Where Unborn Poems Hide

Wordsworth
Photo by Katy Brown, Davis

CHANGING THE SEISMOGRAPH
(B.F. Loomis Ranger Station, Lassen Volcanic National Park)
—Tom Goff, Carmichael

Lore, shouted by ranger-hatted Dave Ashcraft
through window panes in a basalt seismograph booth:
A micro-Washington Monument stands in for Earth,
one quiverable yet obelisk-stolid shaft.
This vibrates a stiff inertial cylinder drum,
fixed to an armature of small needles sketching
gramophone-fashion across a bigger drum-etching
of what the beneath world mutters as it rumbles.
State-of-the-art in nineteen-twenty-nine.
A scroll of seismic paper called glassine
gets changed each twenty-eight hours. Just a gearspin
rotisserie-style clicks a fresh drum down in
or lifts the last-used one up and out for study.
[Dave, confiding:] "Where applied science is pure research,
good in itself; and to me, a thing of wonder."
Odd how each glassine flimsy endures as if sturdy
its paperclipped trial-by-smoking with kerosene fire
—so many Turin Shrouds, so many subsurface thunders.

_______________________

Thanks, Tom! Tom Goff writes: It struck me, in the light of your recent call for "found poems," that there's an intellectual basis for all who engage in such appropriation or collage-like activity: a relevant (and engaging) article is Jonathan Lethem's "The Ecstasy of Influence," in the February Harper's. Lethem's web site, which links to this article, also connects to a web site for a movement called, I think, "Open Culture."


Starting National Poetry Month with PoemSpirits:

Speaking of Tom Goff, he and his lovely wife, Nora Staklis, together with rattlechapper JoAnn Anglin, host PoemSpirits on the first Sunday of each month. This is a warm and wonderful reading series (which I inadvertently left off this week's calendar—I am so sorry about that); tomorrow (Sunday, 4/1) at 6 PM they feature Sacramento's Tim Bellows, together with a presentation by JoAnn on Poet Jane Hirschfield. They meet at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento, 2425 Sierra Blvd., Sacramento. Free, open mic, and refreshments. Info: 916-451-1372. [See Medusa's February 15 post for a profile of Tim Bellows.] Give yourself a treat to kick off National Poetry Month—be there!


Of National Poetry Month:

Bill Gainer sends us the following (thanks, Bill!): Of National Poetry Month, the Academy of American Poets says, "In 1996, with the help of a variety of government agencies, educators, publishers, sponsors, poets, and arts organizations the Academy of American Poets established April as National Poetry Month. The concept was to create a month-long, national celebration of poetry to increase the attention paid – by individuals and the media – to the art of poetry, to living poets, to our poetic heritage, and to poetry books and magazines. In the end, the Academy hoped to achieve an increase in the visibility, presence, and accessibility of poetry in our culture. National Poetry Month has been successful beyond all anticipation and has grown over the years into the largest literary celebration in the world."

(Medusa started National Poetry Month a day early, with a photo of Wordsworth.)


Sign up for Poem-a-Day:

Nine years ago, Knopf began a tradition. To celebrate National Poetry Month, they sent a poem a day by e-mail for 30 days to anyone who asked to receive them. Now, with over 25,000 subscribers, they are proud to continue with a whole new series of daily poems. Each day during the month of April, you will receive a poem from some of the best poets in the world including Mark Strand, Sharon Olds, and Laurie Sheck, as well as classics from Langston Hughes, Robert Burns and more. This year, we'll also be featuring audio clips from The Knopf National Poetry Month Collection, special printable broadsides, signed books and more. If you know of someone who might like to join the poem-a-day party, to sign up, they may visit http://www.randomhouse.com/knopf/poetry/poemaday/


Youth poetry workshop in Berkeley:

Next Thursday (4/5), 4-6 PM: The 15th Annual Youth Arts Festival will hold a Youth Poetry Workshop. The poetry topic is peace poems. Send any interested youth you know to Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut Street (inside Live Oak Park), Berkeley.

_______________________

POETS
—James Laughlin

It is the nature of poets
to believe that they are

great (or will become great)
that their lines will echo

down the ages and be studied
by schoolchildren but this

is statistically unlikely
the latest figures from the

NEA estimate that there are
about 100,000 more or less

literate poets in the USA
(of whom 10% are graduates

of creative writing courses)
I think my favorite of all

these poets is a young man
I met in Santa Fe he played

the role of a poet because he
felt like a poet but he never

took the risk of writing a
single poem his life was

his poetry and he was happy.

________________________

April freebee!

This poem (and the next three) are from a wonderful book called This Art: Poems About Poetry, edited for Copper Canyon Press by Michael Wiegers. To kick off National Poetry Month, let's have a give-away! Send me your poems about The Writing Life—any take on it that you see fit—by midnight Wednesday, April 4, and I'll send you a free copy of Steve Williams' new rattlechap, Skin Stretched Around the Hollow—or any other Rattlesnake Press chap of your choosing (collect 'em all!). Send your musings and commiserations to kathykieth@hotmail.com or P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726. Remember: prev-pubs are A-OK for Medusa, but please cite previous publication.

This month, we're extending the freebee to include a photo, drawing—any visual about The Writing Life (loosely interpreted) that can be posted on Medusa. Email them or snail them before midnight on Wednesday, and you'll get a free chap, too. Or send me a picture AND poem(s) and get TWO freebees! Such a deal...!

________________________

EARLY SPRING EAST OF TOWN
—Yang Chu-Yuan

The best time for a poet is when spring is new
when willows turn gold but not completely
if you wait until the Royal Woods look like brocade
everyone will be out gawking at flowers

(translated from the Chinese by Red Pine)

________________________

REVISIONIST POEM—OCTAVIO PAZ
—Thomas McGrath

The world is an invention of the spirit the spirit
Is an invention of the body the body
Is an invention of the world

________________________

"POETRY IS VERDANT"
—Jaan Kaplinski

Poetry is verdant—in spring
it is born from each raindrop, each
ray of light falling on the ground.
How much room do we have for them
between a morning and an evening
or upon a page in a book?
But now, in autumn when black clouds
slide low above us, brushing
high-tension pylons and crows
dozing there in the dusk, because
there is hardly day at all, the night is
two long black fingers holding day
and us in a grip so tight we barely have
room to breathe or think. Everything I write
is in spite of this weight
that comes, comes again, wanting
to plunge us into sleep,
into the dreams of decaying leaves and grassroots
and of the earth itself where
all our unthought thoughts and unborn poems hide.

(translated from the Estonian by Jaan Kaplinski, Riina Tamm, and Sam Hamill)

_______________________

Maybe it's no accident that National Poetry Month is during the most active month of Spring...

—Medusa

Medusa encourages poets of all ilk and ages to send their POETRY, PHOTOS and ART, as well as announcements of Northern California poetry events to kathykieth@hotmail.com (or snail ‘em to P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726) 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.)


SnakeWatch: Up-to-the-minute Snake news:

Journals: Rattlesnake Review #13 is available at The Book Collector; next deadline is May 15. The new VYPER #6 (for youth 13-19) will be out April 11. Snakelets 10 (for kids-12) is available; next deadline is May 1.

Books/broadsides: Current releases are Skin Stretched Around the Hollow by Steve Williams and littlesnake broadside #32 by Brad Buchanan: Ultrasound. Next release: April 11, 7:30 PM, at The Snake’s Third Annual Birthday Bash and Buffet at The Book Collector: SnakeRings SpiralChap #7 from D.R. Wagner: Where The Stars Are Kept, and littlesnake broadside #33: Swallowed By This Whale Of Time by Ann Menebroker.

Something new: Rattlesnake Interview Series also premieres April 11; #1 is Ann Menebroker.

This Whale...

Annie Menebroker

SIMULATED MEMORY
(for G.B.)
—Ann Menebroker, Sacramento

Two women, one from Ohio
the other from Washington, D.C.
remember long train rides,
remember the lullaby back and
forth of the train, the rocking
motion of forward. At the
Railroad Museum, they board
a single Pullman car, feel the
familiar rocking; want to stay
inside forever, swallowed
by this whale of time.

_______________________

Thanks, Annie—and happy birthday! Rattlesnake Press has two offerings coming from Ann Menebroker: a new littlesnake broadside (Swallowed By This Whale Of Time), and Rattlesnake Interview Series #1. Both will appear April 11 at the Third Annual Rattlesnake Birthday Bash and Buffet. Be there!


Winding up Out Loud:

Regarding the recent California Finals of Poetry Out Loud for highschoolers, Sacramento News & Review's Jonathan Kiefer has written a fine review in this week's SN&R. It's on page 32 of the current print edition, or http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/Content?oid=302949


This weekend:

•••Saturday (3/31), 7-9 PM: “The Show” Poetry Series at Wo’se Community Center, 2863 35th St., Sac. (off 35th & Broadway) features Dahlak, Flo Real, Tezeta Stawartz, Robin "Essence" Joseph, Aaron Clyde, plus the band LSB. $5. Info: 916-455-POET.

•••Saturday (3/31) is the last day to go up to the Cozmic Cafe in Placerville (594 Main St.) to see the photography by Irene Lipshin and poetry displayed by Red Fox Underground, celebrating the concept of world peace.

•••Sat. (3/31), 4 PM: The Central California Art Association and the Mistlin Art Gallery announce a poetry reading at 1015 J St. in Downtown Modesto. The reading will be featuring poets from Sixteen Rivers Press, a shared-work, nonprofit poetry collective dedicated to providing an alternative publishing avenue for San Francisco Bay Area poets. Award-winning Modesto poet Gillian Wegener is a member of the collective and will be reading some of her work and introducing fellow Collective Members Nina Lindsay (author of Today's Special Dish) and Helen Wickes (author of In Search of Landscape). They will be traveling in from the Bay Area for the reading and book signing/reception, which will be in the gallery following the reading. The public is welcome. Free, although a modest donation toward the gallery would be appreciated.

•••Sunday (4/1), 6 PM: PoemSpirits presents Tim Bellows, plus JoAnn Anglin offers a presentation on Poet Jane Hirschfield. Bring a poem to share, too. Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento, 2425 Sierra Blvd., Sacramento. Info: 916-451-1372. [See Medusa's March 14 post for a profile of Tim Bellows.]

•••Also Sunday (4/1), 2:30-4:30 PM: Poets on the Ridge Poetry Reading (open mic) at Juice & Java, 7067 Skyway, Paradise. Info: 530-872-9633.

•••Monday (4/2), doors open at 6 PM: Poetic Justice, a benefit for frank andrick to help with medical and living expenses. HQ for the Arts, 25th and R Sts., Sacramento. Confirmed guests (more later) include Mary Zeppa, Becca Costello, Star Vaughn, Rachel Leibrock, Terryl Wheat, Mario Ellis Hill, B.L. Kennedy, Jay Greenburg, Gilberto Rodriguez and local novelist James Rollins, plus more people and more stuff to be announced. Music by J. Greenberg and Joel Ginsberg. A refreshment/cocktail style opening with jazz music, and Bob Stanley will do a solo set of collaborative work with film, people, and imaginations. Donations of $10 will be gratefully accepted and there will also be a raffle. Hosted by Bob Stanley and Edie Lambert. Please contact: bobstanley@sbcglobal.net or poetrynow@sacramentopoetrycenter.org or http://www.jamesrollins.com or Fandrickfabpub@hotmail.com

•••Also next Monday (4/2), 7:30 PM: The Other Voice presents Indigo Moor and Josh Fernandez reading their poetry at The Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis, 27074 Patwin Road, Davis. There will be an open reading following the poets. This is a free event. James Lee Jobe will host. For more details, including directions and a map, go to http://uupoetry.blogspot.com or call 530-750-3514.

______________________

How about a little Lorca to celebrate Cesar Chavez' birthday?

ADAM
—Federico Garcia Lorca

The morning by a tree of blood was dewed
and near to it the newborn woman groans.
Her voice left glass within the wound, and strewed
the window with a diagram of bones.

Meanwhile the day had reached with steady light
the limits of the fable, which evades
the tumult of the bloodstream in its flight
towards the dim cool apple in the shades.

Adam, within the fever of the clay,
dreams a young child comes galloping his way,
felt in his cheeks, with double pulse of blood.

But a dark other Adam dreaming yearned
for a stone neuter moon, where no seeds bud,
in which that child of glory will be burned.

(translated from the Spanish by Roy Campbell)

_______________________

PAUSE OF THE CLOCK
—Federico Garcia Lorca

I sat down
in a space of time.
It was a backwater
of silence,
a white silence,
a formidable ring
wherein the stars
collided with the twelve floating
black numerals.

(translated by Stanley Read)

_______________________

THE SPINSTER AT MASS
—Federico Garcia Lorca

Beneath the Moses of the incense,
drowsing.

Bull eyes observe you.
Your rosary raining.

In that dress of silk so dense,
never stir, Virginia.

Give the black melons of your breasts
to the murmur of the mass.

(translated by Edwin Honig)

_______________________

Oh—and congratulations to rattlechapper Ron Tranquilla of Grass Valley on the birth of his and Penny's twin grandsons. He writes: Alex George is 5 pounds, Paul Ronald is 6 pounds. They're doing extremely well, as is Lori. The babies are very sweet (but just wait!), and we're happy. Ron has a new rattlechap coming May 9, called Playing Favorites.

—Medusa

Medusa encourages poets of all ilk and ages to send their POETRY, PHOTOS and ART, as well as announcements of Northern California poetry events to kathykieth@hotmail.com (or snail ‘em to P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726) 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.)


SnakeWatch: Up-to-the-minute Snake news:

Journals: Rattlesnake Review #13 is available at The Book Collector; next deadline is May 15. The new VYPER #6 (for youth 13-19) will be out next week. Snakelets 10 (for kids-12) is available; next deadline is May 1.

Books/broadsides: Current releases are Skin Stretched Around the Hollow by Steve Williams and littlesnake broadside #32 by Brad Buchanan: Ultrasound. Next release: April 11, 7:30 PM at the Snake’s Third Annual Birthday Bash and Buffet at The Book Collector: SnakeRings SpiralChap #7 from D.R. Wagner: Where The Stars Are Kept, and littlesnake broadside #33: Swallowed By This Whale Of Time by Ann Menebroker.

Something new: Rattlesnake Interview Series also premiers April 11; #1 is Ann Menebroker.

Treading in the Deep

Fairy Tale Town, Sacramento
Photo by Katy Brown, Davis

pharmacopoeia
—dawn di bartolo, sacramento

~ this place
is
beauty ~

took a walk
thru my remedy today

and realized
God;

this place
is for me
right now

because He knows
the moment,
however brief.

i walked
and took the Sun

~ rubbed it
into my skin;

breathed stillness
until my lungs
were full;

let silence drip
into my ringing ears ~

accepting peace
to my fear of quiet;

i felt
every
muscle
vibrate in symphony
with the Earth;

and i dreamed
for the first time
in days.

______________________

Thanks, Dawn! See more of Dawn Di Bartolo's work in Rattlesnake Review #13, now available for free at The Book Collector.


New website for Dancing Poetry Contest, Festival and more:

Artists Embassy International is proud to announce the opening of their new website, www.dancingpoetry.com. For information on the Dancing Poetry Contest and the Dancing Poetry Festival, visit this exciting new site. There are Grand Prize- winning poems from 2006, and photos from the 2006 Festival. Since this is a new site, visit us frequently and watch us grow. Contest information, Festival information, Dancing Poetry classes, poetic products related to various arts, reports on recent and upcoming events are all scheduled to be regularly updated. Mark your calendars for two important dates: May 15, 2007 is the deadline to submit your poems to the Dancing Poetry Contest. (See www.dancingpoetry.com for rules.) Then, on Saturday, September 29, 2007, come to the fabulous California Palace of the Legion of Honor to see and hear the premier dance performance of the three Grand Prize-winning poems, plus all Dancing Poetry Contest prize-winning poets are invited to read their poems at this prestigious podium. Dance troupes from around the world will offer an afternoon of performing to poetry in this spectacular theatrical setting. Check it out!


Big poetry doin's up the hill in April:

•••Every Sunday in April, 1-3 PM: The Nevada County Poetry Series is celebrating National Poetry Month by holding its annual April open-mic readings at Booktown Books & Tomes. Bill Gainer says, This year we again had the opportunity to partner with Booktown to be part the largest literary celebration in the world and we jumped on it! What better place to showcase National Poetry Month than the community's largest independent, co-operative bookstore? It is a great location and a great venue. The place is alive with poetry! Everyone is invited to bring a friend and a poem and be part of the largest annual literary celebration in the world! Booktown is a fun, safe and often enchanting place to spend a Sunday afternoon in April. Free at Booktown Books and Tomes, 107 Bank Street (corner of South Auburn) in Grass Valley. For more info, call: (530) 432-8196 or (530) 272-4655.

•••Monday (4/16), 7 PM: California Poet Laureate Al Young will visit Nevada City as part of his "Top to Bottom" tour of the Golden State. The visit corresponds with National Poetry and National Library month in April, and the tour is focused on California's rural areas. Like all culture, poetry travels where people often can't or don't, said Young. The object of this tour is not so much to bring poetry to California's artistically vibrant communities but, rather, to bring out inspire and cheer the poetic impulse, which is human. Young will be reading his work, along with local poets Bill Gainer and Gail Entrekin, at the Madelyn Helling Library, 980 Helling Way (just outside downtown Nevada City). Admission is free. For more information, please call (530) 265-7050. Funding for these local poets is provided by the California Office of Poets and Writers, a national service organization. Young's selection of poetry will be derived from past and current works: Heaven; The Sound of Dreams Remembered; and Coastal Nights and Inland Afternoons. He will also be reading from brand-new works, including some poetry from his new book, Something About the Blues, which will be released in October 2007.

•••Then on Thursday (4/19), 7:30 PM: the Nevada County Poetry Series presents Poets Joyce Jenkins, Richard Silberg and Daryl Chinn. Bill Gainer says, Editor, publisher, teacher, writer, poet and more—there is nothing left out when Joyce Jenkins, Richard Silberg and Daryl Chinn enter the building. They are major, long-time contributors to the West Coast literary scene. It is a very special gift to have them bring their talents to our stage. These are the shoulders the aspiring need to lean against. Tickets can be purchased at the door for $5 general, seniors and students, and $1 for those under 18. Refreshments and open-mic included. 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. For more information call (530) 432-8196 or (530) 274-8384.


Tonight:

•••Thursday (3/29), 8 PM: Poetry Unplugged at Luna's Cafe (1414 16th St., Sac.) presents Kathy Kieth and Rattlesnake Press. Info: 916-441-3931 or www.lunascafe.com. Open mic before/after.


New Medusa feature:

If you look at the bottom of each daily post, you will now see SnakeWatch, a daily progress report of where we are with each of our publications and events. Watch this spot for the most recent, up-to-the-minute ophidian chicanery you can find!

_______________________

unlullaby
—dawn di bartolo

rock-a-by
to a sky unblue ~

i sing to you
of truths:

closet monsters
lurk in the clouds;

the sun is asleep.

don't weep to oblige
the storm's fitful cries ~

life needs to be fed,
not tears for water;

hasn't had real meat
in days,

and the moon is not at rest,
but rots

in the diaper
of an unchanged season.

_______________________

pocket change
—dawn di bartolo

the Sun
blessed our endeavors
until the expansion
of Love
was burning
in our pockets.

_______________________

treading verse
—dawn di bartolo

i could write
the emotion of the sky
not mine
but soulful all the same;

or the ghosts of folks
that breezed by
at the flea market today,
everyone in varieties of gone ~
stages deceased...
levels of living;

my own little girl
gone ageless
before my very eyes ~
i cried at her birth
and watered her into womanhood
without even blinking.

i could write
to test the waters
at the shallows,
but seem always to end up
treading in the deep.

_______________________

—Medusa

Medusa encourages poets of all ilk and ages to send their POETRY, PHOTOS and ART, as well as announcements of Northern California poetry events to kathykieth@hotmail.com (or snail ‘em to P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726) 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.)

SnakeWatch: Up-to-the-minute Snake news hot off the griddle:

Journals: Rattlesnake Review #13 is available at The Book Collector; next deadline is May 15. The new VYPER #6 (for youth 13-19) will be out next week (sometime around April 1); next deadline is Nov. 1. Snakelets 10 (for kids-12) is available; next deadline is May 1.

Books/broadsides: Current releases are Skin Stretched Around the Hollow by Steve Williams, and littlesnake broadside #32 (Ultrasound) by Brad Buchanan. Next release party is April 11 (4-1-1), 7:30 PM, at the Snake’s Third Annual Birthday Bash and Buffet at The Book Collector. To be released that night: SnakeRings SpiralChap #7 from D.R. Wagner: Where The Stars Are Kept (A Collection of Poetry and Art), and littlesnake broadside #33: Swallowed By This Whale Of Time by Ann Menebroker. Also:

Something new: Rattlesnake Interview Series (conversations between B.L. Kennedy and NorCal poets) also premiers April 11; #1 is Ann Menebroker.

What's the 4-11? Lucky 7!!

Pre-coffee Snake
by Sam The Snake Man Kieth

TO WRITE MORE
—Jaan Kaplinski

To write more. To speak more. To whom?
How? Why? What sense does it make? Soon
we may be forced into silence. Soon
we may be forced to speak more
and more loudly. Who knows. But what
remains unspoken is always the most important:
this little man, this child, this
word, thought, and look of a child
deep inside you, you must guard,
you must defend and cherish.
And with it you will learn to speak,
and with it you will learn to be silent
if you must.

(translated from the Estonian by Jaan Kaplinski, Riina Tamm, and Sam Hamill)

______________________

The countdown begins!

Two weeks from tonight, on April 11 (4-11), Rattlesnake Press will celebrate its third birthday with a spectacular reading and a serious buffet! Come on down to The Book Collector (1008 24th St., Sacramento) at 7:30 PM to hear some of Sacramento's finest while you graze on enough food to qualify as dinner and celebrate three years of poetry and readings, including 32 chapbooks, 7 spiralchaps, 33 broadsides, 13 Reviews, 6 Vypers, 10 Snakelets, Fangs I, and whatever else I've forgotten in my dotage. Our main feature for the evening will be Mimeograph Revolution Legend D.R. Wagner, releasing his first book of art and poetry in over ten years, entitled Where the Stars are Kept. This will be Lucky #7 in the SnakeRings SpiralChap Series, an 8.5"Xll", spiralbound collection of D.R.'s poetry and art. See a beautiful sample of D.R.'s poetry in the current issue of Rattlesnake Review.

Also emerging that night, just in time for spring, is the brand-new Rattlesnake Interview Series, a monthly, broadside-format release which will feature conversations between B.L. Kennedy and some of the finest poets in Northern California. (Actually, we hope to get to ALL of our poets eventually, one by one.) At the end of the year, we plan to collect these broadsides into a yearly interview anthology. RIS #1 will be a conversation with Poetry Legend Annie Menebroker, who has also consented to give us April's littlesnake broadside of poetry, Swallowed By This Whale Of Time, in honor of the occasion.

Plus, Issue #6 of VYPER, the journal of poetry from people 13-19, will be out by that time, too, packed with teen angst and action and even art this time.

And who knows what other tricks the Snake has up his sleeve for the occasion (so to speak)? Circle the date. Be there!


Meanwhile, tonight:

•••Weds. (3/28), 6-7 PM: Hidden Passage Poetry Reading 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 and talk to the skeleton in the floor.


Save next Monday:

•••Monday (4/2), 7:30 PM: Poetic Justice, a benefit for frank andrick to help with medical and living expenses. HQ for the Arts, 25th and R Sts., Sacramento. Confirmed guests (more later) include Gene Bloom, Barbara Noble, Mary Zeppa, Becca Costello, Rachel Leibrock, Terryl Wheat, B.L. Kennedy, Jay Greenburg, Gilberto Rodriguez and local novelist James Rollins, plus more people and more stuff to be announced. A refreshment/cocktail style opening with jazz music, and Bob Stanley will do a solo set of collaborative work with film, people, and imaginations. Donations will be gratefully accepted and there will also be a raffle. Hosted by Bob Stanley and Edie Lambert. Please contact: bobstanley@sbcglobal.net or poetrynow@sacramentopoetrycenter.org or http://www.jamesrollins.com or Fandrickfabpub@hotmail.com

•••Also next Monday (4/2), 7:30 PM: The Other Voice presents Indigo Moor and Josh Fernandez reading their poetry at The Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis, 27074 Patwin Road, Davis. There will be an open reading following the poets. This is a free event. James Lee Jobe will host. For more details, including directions and a map, go to http://uupoetry.blogspot.com or call 530-750-3514.

Indigo Moor is a 2003 recipient of Cave Canem’s Writing fellowship in poetry, vice president of the Sacramento Poetry Center, and editor for the Tule Review. His work has appeared in the Xavier Review, LA Review, Mochila Review, Boston University’s The Comment, The Ringing Ear, the NCPS 2006 Anthology, and Gathering Ground.

Josh Fernandez has an English degree from UC Davis, works at the Woodland Daily Democrat as the arts editor and lives in midtown Sacramento. Some of his work can be read in Hardpan, The Two Penny Review, paxAmericana Journal, Sussurus, TKO Webzine, Seele and Poetry Now.

_______________________

THE SNOW AND THE PLUM—I
—Lu Mei-P'o

The plum and ths snow both claim the spring
a poet gives up trying to decide
the plum must admit the snow is three times whiter
but the snow can't match a wisp of plum perfume

_______________________

THE SNOW AND THE PLUM—II
—Lu Mei-P'o

The plum without the snow isn't very special
but snow without a poem is simply commonplace
at sunset when the poem is doen then it snows again
together with the plum they complete the spring

(translated from the Chinese by Red Pine)

_______________________

COUNTRY SCENE
—Ho Xuan Hu'o'ng

The waterfall plunges in mist.
Who can describe this desolate scene:

the long white river sliding through
the emerald shadows of the ancient canopy

...a shepherd's horn echoing in the valley,
fishnets stretched to dry on sandy flats.

A bell is tolling, fading, fading
just like love. Only poetry lasts.

(translated from the Vietnamese by John Balaban)

_______________________

—Medusa

Medusa encourages poets of all ilk and ages to send their POETRY, PHOTOS and ART, as well as announcements of Northern California poetry events to kathykieth@hotmail.com (or snail ‘em to P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726) 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.)

A Devil's Caretaker

Giant Peace Sign in San Francisco
Photo by Irene Lipshin, Placerville

Today's photograph is part of the display at the Cozmic Cafe in Placerville (594 Main St.), featuring photography by Irene Lipshin and poetry displayed by Red Fox Underground. Be sure to drive up and see Irene's beautiful photographs celebrating the concept of world peace. The showing will continue through March 31.

_______________________

LINES AFTER NERUDA
—Anyssa Neumann, Berlin

Play me a guitar
Mellow and tender
Strum me softly
Rippling waves on midnight sand

Sing me sweetly
Voice like summer wine
Under strong, gentle hands
I will blend your song

Cover me lightly
In orange blossomed breeze
No frenzied violin
Bleeding tears to the sea

So play me a guitar
Mellow and tender
Caress my evening stillness
And I will sing you moonlight

_______________________

Thanks, Anyssa! Anyssa Neumann was born and raised in Sacramento and now lives in Berlin, Germany. She writes to say she heard about Medusa and the Khaotic Kitchen from Sacramento Poet Theresa McCourt. Watch for more of Anyssa's poetry in Snake 14, deadline 5/15.

The last contributors' and subscription copies of Snake 13 are going into the mail today; if you think you should be getting one and don't by the end of the week, let me know. There are some at The Book Collector, too, and there will also be a stack at Luna's this coming Thursday, when Medusa and her ophidian pals will be strutting their stuff...


SPC Writers' Workshop coming in April:

Register now for the Sacramento Poetry Center Writers’ Workshop on April 20-21! Friday night (4/20) will feature a reading by area poets; then Saturday (4/21) will be a day-long series of workshops, readings and discussions from creative writing teachers including Danny Romero, Heather Hutcheson, Camille Norton, Gail Entrekin, Andy Jones, Angela-Dee Alforque, !X (of the Sac City Ethnic Theater Workshop), Brad Henderson and Tim Kahl. I can’t seem to find out what the fees are, either on the blog or in Poetry Now, so email the SPC folks at poetrynow@sacramentopoetrycenter or call 916-979-9706 to register and to get further info. The conference will be held at HQ for the Arts, 25th & R Sts., Sacramento.


Poet's Espresso:

The Stockton poetry journal, Poet’s Espresso, is looking for material for the April-May 2007 issue. The themes are Mother's Day and Spring. They're looking for poetry, artwork, photography, recipes, very short stories, quotes/truisms and any other creative works by you. Deadline is April 4. They'd also like two to four lines about yourself included with your submission, and a picture is optional of yourself for the biography section. For online back issues of Poet's Espresso or for subscriptions, you can find additional info at http://www.poetsespresso.com

________________________

THE INHERITANCE SPEECH
—Rhony Bhopla, Sacramento

The ghost arrives at the Hindu temple
her hat, slanted to the left, eye cocked
to the right
she peaks out from under the bags
that fall about her lids, and croaks
full of anguish at the devotees,
waving her stiletto heels in the air,
a spectacle of irreverence,
warning Krishna, that She is here
with death of cow on her tongue
spewing her seventy years of bed-ridden
soul, withering in front of a vibrant
but scared croud, with
irrefutible visible claim that
the Indian monkey’s ass cannot be as
red as her own neck, partially visible
protruding her head caked of make-up
borrowed from a devil’s caretaker.

Whoever said women are gentle creatures
did not know the presence of this ghost
claiming to be her father’s daughter —
her mother’s watch-guard, and her sisters’
unspoken love-greed, in her garbled squawking
ancestral call, resounding chills
in all human flesh, reminds us of
the underworld,
unbending before priests,
moments unto the annual fire, waving
her bony finger toward the goddesses as
tears run down her ghastly face, dripping onto
yellow strands of hair that once, perhaps,
were those of an innocent Hindu girl,
fully braided shiny black,
and undoubtedly bleached unlucky.

_______________________

FEATHER FALLS
—Tom Goff, Carmichael

We opt for the shorter, steeper trail
to the waterfall. Our legs and backs
burn all the way for our choice,
swigs of water, gobbets of food
assuaging the ache. Pine aroma, manzanita’s
reddish black twists under soft green,
redbud’s astonishing violet sprigs,
and Indian Paintbrush in concert salve
the granite-and-white-dust glare. We trudge
towards the waters’ echoes as soldiers guide
on the gunblast: Frey Creek,
the Middle Fork of the Feather
coiling turquoise in its green-tufted ravine
(our view aloft enough to see only the slower
truths of the current). Then, revealed at last,
the Fall River plummets daggerwise
to the crash of the gorge: fell, maniacal;
sublime, as Burke would tell us,
in its terrors. Granite and basalt
shoulders direct this eternal
outpour, water upon water, and, in the heart
of the ablution: plume after plume,
many-foliate Heraclitean arrow,
feathered to shoot god-straight,
explodes this boulder all about us
to rainbow, pine duff,
and nymph-slender lavender butterfly; food
a great weariness desperately needs.

_______________________

Thanks, Rhony and Tom!

—Medusa

Medusa encourages poets of all ilk and ages to send their POETRY, PHOTOS and ART, as well as announcements of Northern California poetry events to kathykieth@hotmail.com (or snail ‘em to P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726) 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.)

Long Farewells at Heaven's Gate

SOUTH OF THE YANGTZE, THINKING OF SPRING
—Li Po

How many times will I see spring green
again, or yellow birds tireless in song?

The road home ends at the edges of heaven.
Here beyond the river, my old hair white,

my heart flown north to cloudy passes,
I'm shadow in moonlit southern mountains.

My life a blaze of spent abundance, my old
fields and gardens buried in weeds, where

am I going? It's year's-end, and I'm here
chanting long farewells at heaven's gate.

_______________________

Thanks to Stephani Shaefer of Los Molinos for today's Li Po and Wislawa Szymborska.

EVERY CASE
—Wislawa Szymborska

It could have happened.
It must have happened.
It happened earlier. Later.
Closer by. Further away.
It happened not to you.

You survived because you were the first.
You survived because you were the last.
Because you were alone. Because you were with others.
Because to the left. Because to the right.
Because it rained. Because there was shade.
Because the day was sunny.

Fortunately a forest was there.
Fortunately no trees were there.
Fortunately a rail, a hook, a bar, a brake,
an embrasure, a curve, a millimeter, a second.
Fortunately a razor was floating on water.

As a consequence, because, and yet, in spite.
What it would have been if a hand, a leg,
within an ace of, by a hair's breadth
saved from a combination of circumstances.

So you are here? Straight from an abrogated moment?
The net had just one mesh and you went through that mesh?
I am all surprise and all silence.
Listen,
how quickly your heart beats to me.

_______________________


This week in poetry:

•••Tonight (Monday, 3/26), 7:30 PM: Sacramento Poetry Center presents Tim Bellows at HQ for the Arts, 25th & R Sts., Sac. [See Medusa's February 15 post for a profile of Tim.]

•••Tuesday (3/27), 8:30-9:30 PM: Bistro 33 in Davis presents littlesnake broadsider Judy Halebsky (with two other Squaw Valley poets, don't ask me who). Judy will be leaving us very soon for her doctoral studies in Japan, so be sure to drive over to Davis and say goodbye.

•••Weds. (3/28), 6-7 PM: Hidden Passage Poetry Reading 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 (3/29), 8 PM: Poetry Unplugged at Luna's Cafe (1414 16th St., Sac.) presents Kathy Kieth and Rattlesnake Press. Info: 916-441-3931 or www.lunascafe.com. Open mic before/after.

•••Saturday (3/31), 9 PM: “The Show” Poetry Series at Wo’se Community Center, 2863 35th St., Sac. (off 35th & Broadway). $5. Info: 916-455-POET.

•••Sat. (3/31), 4 PM: The Central California Art Association and the Mistlin Art Gallery announce a poetry reading at 1015 J St. in Downtown Modesto. The reading will be featuring poets from Sixteen Rivers Press, a shared-work, nonprofit poetry collective dedicated to providing an alternative publishing avenue for San Francisco Bay Area poets. Award-winning Modesto poet Gillian Wegener is a member of the collective and will be reading some of her work and introducing fellow Collective Members Nina Lindsay (author of Today's Special Dish) and Helen Wickes (author of In Search of Landscape). They will be traveling in from the Bay Area for the reading and book signing/reception, which will be in the gallery following the reading. The public is welcome. Free, although a modest donation toward the gallery would be appreciated.

•••The 6th Annual Pleasanton Poetry, Prose and Arts Festival will be held on Saturday, March 31 at the CarrAmerica Conference Center, 4400 Rosewood Drive in Pleasanton. This all-day Festival will include poetry and prose workshops for all ages, poetry and prose contests for festival participants with over $1,200 in prizes, a fine arts show, book signings, “Literary Row,” music and an awards banquet. This year’s event will include presentations by Al Young, California Poet Laureate and Michael Chabon, Pulitzer-Prize winning novelist and screenwriter. It may not be too late to register; try the PCAC website, www.pleasantonarts.org, or contact Michelle Russo at City of Pleasanton Civic Arts, (925) 931-5350 Kirk Ridgeway at PleasantonPoetry@comcast.net.

•••Sunday (4/1), 2:30-4:30 PM: Poets on the Ridge Poetry Reading (open mic) at Juice & Java, 7067 Skyway, Paradise. Info: 530-872-9633.


And some deadlines:

•••Friday (3/30) is the postmark deadline for the Indiana Review Poetry Prize of $1000 plus publication. Send no more than three poems per entry. Reading Fee: $15, includes one-year subscription. Final Judge: Joy Harjo. For details, visit www.indiana.edu/-interview

•••Saturday (3/31) is also the deadline for Sacramento Poetry Center's first-ever High School Poetry Contest. Prizes include publication in Poetry Now or Rattlesnake Press's VYPER, in addition to scholarships to the 2007 SPC Writers' Conference on April 21. Plus, winners will get to read their poems at SPC. If you snail: no name on poems, separate cover letter with name, address, phone and email address and poem titles, as well as the name of your school to: Sacramento Poetry Center, 1719 25th St., Sac. 95814. If you email: Send above info in body of letter, with "SPC HS Contest" as subject line. Send each poem as a separate attachment (MS Word document, no name on them) to: poetrynow@sacramentopoetrycenter.org. By the way, SPC Board Member Brad Buchanan is looking for donations of your recent books or chaps to be distributed in connection with the SPC contest. Please email Brad at Buchanan@saclink.csus.edu to participate—or for further info.

•••Also Sat. (3/31): Suisun Valley Review is looking for poetry, prose and short fiction (not to exceed 2500 words), plus a brief bio and an SASE with submissions. SUISUN VALLEY REVIEW, Humanities Division, Solano Community College, 4000 Susisun Valley Rd., Fairfield, CA 94534-3197.


And today is Bob's birthday (133):

STORM FEAR
—Robert Frost

When the wind works against us in the dark,
And pelts with snow
The lower chamber window on the east,
And whispers with a sort of stifled bark,
The beast,
'Come out! Come out!'—
It costs no inward struggle not to go,
Ah, no!
I count our strength,
Two and a child,
Those of us not asleep subdued to mark
How the cold creeps as the fire dies at length,—
How drifts are piled,
Dooryard and road ungraded,
Till even the comforting barn grows far away,
And my heart owns a doubt
Whether 'tis in us to arise with day
And save ourselves unaided.

_______________________

—Medusa

Medusa encourages poets of all ilk and ages to send their POETRY, PHOTOS and ART, as well as announcements of Northern California poetry events to kathykieth@hotmail.com (or snail ‘em to P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726) 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.)

Nobody Else in the World

David Humphreys and his boy, back in '89

BOY CRYING IN THE NIGHT
—Carlos Drummond de Andrade

In the warm, humid night, noiseless and dead, a boy cries.
His crying behind the wall, the light behind the window
are lost in the shadow of muffled footsteps, of tired voices.
Yet the sound of medicine poured into a spoon can be heard.

A boy cries in the night, behind the wall, across the street,
far away a boy cries, in another city,
in another world, perhaps.

And I see the hand that lifts the spoon while the other holds the head,
and I see the slick thread run down the boy's chin,
and slip into the street, only a thread, and slip through the city.
And nobody else in the world exists but that boy crying.

(translated from the Spanish by Mark Strand)

_______________________

Tomorrow night (Monday, 3/26), 7:30 PM: Sacramento Poetry Center presents Tim Bellows at HQ for the Arts, 25th & R Sts., Sac. [See Medusa's February 15 post for a profile of Tim.]

And David Humphreys is proud to present a Sonnet Contest from Poets Corner Press; deadline is Sept. 1, 2007. Please see guidelines on poetscornerpress.com and send formal or free-form sonnets with $10 reading fee for each entry to: Poets Corner Press, 8049 Thornton Rd., Stockton, CA 95209. The winner will be announced Nov. 1; judge will be Susan Kelly-DeWitt. First Place Award is $500! (Thanks for today's photo, David!)

_______________________

—Medusa

Medusa encourages poets of all ilk and ages to send their POETRY, PHOTOS and ART, as well as announcements of Northern California poetry events to kathykieth@hotmail.com (or snail ‘em to P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726) 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.)

Enough Time to Fill Forever

Katy Brown, Once Upon a Time

one hand clapping
—Katy Brown, Davis

sound of a shingle on a fallen roof
color of a gasp in darkness
texture of a widow’s love
scent of loneliness

strand of days without laughter
lock of hair in a browning envelope
dying willow in the side yard
a single candle guttering in the window

the past folds into the present
delays the future
transforms itself into a brighter past
into a kinder reality where

the cedar shingle on the mended roof
protected rooms where people laughed
where people never fought and made-up
where there was enough time to fill forever

_______________________

THE ABBEY REMAINS
—Katy Brown

Prayers simmered in the cauldron of faith,
served with evening soup in the
damp kitchen of an abbey . . .

nuns skimmed the cloisters,
fingers working worn rosary beads
contemplating redemption . . .

winter seeped under the doors,
frosted the grass and killed
duck weed and roses alike . . .

Aves echo even now,
drifting toward heaven
in arches of the vaulted ceiling . . .

as always, the abbey collects
light and shadow,
spirit and dust.

_______________________

Katy Brown is a third-generation Californian whose maternal grandmother was born in Trinity County in the 1800’s. Her paternal grandmother was born in Bohemia, also in the 1800s, and landed in New York before Ellis Island was established. Katy spent her childhood around the mountains of the Lassen Forest and knows how to catch a lizard with a blade of grass. Her hearing loss during her childhood interfered with learning to spell. The admonition to “sound it out” was not helpful; and to this day, she remains a most creative spelar.

Katy began taking pictures for the high school newspaper and yearbook and was the chief photographer on the 4-day-a-week college paper. She won an honorable mention in the national Eastman Kodak/Scholastic Magazine contest when she was a senior in high school. Alfred Eisenstaedt, the venerable photographer from Life Magazine, reviewed some of her pictures and told her, "You have a good eye. Very promising."

Katy Brown is now a Supervisor of Social Workers in Adult Protective Services in Sacramento. A SpiralChap of her photography and poetry, The Quality of Light, was published in 2004 by Rattlesnake Press. She has won awards in The Ina Coolbrith Circle, The Berkeley Poets Dinner, and California Federation of Chaparral Poets, Inc. competitions. She has had poems in Brevities, Song of the San Joaquin, Harpstrings, and Rattlesnake Review. Her workbook, Poetry Potions, was used in schools for nearly twenty years and is being re-introduced in a digital format. Her other writing credits include automobile humor, greeting cards, a multiple-ending book, and a series of short mysteries for young readers. She is also a regular columnist and photographer for Rattlesnake Review.

Katy Brown with California Federation of Chapparal Poets
Golden Pegasus Award, 2005
(Photo supplied by Lou Foley. Sorry, Katy, but Lou
sent it to me, so I just HAD to use it!)

Katy is a nearly 30-year member of the Elk Grove writing group that meets in River Park. She also belongs to the Ina Coolbrith Poetry Circle; California Federation of Chaparral Poets, Inc.; and the Tuesday night Sacramento Poetry Center workshop at Hart Senior Center. Her daughter, Miranda, and adopted daughters Eileen and Megan, and son Rachel are her source of pride and inspiration. Robert, her significant other [see March 14 post for Robert and the Mews], tolerates her eccentric ways. She lives with her Pointer, Emily, who she is teaching to wink, and Rajah and Rayne, two cats who know they are gods.

Rayne and Rajah

_____________________________

shy tracks

circle closer in the snow.



under mountain lilacs

a fox.


—Katy Brown

_______________________

THE STONE CARVER'S WIFE
—Katy Brown

She loves him still,
with the sweet compassion
he first saw when he met her.

Downward-cast eyes
avoid the praise he
gives her every day.

Her smile,
caught in time,
plays behind her lips.

If the stone were not
so blackened and cold
you could see her blush.

Tender guardian
above the door,
the stone carver’s wife —
Mary.

______________________

Thanks, Katy!

In other news today, Santa Rosa highschooler Karen Hong will represent California next month (Apr. 30-May 1) in the national Poetry Out Loud finals in Washington, D.C., and Sacramento County's Kristi Avila of Elk Grove H.S. was named runner-up. Hong won $200; her school will receive $500 for poetry books. The national champion will win a $20,000 scholarship. Last year's state winner, Ken Huffman, was also from Elk Grove H.S.!

And Kel Munger of Sacramento News & Review announces in this week's issue that a poem originally published in SN&R, "The Home of the Brave" by UC Davis Professor Joe Wenderoth, was chosen by guest editor Heather McHugh to be included in The Best American Poetry 2007, the annual anthology which will be published by Scribner in Sept. of this year. Check out Kel's article about it on page 15 of this SN&R, and send her poems for her weekly Poet's Corner (1015 20th St., Sac., 95814). Newspapers that print poetry on a regular basis are to be heartily applauded, and thanks to Kel (a fine poet herself) for keeping her Corner going.

_______________________

—Medusa

Medusa encourages poets of all ilk and ages to send their POETRY, PHOTOS and ART, as well as announcements of Northern California poetry events to kathykieth@hotmail.com (or snail ‘em to P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726) 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.)

Biting into the World

Shonda Renée

ODD COUPLE
(the house where revenge lives)
—Shonda Renée, Stockton

The devil lives with me
He moved in some time ago
He cooks for me and never burns a thing.
He spends hours and hours in the kitchen,
says it's where He feels most comfortable, ya know.
He tells me to leave when I complain of the heat,
it gets on His nerves when I do that.
So mostly, I stay in my room, until the meals are served.
When I go down, the table is always beautifully set,
and the meals, well, it pains me to say this
because He works so hard—
but they are always just awful.

_____________________

Thanks, Shonda! Shonda Renée is currently moderator of Poets On The Roof Workshop in Stockton, and she occassionally hosts the Poet's Corner Press Sunday Poetry Reading at Barnes & Noble’s. She has published a chapbook collection of her poetry, entitled Bearings (2003), and is currently working on another chapbook collection for release in 2007.


Poetry Out Loud today:

For the second year, California is participating in Poetry Out Loud, the national poetry recitation contest for high schoolers. The State Finals will be held today (Friday, March 23) at 12:30 PM in the Secretary of State Auditorium, 1020 O St., Sac.; no charge for attendance. Sacramento County's entry in the State Finals will be Kristi Avila of Elk Grove H.S., who will recite "I Go Back to May 1937" by Sharon Olds. The winner of today's contest will get to go to Washington D.C. for the national finals. Info: 916-322-6555 or www.cac.ca.gov. Yesterday's Sacramento Bee has an excellent article, including comments from California Poet Laureate Al Young, and our Brad Buchanan had a hand in coaching the youngsters, too.

_______________________

OH HAPPY COLLECTIVE
—Shonda Renée

we move along
like a row of ants in our thinking
straight.
we slap our own backs
and are cool man cool.
you are the same as me
i am the same as you.
lay your head on the cool side of the pillow—before we die.
somebody once said everything is short-lived.
ssshhhh, I have a feeling they were right.

________________________

A POEM FOR SULA
(for the main character in the Toni Morrison novel, Sula)
—Shonda Renée

I turned the pages of her fabled life
as a fresh witness to the smell of salt
from female piss and tears;
a mix so strong, I hunched deep
behind my baby girl self and dared not dream
of crossing the fidgety line that would divide me from them.
At 16 then, I was a paradox of good girl teachings
and the desires my form was made for.
Fire, brimstone and wagging tongues ally ruthlessly;
so I eyed her with venom, and chorused my
dislike. The word whore was no stranger,
but only spoken aloud.
At 34, brimming with aborted buds,
A hunching girl's legacy,
I pour through her pages again
and beg pardon my past judgment.
She is now Eve,
biting into the world and saying,
"Here baby, taste this."
Uncursed
bare breasted
beautiful and free.

_______________________

—Medusa

Medusa encourages poets of all ilk and ages to send their POETRY, PHOTOS and ART, as well as announcements of Northern California poetry events to kathykieth@hotmail.com (or snail ‘em to P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726) 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.)

Poetry Out Loud & On the Page

Phil Weidman and friend

OUT OF THIS LIFE
—Phil Weidman, Pollock Pines

Early evening, I sit outside
on our slider smoking yesterday's
cigar and study a few
of a friend's remarkable poems.
Tigger stretches out beside me.
The slider groans as I push
lightly with one foot.
Tigger purrs as I stroke
his soft underside.
Half a dozen gray hairs
stick to my fingers.
Branches of a silver maple
provide a canopy over our heads,
its delicate leaves quivering
in a refreshing breeze.
I sip a coke.
One day, I suspect,
the bottom will fall
out of this slider,
out of this life.

______________________

Thanks, Phil, and happy birthday! Tonight (Thursday, 3/22), 8 PM: Poetry Unplugged at Luna's Cafe (1414 16th St., Sac.) presents Phil Weidman and Laura Hohlwein. Info: 916-441-3931 or www.lunascafe.com. Open mic before/after. See last Monday's post for more info about Phil.


Poetry Out Loud tomorrow:

For the second year, California is participating in Poetry Out Loud, the national poetry recitation contest for high schoolers. The State Finals will be held tomorrow (Friday, March 23) at 12:30 PM in the Secretary of State Auditorium, 1020 O St., Sac.; no charge for attendance. Sacramento County's entry in the State Finals will be Kristi Avila of Elk Grove H.S., who will recite "I Go Back to May 1937" by Sharon Olds. The winner of tomorrow's contest will get to go to Washington D.C. for the national finals. Info: 916-322-6555 or www.cac.ca.gov. Today's Sacramento Bee has an excellent article, including comments from California Poet Laureate Al Young.

________________________

MUSE
—Tom Goff, Carmichael

Is it my curse forever
to see her, yes, but askew of vantage?
So that she seems Homeric
in her forever striding away, knowable
by her legs and gait? And what of her
topless top—animal, perhaps, rendering her
the hybrid who walks? Is she griffin,
chimera, what? And what does that
say of my own zany person—quilted because
crazed?

Let my animal stride as is, modern
perhaps, Romantic almost certainly,
blended of brown and bright…
You will know me by my plainness, but
remember me as you do the saxophone
in Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances,
a stiff yet lilting Russian plainchant
—yet, peacocking the atmosphere,
that song’s curious and perfumed chromatic tail.

_______________________

INDEPENDENCE TRAIL
(Highway 49, near the South Yuba River)
—Tom Goff

There is no object so foul
light will not make use of it.
—Joshua McKinney

We tread the slickness, leaf-carpet remnant
collecting in sluices once rinsed forcibly
by weight of ineluctably downdrawn water
shot through monitors beating goldbearing
rock. Depredation redeemed—the action
of foot upon foot reclaiming in mulch
what once left dug or drained or pounded.

The gouging of nature, transubstantiated
into slopesided scoopings ascending
wheelchair-friendly for maybe miles. In these
environs, is a soupçon of despair perhaps
apropos? Bound happy for these hills,
we chanted, We’re going to see the turning
of the leaves… but when Nora speaks of
the exquisite reds and golds as a consequence
of chlorophyll departing the spent husks,

I see death hung upon the air, “branch-charméd”
to dangle in sere and serrate bodies
as from medieval walls, till the soft note
Sever now prompts the snapping at
each lingering stem’s blunt slight touchpoint…
and all is death that I trample, though Nora’s
hand is in mine. Then the leaf-smell, mold-smell,
assails my nostrils, fills the mist-subtle traceries
of atmosphere with living scent… it’s artichoke,

the autumn-chill but not crisp air is the steam
of my mother’s pressure cooker translating each sharp,
bitter leaf-sword to a slightly sweet, pliable
tenderness grown one with the soft, soft gray-green heart.
The glow of the late sun too soon over the mountain
above the ornately looped highway, above the rock-paved river,
holds the cool of the mayonnaise in which we would dip
each broken leaf—and against this, the vanishing sun itself:
Hot of that cooked leaf? Elusive savor of lemon
folded into the dressing? Can life so subtly,
so suddenly lift or lilt from within death’s
downtrodden? Is resurrection at last a light or a scent?

_______________________

—Medusa

Medusa encourages poets of all ilk and ages to send their POETRY, PHOTOS and ART, as well as announcements of Northern California poetry events to kathykieth@hotmail.com (or snail ‘em to P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726) 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.)