••Or on Saturday (4/29) from 12-6 pm, go down to the Berkeley Poetry Festival, featuring readers from the Bay Area poetry community: SF Poet Laureate Jack Hirschman, Jack and Adele Foley, Jennifer Stone, Julia Vinograd, Dorothy Jesse Beagle, Louis Cuneo, Lucy L. Day, Tim Donnelly, Randy Fingland, Gail Ford, Haleh Hatami, Dale Jensen, Debra Khattab, Kirk Lumpkin, Maggi H. Meyer, Phillip Nails, Mark Schwartz, Tsahai Under and Judy Wells. North Berkeley Sr. Center Main Auditorium, 1901 Hearst St. (at Martin Luther King Way), Berkeley. Info: 510-981-5190 or mothershen.com. Free; open mic.

•••Sunday (4/30) Appel Gallery in Sacramento is hosting a reading by "Tree Stories" poets at 7 pm. Appel Gallery is located at 931 T St. Sac., at the corner of 10th & T Sts. Regional poets reading include Joseph Finkleman, Susan Hennies, Rebecca Morrison, Taylor Graham & Brigit Truex. Please join them for this closing celebration of "Tree Stories", a showing of mixed media photographs by Judith Monroe. If you didn't get a chance to see "Tree Stories" yet, this will be a great opportunity to see the images in person. To learn more about the on-going Tree Stories project, see http://www.tree-stories.blogspot.com.

•••Also Sunday (4/30), Sutterwriters and It’s A Grind Coffee House have teamed up to bring a public reading of Blood on the Page: Collected Writings of Sutterwriters to the Natomas area. The free reading will be held at 7 pm at the It’s A Grind Coffee House, 2731 Del Paso Rd., Sac.

•••Also Sunday (4/30), the Nevada County Poetry Series will continue to celebrate National Poetry Month by holding the last of its open-mic readings at Booktown Books & Tomes. Open-mic readers are invited to submit their poems for possible inclusion in the NCPS 2006 Anthology. The free reading will be held from noon to 3 pm at Booktown Books and Tomes, 107 Bank St. (corner of South Auburn) in Grass Valley. Info: (530) 432-8196 or (530) 272-4655.

•••The Sacramento Bee's Second Annual Share a Story Children's Book Drive will end April 30. The goal is to collect 60,000 new and "gently used" books for young readers at 75 sites throught the region and to devote them to nonprofit agencies, which will place them in children's homes. Last year, 48,000 books were collected. Books in Spanish, Russian and Hmong languages are also hoped for, in addition to tax-deductible cash donations, and volunteers are needed to help sort the books. The Borders chain is offering a 15% discount on books bought and donated to the drive. For info on donating or volunteering: 916-556-5667 or www.sacbee.com/bookdrive.

Oy! Still lots going on, as Poetry Month comes to a close.

Time for a few Todd Cirillo thoughts on Hawaii. Todd Cirillo and Song Kowbell will be releasing rattlechaps at The Book Collector on May 10, but more about that later.

BIG ISLAND ROMANTIC
—Todd Cirillo, Grass Valley

Lovers
in the dark
hiding behind
seawalls
loving
in the moonlight
slowly
caressing
tender
soft parts
hoping
their tide
will finally
come in.

________________________

And Penn Valley poet Julie Valin sends a paean to Todd:

FINDING GOLD
for Todd Cirillo

Centuries of poets
have come before you

with the same wrung-out
heart, eyes mad
with women

and the glimmer
in the glass.

It’s too late for them—

but when will you,
my dear soul
with pirate swagger,

open your eyes
a million mornings

to the same treasure
of a woman

you closed
your eyes to

the night before

when the moon
spilled on your pillow
like a sigh

long before
last call?

—Julie Valin, Penn Valley

________________________

Thanks, Julie, Todd, and TG! Everybody keep them poems a-rollin’ in…

—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.)

Sunday, April 23, 2006

So Do Our Minutes Hasten...

LX
—William Shakespeare

Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore,
So do our minutes hasten to their end;
Each changing place with that which goes before.
In sequent toil all forwards do contend.
Nativity, once in the main of light,
Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crown'd,
Crooked eclipses 'gainst his glory fight,
And Time, that gave, doth now his gift confound.
Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth,
And delves the parallels in beauty's brow;
Feeds on the rarities of nature's truth,
And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow.
And yet, to times in hope, my verse shall stand,
Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand.

_______________________

Today is Will Shakespeare's 442nd birthday.

Errata alert: Last Friday's Ticket section of The Sacramento Bee listed Jane Blue's Book Collector reading today as happening at 8 pm instead of 4 pm. (They got it right in today's Ticket.) Please make note of this; Jane's reading is happening sooner than you think!

—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.)

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Our Snows are Melting

THE MOUNTAIN ASSAILED
—Denise Levertov

Animal mountain,
some of your snows are melting,
dark streaks reveal
your clefts, your secret creases.
The light quivers,
is it blue, is it gold?
I feel your breath
over the distance,
you are panting, the sun
gives you no respite.

________________________

Congratulations to Ken Huffman, an Elk Grove High School student who won the first Poetry Out Loud contest for poetry recitation last Friday at the Secretary of State Building in Sacramento. Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, students from Sacramento County gathered to recite poetry and were judged by, among others, California Poet Laureate Al Young. Ken won $200 with his recitation of Whitman's "Oh Captain! My Captain", and he will travel (all expenses paid) to Washington D.C. next month to compete for a $20,000 scholarship. Runner-up ($100) was Marianne Candela, with Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night". Limited to Sac. County this year, the contest hopes to expand to other counties next time. For more info (and pictures!), see the Metro section of today's Sacramento Bee.

Tonight (Saturday, 4/22): S.A. Griffin, John Dorsey, Ellyn Maybe, Robert Roden, Scott Wannberg, Lob read at 8 pm at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sac.. Info: 916-442-9295. Free.

•••Sunday (4/23), Rattlechapper-to-be (November) Jane Blue will read at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sac., at 4 pm. Info: 442-9295.

•••Also Sunday (4/23), the Nevada County Poetry Series will continue to celebrate National Poetry Month by holding another open-mic reading at Booktown Books & Tomes. Open-mic readers are invited to submit their poems for possible inclusion in the NCPS 2006 Anthology. The readings are free, from 12 to 3 pm this Sunday and next (4/30) at Booktown Books and Tomes, 107 Bank St. (corner of South Auburn) in Grass Valley. Info: (530) 432-8196 or (530) 272-4655. Free.

•••Also Sunday (4/23), Poet's Corner presents Kristi Britz and Josef Nguyen, Calliope Editors at University of the Pacific, who will read at Barnes & Noble, Stockton Weberstown Mall, 7 pm. (The address is 4950 Pacific Ave., Suite 319.) Free.

•••Or head up to Paradise (!) Sunday (4/23) for the inauguration of the new monthly Poets on the Ridge series, an open mic from 2:30-4:30 pm at Juice & Java, 7067 Skyway, Paradise. Info: 872-9633 (I'm assuming that's the 530 area code). Snake Pal Lara Gularte is hosting this new series, which will, I'm sure, feature some of the Skyway poets who were represented in the current issue of Rattlesnake Review. Free.

And most of all, today is Earth Day.


CEREMONIES
—Denise Levertov

The ash tree drops the few dry leaves it bore in May,
stands naked by mid-July.
When each day's evil news drains into the next,
a monotonous overflow,
has a tree's dying lost the right to be mourned?
No—life's indivisible. And this tree,
rooted beyond my fence, has been,
branch and curved twig, in leaf or bare, the net
that held the sky in my window.
Trunk in deep shade, its lofting crown
offers to each long day's
pale glow after the sun
is almost down, an answering gold—
the last light
held and caressed.

_______________________

—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.)

Friday, April 21, 2006

Asparagus and Hubris

STRETCHING OUR SOULS TOO THIN
—James Lee Jobe, Davis


What if a soul is larger

than we dreamed—not one

soul per body, but one soul

for fifty bodies, or for a thousand.

Each soul stretched across

the different lives it intersects.

Perhaps there are only so many souls,

say fifty or sixty thousand.

In the time of the cave paintings,

that would have been enough. But now?

It could be that the troubles of man

come from stretching our souls too thin.

_______________________

Thanks, JLJ! Check out the Jobester's blog by clicking on the link in the list to the right of this column. He, too, would like poets to send him their work.

It's Asparagus Festival time! Head on down to the waterfront in Stockton on Friday, Sat. and/or Sunday for asparagus ice cream, etc. Or check out one of the many fine poetry events happening in our environs, starting tonight with Our House Defines Art, which will hold a poetry reading at 7 pm in El Dorado Hills. Featured readers are Kate Wells, John Donnelly, and Jean Salfen, followed by an open mic. Our House Defines Art Gallery & Framing is located at 4510 Post St. in El Dorado Hills Town Center. Free.

Also tonight (4/21): Writers, poets, singers, songwriters, dancers salute Earth Day at Literature Alive! in Grass Valley. St. Joseph's Cultural Center, 410 S. Church St., Grass Valley, 7 pm, $8-$10. Info: 530-272-5812. More events tomorrow and
Sunday, including Jane Blue's reading at The Book Collector on Sunday at 4. (Check out Medusa's "Snakes and Taxes" post earlier this week for details.) You could go check out the "Tree Stories" exhibit of photographs and poems at the Appel Gallery on 10th & T in Sacramento; gallery hours are Thursday-Sunday, 1-6 pm. Or you could celebrate Earth Day tomorrow by picking up trash, or writing a poem, or just plain throwing yourself down on the grass and hugging it.

Or tomorrow you could go stand on the street in West Sac, watch for Prez Dubya's chopper to land... Relax—Medusa isn't going to editorialize, tempting as it is. But if you have HBO, there's a fine program this week about global warming.



WEST WIND BLOWING
—James Lee Jobe, Davis


The counter help confers

over a breakfast order

like Bush's Cabinet counting

the war dead.

The end is far, far from sight.

_______________________


WHERE INFINITY COMES FROM
—James Lee Jobe, Davis

(For Phil Goldvarg)


You are a spirit, and so am I; that much we know.

We feel it in certain lines of poems.

Spoken aloud the line flies through the air

like a long throw to third base

and when it hits us we go UMMPH.

Tomorrow, today, yesterday; it’s all the same to the stars,

and comparisons are either useless or dangerous.

So we live in the moment, your spirit, mine,

and we put the lines of poetry into the air.

I think that when a soul passes from this universe

to the next, another star is born to fill the void.

Is that where infinity comes from,

or where it goes? Ummph.

_______________________

Well-put, J-Lee. And thanks for the poems. Jim's rattlechap, What God Said When She Finally Answered Me, is available at The Book Collector ($5), or I'll mail you one for $6 (PO Box 1647, Orangevale, CA 95662).

—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.)