Tubular!

Neon Party
Graphics Arts Piece by Donald Anderson

Tubular Wave (pondering...)
—Donald Anderson, Farmington

Touching sand
wet, clumping, rolling,
into sculpture of sea serpent.
Scaled texture mingling with the ocean's
life-breath;
surging ripples splashing
in and down and out—
sifting itself through sand!
depositing ground seashells:
it's one last act of the moon,
the rush that has brought together
two lovers:
ocean and continent.
Too late for Eve,
the serpent has hid underground.
Sifting.
Dissolving into time.
Like dust of interstellar clouds,
washing on new shores.
"Do not ask it!"
Where do we go when...

______________________

Thanks, Donald!


Seemo of T-Mo:

B.L. Kennedy interviewed Terry Moore in one of the recent issues of Rattlesnake Review, and the piece is repeated in the new interview anthology, Conversations, too. Terry sponsors two reading venues in Sacramento, plus his TV show, which airs tonight. For more info, see www.mybmsf.com/terrymoore/.

•••The Moore Time for Poetry TV series is on cablecast the 1st & 3rd Tuesdays @ 9 PM on Ch. 17, Comcast Cable. (Occasionally, the program is in the 8:30pm or 9:30 PM timeslot on Saturdays.) Check tvguide.com for updates. (Aired on Comcast, SureWest and Strategic Frontier). If the football game runs over, the show will air at 9:30 PM. Tonight features "Destiny church youth ministry poetry workshop night"—if you read the interview, you already know what that is.

Now Terry's show is on the Internet, too! You can ALWAYS visit this website, www.accesssacramento.org, and click on the BIG "Watch Channel 17" button to watch our program! This goes for friends in France, or family in Chicago. Hosted by Terry Moore & daughter Tyra Moore.

•••Saturday (10/20), 7-9 PM: B.L. Kennedy, Lori Jean Robinson, Random Abiladeze and Taifa Jamari read at the Underground Poetry Series, Underground Books, 2814 35th St., (35th & Broadway), Sacramento. $3. Info: 916-737-3333.

•••Terry also writes: We're looking to recognize six Awesome Single Mothers at "The Show" poetry series in Sacramento on Saturday, October 27. The chosen mothers will be allowed into the event at no charge and given a certificate. Then they will be treated to an awesome spoken word performance by one of the best poets in the world, Mr. Talaam Acey, plus other acts. All you have to do is nominate them (or yourself) and give us the necessary contact information so we may contact them in case they are chosen. Please write a very brief statement on why they are so awesome. We'll do the rest!!! Send to email: tpoet3000@aol.com/.

Please also nominate Awesome Single Fathers at the same time. We'll do the same for the fathers on Saturday, November 24, when neo-soul artist Kevin Sandbloom comes to "The Show." Show host Terry Moore, co-host Kathleen Johnson and sponsor Michael Andrews.


Singing With the Whale:

Lisa Espenmiller writes: This email is a call for poetry submissions, an invitation to submit poetry to be considered for the premiere issue of the smart, new, literary, online poetry journal, Singing with the Whale. As a way to be of service to Poetry & Beauty, I have created Singing with the Whale. I am seeking smart, well-crafted poems for the premiere issue, scheduled for February, 2008. Please visit the Submission Guidelines page of www.singingwiththewhale.com for information on how to submit your poems for consideration. I look forward to reading your work.


Time for another stroll down Poet's Lane:

Cynthia Bryant sends us an update about her extensive poetry and information service called "Poet's Lane" at www.poetslane.com/. Send any of the following to PoetsLane@comcast.net for posting:

•••New page on Poet’s Lane called "Write Up". Have a new book out, published a poem or an article, won a contest? Send your good news!

•••"Poems from Headlines": she provides a headline and you send your poem for that headline. Current one: “GENERAL BETRAYS US”.

•••Poet’s Lane is looking for Themed Poetry for October: Tribute to American Indians, Rainy Days & Talking to the Dead. (Pick one or many to write about, and check out the new poems).

•••If you need to rant in a poem about the injustices of life, send a poem for "Off Your Chest", the mental health poetry page.

•••"Question for Telling"! Currently, “What poem was the first one that you would have given anything to have written it?”

•••“What the Hell” is for your war poems.

•••"Picture-Prompted Poetry": Poet’s Lane has a NEW picture to write a poem about, or write to one of the other pictures still up on that page. Be sure and let Cynthia know which picture the poem is written about.

•••Poetry/Book Festivals: send your pertinent information and Cynthia will put it on the Events page of www.poetslane.com/. Check out what is listed and coming up this year.

•••Annual Contests page; if you have one coming up, please send the information.

•••Put your face and name up with other rising poets and writers on “In the Know”.

•••If you have a writers/poets journal, an organization, or a venue for publishing or presenting to the public poets or writers, then add your information to Links. Please state what page it is for, and you will be added.

•••If you have something you would like to say about Poet’s Lane or the programs therein, please send your comments (complaints or praise) and Cynthia will answer you and possibly print them on the Comments page.

•••Please remember when sending anything to Poet’s Lane to include the page that you are sending it for, especially when sending poetry. Add your name, any previous publishing information and your website/and or email.

•••Sign up for The Literary List and Cynthia will e-mail you several times daily with (mostly) Bay Area readings, plus more general contests and submission opportunities, and you can get your events advertised on the List, too.

_______________________

Halloween is coming

with little darlings coming to the door chanting "trick or treat"
when they mean "hand us something Mom warns will rot our teeth"
But I guess I can laugh at children's costumes as long as they follow the rules:
No grabbing at me because only I hand out the candy
For this is not to be begging, but acting as guests of a host
But do they also know what is really scarier than any Halloween ghost story?
Yes kids get warned on the news about not eating unwrapped food
been warned for years about what could be tainted with metal or glass
They forget there are usually convicted sex offenders in the neighborhood
and it’s on my mind while kids hunt for prizes from strangers' doors
to pray they don't answer a "nice man" when he asks their names and where they live

—Michelle Kunert, Sacramento

______________________

Thanks, Michelle. Unsettling!

—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.) 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 art and photography of Katy Brown. Come celebrate the release of all of these on Wednesday, November 14, 7:30 PM at The Book Collector.