Rhony Bhopla
SWAYING IN THE HINDU TEMPLE
—Rhony Bhopla, Sacramento
Three bells cling clang-clang
breezes fall about
the childless woman who stands alone
by the tap that leaks—
drinking forever the charming Ganges
Her hope forever springs
a husband
who will bring that special wreath about her
and the sound of melodious songs
of women who sing songs of her love.
Her mind is her charm
a black pearl that sits
twisting like ochre
on a bed of sugar
each man coming and going, ringing
She watches as the bells sway
and the sounds, the smells
the senses become numb
like a river flowing through the highest loft
traveling in her seabed.
____________________
Thanks, Rhony! Rhony Bhopla was born in the London, UK, and has been raised in the US most of her life. Her poetry is inspired by her mentors and friends alike, who have come from a variety of places in the world as well as educational backgrounds. She studied medicine at St. George University in Grenada, assisting in surgery during medical rotations in London; then she received her Bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences from U.C. Davis in 1995, and her studies led her to the Caribbean and back to the United Kingdom. She completed her comparative literature minor at U.C. Davis “accidentally”, which allowed her a glimpse beyond the scientific pains of living, but also the depth of suffering. Her poetry is her agenda, drawing from her many experiences abroad; she is held together by the belief in the goodness of people. She has served on the Board for the Sacramento Poetry Center and currently volunteers at the Sri Narayan Hindu Temple. Her publishing company, ShiluS Publications, released the anthology, Bliss, Journal of Erotica, 2004, and she is a regular contributor to Rattlesnake Review and Medusa's Kitchen. In 2006, Rattlesnake Press released Rhony's littlesnake broadside, Tulip Stem, which is still available.
Two Unitarian Universalist readings:
This Sunday (5/6), Rhony will read at PoemSpirits, a monthly series presented at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento, 2425 Sierra Blvd (North of Fair Oaks Blvd, between Howe and Munroe/Fulton), Main Building, 6 PM. No charge; refreshments provided. Open mic: You are encouraged to bring a favorite poem to share, yours or another's. This monthly event is presented by UUSS members Tom Goff, Nora Staklis, and JoAnn Anglin. For info on reading, contact: Tom or Nora at 916-481-3312 or JoAnn at 916-451-1372. For info on UUSS: www.uuss.org
Then, on Monday (5/7), head on over to Davis, where The Other Voice presents Julia B. Levine and Jennifer K. Sweeney reading their poetry at The Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis, 27074 Patwin Road, 7:30 PM. James Lee Jobe will host. There will be an open reading following the poets. This is a free event. Call 530-750-3514 for details. Julia B. Levine has received numerous awards and grants in poetry, including the Discovery/the Nation award, the Tampa Review Prize in Poetry for her second full-length collection of poems, Ask, and the Anhinga Prize in Poetry for her first book, Practicing for Heaven. Her third book, tentatively titled In the Mud Room of Existence, is due out this fall from University of Tampa Press. She received her Ph.D. from University of California at Berkeley in 1989 in clinical psychology. She lives and works in Davis. Jennifer K. Sweeney is a teacher and writer in San Francisco. She won the 2006 Main Street Rag Poetry Book Award and her book, Salt Memory, was published last November. She holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Vermont College. Her poetry has been published or is forthcoming in: Hayden’s Ferry Review, Barrow Street, Passages North, New York Quarterly, Puerto del Sol, RUNES, subtropics and elsewhere. She was recently awarded a Cultural Equities Grant from the San Francisco Arts Commission.
Creeping up on us—or is that slithering?:
May 15 is the next Rattlesnake Review deadline; get them pomes in now! Taylor Graham reminds us that she threw us a challenge (in Snake #13): Isn’t there a grandfather or great aunt just begging for a poem? For the next Snake, tell a poet-friend about one of your relatives, and interview that friend about someone in his or her family, then write in that person’s voice. Keep it under 30 lines, and please also get permission from the friend. Send your poem, with your snail-mail address, to us by 5/10/07 at piper@innercite.com or to Graham, P.O. Box 39, Somerset, CA 95684. If by email, put "Fun Poetry" in the subject line. If by snail, write the same on the envelope. No SASE. If we use it we’ll send you a copy.
_____________________
A METAPHOR FOR SEX
—Rhony Bhopla
He says that he wants
to lick me like a lollipop
and uncover the true
essence of my inner person
I’ve become live bait, and wonder
if I will ever see the other side
of his mountainous ambition
We watch each other as if
one moment will explode like
when the appearance of fruit
is all juice, and unrelenting sweetness
I want to lick what he wants to
lick, but I know where it will
end for both of us.
____________________
—Rhony Bhopla, Sacramento
Three bells cling clang-clang
breezes fall about
the childless woman who stands alone
by the tap that leaks—
drinking forever the charming Ganges
Her hope forever springs
a husband
who will bring that special wreath about her
and the sound of melodious songs
of women who sing songs of her love.
Her mind is her charm
a black pearl that sits
twisting like ochre
on a bed of sugar
each man coming and going, ringing
She watches as the bells sway
and the sounds, the smells
the senses become numb
like a river flowing through the highest loft
traveling in her seabed.
____________________
Thanks, Rhony! Rhony Bhopla was born in the London, UK, and has been raised in the US most of her life. Her poetry is inspired by her mentors and friends alike, who have come from a variety of places in the world as well as educational backgrounds. She studied medicine at St. George University in Grenada, assisting in surgery during medical rotations in London; then she received her Bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences from U.C. Davis in 1995, and her studies led her to the Caribbean and back to the United Kingdom. She completed her comparative literature minor at U.C. Davis “accidentally”, which allowed her a glimpse beyond the scientific pains of living, but also the depth of suffering. Her poetry is her agenda, drawing from her many experiences abroad; she is held together by the belief in the goodness of people. She has served on the Board for the Sacramento Poetry Center and currently volunteers at the Sri Narayan Hindu Temple. Her publishing company, ShiluS Publications, released the anthology, Bliss, Journal of Erotica, 2004, and she is a regular contributor to Rattlesnake Review and Medusa's Kitchen. In 2006, Rattlesnake Press released Rhony's littlesnake broadside, Tulip Stem, which is still available.
Two Unitarian Universalist readings:
This Sunday (5/6), Rhony will read at PoemSpirits, a monthly series presented at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento, 2425 Sierra Blvd (North of Fair Oaks Blvd, between Howe and Munroe/Fulton), Main Building, 6 PM. No charge; refreshments provided. Open mic: You are encouraged to bring a favorite poem to share, yours or another's. This monthly event is presented by UUSS members Tom Goff, Nora Staklis, and JoAnn Anglin. For info on reading, contact: Tom or Nora at 916-481-3312 or JoAnn at 916-451-1372. For info on UUSS: www.uuss.org
Then, on Monday (5/7), head on over to Davis, where The Other Voice presents Julia B. Levine and Jennifer K. Sweeney reading their poetry at The Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis, 27074 Patwin Road, 7:30 PM. James Lee Jobe will host. There will be an open reading following the poets. This is a free event. Call 530-750-3514 for details. Julia B. Levine has received numerous awards and grants in poetry, including the Discovery/the Nation award, the Tampa Review Prize in Poetry for her second full-length collection of poems, Ask, and the Anhinga Prize in Poetry for her first book, Practicing for Heaven. Her third book, tentatively titled In the Mud Room of Existence, is due out this fall from University of Tampa Press. She received her Ph.D. from University of California at Berkeley in 1989 in clinical psychology. She lives and works in Davis. Jennifer K. Sweeney is a teacher and writer in San Francisco. She won the 2006 Main Street Rag Poetry Book Award and her book, Salt Memory, was published last November. She holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Vermont College. Her poetry has been published or is forthcoming in: Hayden’s Ferry Review, Barrow Street, Passages North, New York Quarterly, Puerto del Sol, RUNES, subtropics and elsewhere. She was recently awarded a Cultural Equities Grant from the San Francisco Arts Commission.
Creeping up on us—or is that slithering?:
May 15 is the next Rattlesnake Review deadline; get them pomes in now! Taylor Graham reminds us that she threw us a challenge (in Snake #13): Isn’t there a grandfather or great aunt just begging for a poem? For the next Snake, tell a poet-friend about one of your relatives, and interview that friend about someone in his or her family, then write in that person’s voice. Keep it under 30 lines, and please also get permission from the friend. Send your poem, with your snail-mail address, to us by 5/10/07 at piper@innercite.com or to Graham, P.O. Box 39, Somerset, CA 95684. If by email, put "Fun Poetry" in the subject line. If by snail, write the same on the envelope. No SASE. If we use it we’ll send you a copy.
_____________________
A METAPHOR FOR SEX
—Rhony Bhopla
He says that he wants
to lick me like a lollipop
and uncover the true
essence of my inner person
I’ve become live bait, and wonder
if I will ever see the other side
of his mountainous ambition
We watch each other as if
one moment will explode like
when the appearance of fruit
is all juice, and unrelenting sweetness
I want to lick what he wants to
lick, but I know where it will
end for both of us.
____________________
STANDING IN SAND
—Rhony Bhopla
I kissed your book once
and thought about your face
reflecting in the ocean
as I stood alone in the sand.
We were always together,
and you stayed with me after
your death, like a twisted breathing leaf
clinging to the moistness of survival.
Why does one person die,
and the other remain
to weep on this fact
and continue to not understand
the musings of humanity?
Kissing your words, I find
this one moment in my life
I am alive!
breathless, like you once were
within my soul.
_____________________
BRIDAL
—Rhony Bhopla
Here is the re-birth song
repeated like a favorite wedding
melody, and toothy women clapping
in circles around a made bed,
sprinkled with red rose petals
no henna ever placed in your
palms or around your
fingers—
just the broached subject
of marriage, the artist charka
whispering to you again
and again the motif
that you yourself created
“...hasn’t she found anyone?”
chime, ta- ta- tum ta- ta- tummm—
a sound chord slips around your neck
unending note of the drone
played in your hollow Hindu chest
each time you look in the mirror
and see your mother’s temple awash
of the red bindi, and a hair part showing
glistening skin, like the free Nile
deep bold eyes, black lashes sweeping the
earth that you constantly wear thin
with empty feet, and ankles waiting
to be adorned with silver
your dreams fill
kum kum bottles
as you turn your head from
the unworn red saris, and wear sheer
duppata that hang on your head, with
no gold to get caught on their thread
who would you kiss on that bed laden
with petals, except hope that
steals from despair
left upon a heart by the same
repeated question, of marriage?
_____________________
—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) is in The Book Collector; next deadline is Nov. 1. Snakelets 9 (for kids 0-12) is available; Snakelets #10 will be out this month.
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.
—Rhony Bhopla
I kissed your book once
and thought about your face
reflecting in the ocean
as I stood alone in the sand.
We were always together,
and you stayed with me after
your death, like a twisted breathing leaf
clinging to the moistness of survival.
Why does one person die,
and the other remain
to weep on this fact
and continue to not understand
the musings of humanity?
Kissing your words, I find
this one moment in my life
I am alive!
breathless, like you once were
within my soul.
_____________________
BRIDAL
—Rhony Bhopla
Here is the re-birth song
repeated like a favorite wedding
melody, and toothy women clapping
in circles around a made bed,
sprinkled with red rose petals
no henna ever placed in your
palms or around your
fingers—
just the broached subject
of marriage, the artist charka
whispering to you again
and again the motif
that you yourself created
“...hasn’t she found anyone?”
chime, ta- ta- tum ta- ta- tummm—
a sound chord slips around your neck
unending note of the drone
played in your hollow Hindu chest
each time you look in the mirror
and see your mother’s temple awash
of the red bindi, and a hair part showing
glistening skin, like the free Nile
deep bold eyes, black lashes sweeping the
earth that you constantly wear thin
with empty feet, and ankles waiting
to be adorned with silver
your dreams fill
kum kum bottles
as you turn your head from
the unworn red saris, and wear sheer
duppata that hang on your head, with
no gold to get caught on their thread
who would you kiss on that bed laden
with petals, except hope that
steals from despair
left upon a heart by the same
repeated question, of marriage?
_____________________
—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) is in The Book Collector; next deadline is Nov. 1. Snakelets 9 (for kids 0-12) is available; Snakelets #10 will be out this month.
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.
