Saturday, August 11, 2007

But I Want the Earth


Tim Kenny


DIRTY WEEKEND
—Tim Kenny

cheap
cigars seafront bars
slo'
trains and gin
hungry
eyes tequila sunrise
screwed
jeans and him

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Thanks, Tim! Having idled away the years tracking down dreams to bottle and label, he says, Tim is currently seeking willing windows in which to display his curiosities.

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Tomorrow:

This Sunday (8/12), 2-4 PM: Tune in to The Pomo Literati on KUSF (90.3 FM) in San Francisco, hosted by frank andrick, co-hosted and engineered by Jim ‘The Germ’ Smith. Guests are ‘the di Prima duo’ Diane di Prima and Chani di Prima, plus Merlen Tofer and some pre-recorded spoken word works and some special multi-medium collaborations between Jim Germ Smith and frank andrick, plus a free-form 2nd hour where Sonic Youth rules, and poets and writers drop their work into the Germ-created soundbed of sonic sounds. Diane will be presenting new poems from the ongoing perpetual poem LOBA, plus new additions to Revolutionary Letters. Info: contact frank at fandrickfabpub@hotmail.com or 209-727-5179.

The Pomo Literati is a two-hour poetry/spoken word program that showcases contemporary poets, produced and spontaneous live performance sound/wordscapes; rare recordings from Apollinaire to Zappa help round out the eclectic mix of sound and word. As part of the Spotlight Series on KUSF 90.3 FM in San Francisco (voted the #1 radio station in San Francisco by the Bay Guardian Weekly 3 out of the last 4 years), the program is easily accessed via the Internet. KUSF and the Pomo Literati reach a large and wide-ranging audience, exploring literary possibilities and documenting the spoken word.


Woof!

Looking for something off-beat? Got lots of dog poems piled up on your desk? Dog Blessings: An anthology of Poems, Prose and Prayers Celebrating our Relationship with Dogs, is calling for submissions; deadline is Oct. 31. June Cotner, author of Graces, seeks short, universal selections. Reprints are okay; payment is one copy plus $25 for one-time rights. Published by New World Library. Send submissions with SASE to: June Cotner, P.O. Box 2765, Poulsbo, WA 98370, or see www.junecotner.com for details.

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THE DERELICT
—Tim Kenny

A plastic bag rattles, caught on the wire. In the street where the wind herds paper, the lights are out.

I came here before wet from the sea to watch people dance while the sun licked me dry. A woman gave me food. The people sang and smiled. They made me a song and gave me a name.

Now it is the rain that smiles. The rain laughs and says “Nobody has ever lived here. These houses have always been home to the wind and the dark.”

They call the rats as witness and I run from their lies. I’m wet again and cold and the night looks after its own.

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STARGAZING
—Tim Kenny

'Do you ever look
at the stars and wonder?'

'Sometimes,' I reply,
the tide lapping our feet.

'To be there,' she sighs.

My hands trawl pebbles.
My eyes drink her lips.

'To be there,' she sighs.

I watch her lay down
her body to the Bear.

She offers the sky
but I want the earth.

I’m weak and I’m grounded
with my heart in the soil.

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—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 (free publications): Rattlesnake Review14 is now available at The Book Collector; contributors and subscribers should have received theirs by now. If you're none of those, and can't get down to The Book Collector, send two bux (for postage) to P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726 and I'll mail you a copy. If you want more than one, please send $2 for the first one and $1 for copies after that. Next deadline, for RR15, is August 15. VYPER6 (for youth 13-19) is in The Book Collector; next deadline is Nov. 1. Snakelets10 (for kids 0-12) is also at The Book Collector; next deadline is Oct. 1.

Books/free broadsides: June's releases include Tom Miner's chapbook, North of Everything; David Humphreys' littlesnake broadside, Cominciare Adagio; and #3 in B.L. Kennedy's Rattlesnake Interview Series, this one featuring Jane Blue.

ZZZZZZZ: Shh! The Snake is sleeping! There will be no Snake readings/releases in July or August. Then we return with a bang on September 12, presenting Susan Kelly-DeWitt's new chapbook, Cassiopeia Above the Banyan Tree. See the online journal, Mudlark, for a hefty sample of poems from her book; that’s http://www.unf.edu/mudlark/. Also coming in the Fall: new issues of the Review, Snakelets and VYPER [see the above deadlines], plus more littlesnake broadsides from NorCal poets near and far, and a continuation of B.L. Kennedy's Rattlesnake Interview Series—including an anthology of interviews to be released for Sacramento Poetry Month (October).