Photo by Katy Brown
WHAT TREES KNOW
—Katy Brown, Davis
They hold a secret all summer:
they know their cloaks of
peridot and emerald
conceal the stained glass
radiance of garnet and gold.
It takes only time and
hardship to reveal
what summer’s sun
could not expose.
Time and
hardship
and the certainty
of winter.
They hold a secret all summer:
they know their cloaks of
peridot and emerald
conceal the stained glass
radiance of garnet and gold.
It takes only time and
hardship to reveal
what summer’s sun
could not expose.
Time and
hardship
and the certainty
of winter.
_____________________
Thanks, Katy! Katy Brown sends us answers to our current Medusa challenge: What do you think is the secret of life? Send Medusa your "secrets of life" poems, art and/or photography by midnight tonight (Monday, October 29), and I'll send you a free copy of Kate Wells' new rattlechap, Spiral, or whatever other rattlechap you're missing. That's kathykieth@hotmail.com or P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726. See below for more poems about the secrets of life.
And watch for Katy's latest poetry/photography project, A Poet's Book of Days, her new perpetual calendar which will debut at The Book Collector on November 14!
This week in NorCal poetry:
•••Monday (10/29), 7:30 PM: Sacramento Poetry Center presents Halloween with the Tuesday Night Workshop Ghastly Ghouls at HQ for the Arts, 1719 25th St., Sacramento. A costume-optional reading with open mic and light consumables. Next Monday's reading (Nov. 8) will feature Do Gentry and James DenBoer.
•••Thursday (11/1), 8 PM: Poetry Unplugged at Luna’s Café, 1414 16th St., Sacramento. Free. Open mic before and after.
•••Friday (11/2), 7:30 PM: The Other Voice, sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis, presents poet Susan Kelly-DeWitt. The reading is in the library of the church located at 27074 Patwin Road in Davis. Refreshments and open mic will follow, so bring along a poem or two to share.
Coming to Santa Rosa next week:
•••Next Tuesday, Nov. 6, Poetry Flash will celebrate W.S. Merwin's 80th birthday and Robert Hass's new book of poetry, Time and Materials, 1997-2005, with a reading by the two of them at the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, 50 Mark West Springs Rd., Santa Rosa. Tickets start at $10 (707-546-3600, noon to 6 PM, Tues-Sat, or wellsfargocenterarts.org). Info: www.poetryflash.org.
_____________________
ETERNAL
—JoAnn Anglin, Sacramento
My eternal is not the same as yours.
It is my own forever, eternal as far
as I know, if it starts a minute or a
second before birth or is stopped
eight or eighty seconds after death.
This is all I can conceive.
All else is embroidery, whether
profligate or parsimonious:
curiosity of the past, the future,
the search for reasons or sources
can hold beauty and secrets—but
are never germane. Not ultimate.
They are glorious fireworks,
they are soft puppy whimpers and
blessed distractions. But not
mine or yours forever. Not eternal.
____________________
LI CHI’S ADVICE
(from the Wen Fu)
—Margaret Ellis Hill, Wilton
The starfish in the sea, luminescent
feathers of a bird, a pearl.
Cupped florets of jasmine,
honeysuckle and roses.
A meadow lark’s song, a parrot’s
banter, geese fading out of earshot.
Certain hues of sherbet skies
spooned in a bowl before darkness covers.
How to phrase the images
by an artist’s brush or pen
who finds the ordinary, extraordinary,
but to set the senses to resonate
like harmonies in strokes of a bell.
_____________________
GRANDMA’S THOUGHTS ON LIFE
—Margaret Ellis Hill
Our lives begin to end
when we’re born, she claimed.
Exclaimed that small bits of us
die every day, like it or not.
She sang the words in melodies
of so much to do, in scant hours
that meander through a day
with no regard for want or need,
even an hourglass shows a steady
slip away. Where?
I notice: gray streaks in brown hair;
smooth skin switched to wrinkles.
We used to stand eye to eye, shoulders equal.
In shallower breaths, I hear her murmur
we grow up or out or in or down.
The same with thoughts, she hummed—
yesterday’s trials may not be truth;
our attitudes arranged or scarred
by what we see and learn, or imagine.
One day, she sings: silent
things that matter must find
expression and explanation
or compress to one single death.
(Previously appeared in A Nickel’s Worth of Dreams Anthology,
PoetWorks Press, May 2004)
_____________________
THE MEANING OF LIFE
—Wayne Robinson, Lodi
I read something, long time ago, “Life has no
meaning, Life is an accident.” I ponder this now with
pain. I have always hoped that the Great Spirit
shall look upon my soul with pity and forgive my many
trespasses. Attitudes change with passed years, like
suddenly discovering that health insurance is a good
idea, and that the challenging work we performed as
youths has worn our bodies down a little more than
expected. If ten million people answered this
question, I doubt that two answers would match. Love
used to be a passion, now it is a comfort, life used
to be a challenge, now, a calming sunrise and a quick
“Thank You” for being allowed to see it again. I
don’t care what the meaning of life is, but life is
surely a marvel, so why ponder something that you
should just . . . ENJOY?
____________________
—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.) Medusa cannot vouch for the moral fiber of other publications, contests, etc. that she lists, however, so submit to them at your own risk. For more info about the Snake Empire, including guidelines for submitting to or obtaining our publications, click on the link to the right of this column: Rattlesnake Press (rattlesnakepress.com).
SnakeWatch: Up-to-the-minute Snake news:
Journals: The latest issue of Rattlesnake Review (#15) is available for free at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, or send $2 to P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726. Next deadline is November 15. The two journals for youngsters, Snakelets and Vyper, are on hiatus; no deadlines this Fall.
New in October: Rattlesnake Press celebrated Sacramento Poetry Month on Wednesday, October 10 with the release of Spiral, a rattlechap by Kate Wells; Autumn on My Mind, a free littlesnake broadside by Mary Field; and #5 in the free Rattlesnake Interview Series by B.L. Kennedy, this one featuring Sacramento Poet Laureate Julia Connor. Also released that night was Conversations, Volume One of the Rattlesnake Interview Anthology Series (a collection of B.L.'s conversations with eleven Sacramento poets), as well as a free broadside tribute to poet/publisher Ben L. Hiatt, commissioned by Rattlesnake Press and designed by Richard Hansen from poetry by B.L. Kennedy and artwork by Patrick Grizzell. All of these are available at The Book Collector, 100 24th St., Sacramento, or from rattlesnakepress.com, or write to kathykieth@hotmail.com/.
Coming in November: The Snake is proud to announce the release of Among Neighbors, a rattlechap from Taylor Graham; Home is Where You Hang Your Wings, a littlesnake broadside from frank andrick; and A Poet's Book of Days, a perpetual calendar featuring the poetry and photography of Katy Brown. Come celebrate the release of all of these on Wednesday, November 14, 7:30 PM at The Book Collector.
Thanks, Katy! Katy Brown sends us answers to our current Medusa challenge: What do you think is the secret of life? Send Medusa your "secrets of life" poems, art and/or photography by midnight tonight (Monday, October 29), and I'll send you a free copy of Kate Wells' new rattlechap, Spiral, or whatever other rattlechap you're missing. That's kathykieth@hotmail.com or P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726. See below for more poems about the secrets of life.
And watch for Katy's latest poetry/photography project, A Poet's Book of Days, her new perpetual calendar which will debut at The Book Collector on November 14!
This week in NorCal poetry:
•••Monday (10/29), 7:30 PM: Sacramento Poetry Center presents Halloween with the Tuesday Night Workshop Ghastly Ghouls at HQ for the Arts, 1719 25th St., Sacramento. A costume-optional reading with open mic and light consumables. Next Monday's reading (Nov. 8) will feature Do Gentry and James DenBoer.
•••Thursday (11/1), 8 PM: Poetry Unplugged at Luna’s Café, 1414 16th St., Sacramento. Free. Open mic before and after.
•••Friday (11/2), 7:30 PM: The Other Voice, sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis, presents poet Susan Kelly-DeWitt. The reading is in the library of the church located at 27074 Patwin Road in Davis. Refreshments and open mic will follow, so bring along a poem or two to share.
Coming to Santa Rosa next week:
•••Next Tuesday, Nov. 6, Poetry Flash will celebrate W.S. Merwin's 80th birthday and Robert Hass's new book of poetry, Time and Materials, 1997-2005, with a reading by the two of them at the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, 50 Mark West Springs Rd., Santa Rosa. Tickets start at $10 (707-546-3600, noon to 6 PM, Tues-Sat, or wellsfargocenterarts.org). Info: www.poetryflash.org.
_____________________
ETERNAL
—JoAnn Anglin, Sacramento
My eternal is not the same as yours.
It is my own forever, eternal as far
as I know, if it starts a minute or a
second before birth or is stopped
eight or eighty seconds after death.
This is all I can conceive.
All else is embroidery, whether
profligate or parsimonious:
curiosity of the past, the future,
the search for reasons or sources
can hold beauty and secrets—but
are never germane. Not ultimate.
They are glorious fireworks,
they are soft puppy whimpers and
blessed distractions. But not
mine or yours forever. Not eternal.
____________________
LI CHI’S ADVICE
(from the Wen Fu)
—Margaret Ellis Hill, Wilton
The starfish in the sea, luminescent
feathers of a bird, a pearl.
Cupped florets of jasmine,
honeysuckle and roses.
A meadow lark’s song, a parrot’s
banter, geese fading out of earshot.
Certain hues of sherbet skies
spooned in a bowl before darkness covers.
How to phrase the images
by an artist’s brush or pen
who finds the ordinary, extraordinary,
but to set the senses to resonate
like harmonies in strokes of a bell.
_____________________
GRANDMA’S THOUGHTS ON LIFE
—Margaret Ellis Hill
Our lives begin to end
when we’re born, she claimed.
Exclaimed that small bits of us
die every day, like it or not.
She sang the words in melodies
of so much to do, in scant hours
that meander through a day
with no regard for want or need,
even an hourglass shows a steady
slip away. Where?
I notice: gray streaks in brown hair;
smooth skin switched to wrinkles.
We used to stand eye to eye, shoulders equal.
In shallower breaths, I hear her murmur
we grow up or out or in or down.
The same with thoughts, she hummed—
yesterday’s trials may not be truth;
our attitudes arranged or scarred
by what we see and learn, or imagine.
One day, she sings: silent
things that matter must find
expression and explanation
or compress to one single death.
(Previously appeared in A Nickel’s Worth of Dreams Anthology,
PoetWorks Press, May 2004)
_____________________
THE MEANING OF LIFE
—Wayne Robinson, Lodi
I read something, long time ago, “Life has no
meaning, Life is an accident.” I ponder this now with
pain. I have always hoped that the Great Spirit
shall look upon my soul with pity and forgive my many
trespasses. Attitudes change with passed years, like
suddenly discovering that health insurance is a good
idea, and that the challenging work we performed as
youths has worn our bodies down a little more than
expected. If ten million people answered this
question, I doubt that two answers would match. Love
used to be a passion, now it is a comfort, life used
to be a challenge, now, a calming sunrise and a quick
“Thank You” for being allowed to see it again. I
don’t care what the meaning of life is, but life is
surely a marvel, so why ponder something that you
should just . . . ENJOY?
____________________
—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.) Medusa cannot vouch for the moral fiber of other publications, contests, etc. that she lists, however, so submit to them at your own risk. For more info about the Snake Empire, including guidelines for submitting to or obtaining our publications, click on the link to the right of this column: Rattlesnake Press (rattlesnakepress.com).
SnakeWatch: Up-to-the-minute Snake news:
Journals: The latest issue of Rattlesnake Review (#15) is available for free at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, or send $2 to P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726. Next deadline is November 15. The two journals for youngsters, Snakelets and Vyper, are on hiatus; no deadlines this Fall.
New in October: Rattlesnake Press celebrated Sacramento Poetry Month on Wednesday, October 10 with the release of Spiral, a rattlechap by Kate Wells; Autumn on My Mind, a free littlesnake broadside by Mary Field; and #5 in the free Rattlesnake Interview Series by B.L. Kennedy, this one featuring Sacramento Poet Laureate Julia Connor. Also released that night was Conversations, Volume One of the Rattlesnake Interview Anthology Series (a collection of B.L.'s conversations with eleven Sacramento poets), as well as a free broadside tribute to poet/publisher Ben L. Hiatt, commissioned by Rattlesnake Press and designed by Richard Hansen from poetry by B.L. Kennedy and artwork by Patrick Grizzell. All of these are available at The Book Collector, 100 24th St., Sacramento, or from rattlesnakepress.com, or write to kathykieth@hotmail.com/.
Coming in November: The Snake is proud to announce the release of Among Neighbors, a rattlechap from Taylor Graham; Home is Where You Hang Your Wings, a littlesnake broadside from frank andrick; and A Poet's Book of Days, a perpetual calendar featuring the poetry and photography of Katy Brown. Come celebrate the release of all of these on Wednesday, November 14, 7:30 PM at The Book Collector.
