When Most I Wink

Phil Weidman, Ann Menebroker, D.R. Wagner
Photo by Pat Weidman

SONNET XLIII
—William Shakespeare

When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see,
For all the day they view things unrespected;
But when I sleep, in dreams they look on thee,
And, darkly bright, are bright in dark directed;
Then thou whose shadow shadows doth make bright,
How would thy shadow’s form form happy show
To the clear day with thy much clearer light,
When to unseeing eyes thy shade shines so!
How would (I say) mine eyes be blessed made
By looking on thee in the living day,
When in dead night thy fair imperfect shade
Through heavy sleep on sightless eyes doth stay?
All days are night to see, till I see thee,
And nights, bright days, when dreams do show thee me.

____________________

Yesterday was Bill S.'s birthday—443, to be exact. And no, today's photo isn't a Wanted poster; it's three of our most venerable poets, and was taken at D.R. Wagner's Rattle-read (the Snake's third birthday party) on April 11. There are a lot of years of fine poetry represented in that photo... And don't forget D.R.'s reading, with Neeli Cherkovski, at Luna's Cafe, 1414 16th St., Sacramento, this Thursday night (4/26) at 8 PM.

All three of those poets were active in the so-called Mimeo Revolution. Come down to The Book Collector this Saturday (4/28) sometime between 10 AM and 10 PM for A MIMEO GATHERING: Poems-For-All presents Sal Mimeo & The Process Rebels Without Applause Tour of Words at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento. Mimeo Gathering? During the '60s and '70s folks used mimeo machines the same way we presently use Xerox copiers and computer printers to make chap books, zines and other small press publications. "Sal Mimeo" is flying from the east coast with a mimeo machine which will be in operation throughout the day, making a very special limited edition commemorative chap of the event. Special things will be happening all day at the bookstore [see below]. Slip in whenever you like. INFO: (916) 442-9295 or richard@poems-for-all.com For more information, bios, poetry samples and updates on poets reading during the day go to: http://www.poems-for-all.com and click on the "events" button.

Saturday's Schedule:

10am: Bookstore opens

11am: Set-up of the mimeo machine begins

Noon: Poetry Reading. While the mimeo process is underway, local poets are invited to read poems that evoke the spirit of the small press and the outsider artist. If you'd like to read during the reading, email Richard at richard@poems-for-all.com

2pm: Ted Joans X 1,000. While some work on the mimeo, others will be outside cutting, folding, stapling in an effort to build 1,000 copies of Poems-For-All's miniature chaplette of Ted Joan's poem, "The Truth". Booklets built during the afternoon will be taken out and randomly distributed throughout Sacramento. You can take part in the process, watch, or just take away handfuls of tiny books to scatter like seeds.

8pm: The day will close with a reading featuring The Process Rebels Without Applause Tour of Words featuring John Dorsey, S.A. Griffin, David Smith and Scott Wannberg. Joining them at the podium will be Bill Roberts, the poet and small press impressario who heads up Bottle of Smoke Press.

_____________________

Pomo Literati this Sunday:

•••Sunday (4/29), 2-4 PM: The Pomo Literati, a two-hour poetry/spoken word radio program series, celebrates National Poetry Month. Extreme poetic rarities, pre-beat to beat, to way-past beat with beyond-postmodern spoken word, poetry and soundscapes. And the odd text/music melange. A special return, on-air concert by David Houston & Friends interpolating text-vox and sound. Live readings by Nor-cal poets & writers Gene Bloom and Barbara Noble. A tribute honorarium of works by S.F. Poet Philip Lamantia. Cameo reading by SF Poetry Host Philip T. Nails. Hosted and produced by frank andrick. KUSF 90.3 fm in San Francisco, and you can go global like thousands do at www.kusf.org

_____________________

More about a day in the life of Medusa, all by Stephani Schaefer from Los Molinos:


MEDUSA LOOKS FOR WORK

she doesn't have a single
modern skill

unless someone would hire her
just to kill
each power hungry leader
in the world

then tuck behind her ears
her serpent curls

_____________________

MEDUSA IN LOVE

she doesn't know
what's made her so
confused
not knowing how to dress
tonight
she has the blues
she thinks she looks
a fright
her hair hangs down
in lovelorn locks
each vyper is bemused
(look at the clock!)
she doesn't understand
this need to cuddle
and surely no one wants
to cuddle her
she is a sight and things
are such a muddle
so she decides
that if he looks at her tonight
a certain way
she'll turn her back
and go back to the way
she was before

and love no more

_____________________

MEDUSA MEETS DOROTHY PARKER

at the writers' salon
she was a hit
with her shining headful
of biting wit

Ms Parker frowned
and fidgeted
unsure she could
keep up with it.

who was this foundling—
illiterate witch!

competition
was such a bitch

_____________________

MEDUSA GOES TO A WRITING WORKSHOP

each serpent has a pen
each serpent has a thought

in the end it's such a tangle
revisions will be for nought

_____________________

Thanks, Steph! As you'll recall from yesterday, she's working on a "Day in the Life of Medusa" series. Incidently, Steph was able to post a comment on yesterday's Kitchen without having to join blogspot. Scroll down to the bottom of this post, under SnakeWatch, and click where it says "0 comments", then write something in the white box. But be nice, now. You never know when Medusa is having a bad-hair day...

—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) has gone into the mail; next deadline is Nov. 1. Snakelets 9 (for kids 0-12) is available; next deadline is May 1.

Books/broadsides: April’s releases are 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. Both are now available at The Book Collector. SpiralChaps are $8; broadsides are free. Or contact kathykieth@hotmail.com for ordering information. Rattlesnake Interview Series #1 with Ann Menebroker and B.L. Kennedy is also available (free) at The Book Collector (or contact Kathy Kieth).

Next rattle-read: May's releases will be Ron Tranquilla’s Playing Favorites: Selected Poems, 1971-2006, plus a broadside by Julie Valin and a Rattlesnake Interview Broadside (#2) featuring Malik and B.L. Kennedy. Come check all these out on May 9 at 7:30 PM at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento. Refreshments and a read-around will follow; bring your own poems or somebody else’s.

Also: Check out the Rattlechaps Chapbook Series page on the ever-evolving rattlesnakepress.com website! We've started generating separate pages for each rattlechapper/spiralchapper; scroll down through the list of books we've published and click on the poets’ names that are in red. Each one of those should lead you to a separate page, including photos, bios, poems, contact info of the poet—and more to come, once we get them all up and running. Saa-weet!