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.)
