Monday, April 30, 2007

Riding On the Waves of the Wind



APRIL STORM, RAVEN
—Taylor Graham, Somerset

Outside my window the incense cedar
stands dark against the gray
of almost dawn. The black oak’s
leafing out at last, but it clings
to a few dull-brown autumn leaves,
ideas that outgrew themselves.

Ponderosas lean and bend
and let their needles loose to flay
and tingle in the winds that come
from all directions;
they let their limbs go
the way a wishful sleeper might,

giving up each muscle in turn.
I love this time of morning
when dark gives up to such faint
light — gray silk on which the dark
of a raven dips, wavers, rolls
on the wind’s waves.

How can I learn to live this way?


(A version of this poem originally appeared in Blue Print)

____________________

Thanks, TG! Taylor Graham noticed all the ravens that have been flying through Medusa lately.


This week in NorCal poetry:

•••Finish up National Poetry Month with a look at future writers: Tonight (4/30) at 7:30 PM, Sacramento Poetry Center presents Jeff Knorr's Sacramento City College Creative Writing Class reading at HQ for the Arts, 25th & R Sts., Sacramento. Free; open mic after. Next week will feature David Mercer's American River College writing students. To continue the creative writing theme:

•••Tuesday (5/1), 7 PM: The UC Davis Creative Writing Program Reading Series presents poet Ben Lerner. Lerner's first book, The Lichtenberg Figures, was named one of the best books of poetry published in 2004 by Library Journal. His second book, Angle of Yaw, was a finalist for the National Book Award. Angle of Yaw is described (by Copper Canyon Press) as: “An extended meditation on the commercialization of public space and speech. Combining philosophical insight with poetic experiment, political outrage with personal experience, Lerner’s prose poems and lyrical sequences examine how technologies of viewing—aerial photography in particular—replace God with a camera and feed our spectacular culture an image of itself.” A former Fulbright Scholar in Spain, Lerner co-founded and co-edits No: a Journal of the Arts. The reading will be held at 126 Voorhies Hall, 1st & A Streets, Davis.

•••Thursday (5/3), 8 PM: Poetry Unplugged at Luna's Cafe, 1414 16th St., Sacramento. Open mic before and after.

•••Friday (5/4), 7:30 PM: Los Escritores del Nuevo Sol / Writers of the New Sun presents An Evening of Short Stories: Tellers & Tales. Some people believe that the ability to tell stories is the defining characteristic of humans. Presenting writers will include Juan Carrillo, Dr. Fausto Avendano, Minerva Daniel, Graciela B. Ramirez, and more to be announced later. All are invited. La Raza Galeria Posada, 1022-1024 22nd St., Sac. For more information about Los Escritores, call Graciela Ramirez at (916) 456-5323. Charge: $5 or as you can afford.

•••While you're at the La Raza gallery, check out the postcards! Through the first weekend in May, a display of some of the 400 postcards generated by Sacramento Poet Laureate Julia Connor’s postcard project will be held at La Raza Galeria Posada, 1022-1024 22nd St., Sacramento.

•••Saturday (5/5), 11 AM: Los Escritores del Nuevo Sol Writing Workshop and Potluck Meeting; location to be announced, ore call Graciela Ramirez, 916-456-5323.

•••Saturday (5/5), 7:30 PM: Poems-For-All Second Saturday Series presents Xico Gonzalez at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento.

•••Sat. (5/5), 10AM-3PM: POETRY IN THE PARK FESTIVAL 2007, Fairfield Civic Center Library, 1150 Kentucky St., Fairfield, CA (in the rear park area by the lake). Hosted by BAPC member Juanita J. Martin. Featuring Poet Laureates Cynthia Bryant (Pleasanton) & Geri Digiorno (Petaluma), plus book signings, open mike poetry, light refreshments & more. Info: call Juanita @ (707) 435-1807 or Martha Evans @ (707) 421-6500. Sponsored by Fairfield Library and Valley Writers Group.

•••Sunday (5/6), 6 PM, is the last of the 2006-07 PoemSpirits season, a monthly series presented at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento. The featured guest poet is Rhony Bhopla, a board member of the Sacramento Poetry Center, who has hosted and presented at poetry events throughout the region. A published writer and a volunteer at the Sri Narayan Hindu Temple in Yuba City, Rhony was born in London and educated internationally, studying medicine at St. George University in Grenada, assisting in surgery during medical rotations in London, and earning her degree in Biological Sciences, with a minor in comparative literature, from UC Davis. She founded ShiluS Publications in Elk Grove, editing and publishing the anthology Bliss, A Journal of Erotica. She has said that her poems are inspired by her experiences of people from varied countries, cultures and educational backgrounds, and her belief in the goodness of people. In addition, co-host Tom Goff will present the work of Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913 and who was a close friend of Mahatma Gandhi. His poems were first known in his native Bengal, then translated and found popularity throughout the world. Place: Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento, 2425 Sierra Blvd [North of F.O. Blvd, between Howe and Munroe/Fulton], Main Building. 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

•••Sunday (5/6), 2:30-4:30 PM: Open Mic at Juice & Java, 7067 Skyway, Paradise. Info: 530-872-9633.

_____________________

PORCUPINE EARRINGS
—Josephine Huntington Fields

Standing at the podium
a sea of faces before her
she looked into their deep brown eyes
and smiled.

Young women in a group
filled rows near the front
Their conversations stopped
They leaned forward in their seats.

She spoke on the merits
of the Native leaders
Such honors she bestowed
on all those men with titles.

She spoke of roles for women
Stand behind the men
slabs of concrete and steel beams
upon which great cities are built.

Like a fish out of water
sounds bubbled in my throat
Lowering my vision, I noticed
my knuckles white as pearls.

A notebook tight to my chest
I slipped through a sea
of black hair and porcupine earrings
in search of better ideas.


(Originally appeared in Raven Tells Stories: An Anthology of Alaskan Native Writing, ed. by Joseph Bruchac for The Greenfield Review Press, 1991.)

_____________________

—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 tomorrow, 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.

Sunday, April 29, 2007

Poets Keening in Harmony


Wolves
are keening in harmony—
this snowy evening
—Joso

***

Give me back my dream!
a crow has wakened me
to misty moonlight
—Onitsura

***

Running across the altar
and stealing a chrysanthemum—
the temple rat
—Takamasa

***

Lightning!
Fleeing up the wall,
the legs of a spider
—Kicho

***

Down a paulawnia tree
the rain comes trickling
across a cicada's belly
—Baishitsu

***

Lead him slowly!
the horse is carrying
the spring moon
—Watsujin

***

Tranquility—
the voice of the cicada
seeps into the rocks
—Basho

____________________

—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.)

Today's poems are from
A Haiku Menagerie,
ed. by Stephen Addiss with Fumiko and Akira Yamamoto, Weatherhill, Inc., 1992

Saturday, April 28, 2007

Catching Raven


RATTLESNAKES
—Michael J. Sweeney, Sutter Creek

yikes! three shots of pure adrenaline
tttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt
instant fight or flight
Back Off Jack!

older now we do as we’re told
there was a time
we threw rocks, fired guns
ego, fear, — oh we had our reasons
made no sense
but that didn’t stop us
does it ever?

today it’s a wide berth
appreciation of the beauty
grateful for the experience
and the fact we heard the buzz

real
untamed and a little bit dangerous
definitely not interested
in our 401K, abs,
or the latest line

who knew God was a snake?

(originally published in
Manzanita: Poetry and Prose of the Mother Lode and Sierra,
Vol. 5, 2006)


__________________

Thanks, Michael! Michael Sweeney is one of the many Manzanita poets who are sending me poems for the feature on their area, coming in Snake 14, due out in June.


Speaking of ravens:

...as we were yesterday, The Yolo Crow (a journal publishing the work of local writers) is issuing a call for haiku for its summer edition. All subjects welcome. Submissions are due by June 1st. Submission guidelines and submissions form can be found at http://www.yolocrow.com/submission.html/


Also from Davis:

Rae Gourirand writes: Two of my dearest friends from Michigan – the poets Katie Umans and Ryan Flaherty – have *just* unveiled the coolest new poetry journal around: THE CONCHER. What makes The Concher different from other poetry journals? Not only is it handmade, but it comes nestled in a box of artisan chocolates made by the two poets. I can vouch for the otherworldly yum factor of their work. Now this is something to sit by the mailbox anticipating. To order (or read an index of first lines in Issue #1): http://twopoettruffles.blogspot.com/

_____________________

GRANDMOTHER AND RAVEN
—Glen Simpson

"Don't go," they said,
"she won't know you anyway."
They tell me she sits silently
in the shadow at the edge of death;
a leaf that would crackle in your hand.

She smiles now at friends long gone,
walks fields grown to the forests,
puts a shaker in my four year old hand
and tells me I can catch the raven
if only I can salt his tail.

Grandmother, I want you to know,
I'm still trying to catch that raven,
and still looking up to you.

______________________

FRONT STREET
—Glen Simpson

Front street Nome,
where cultures meet in the mud:
hunters,
whose eyes swept the horizon,
search in a thickening fog,
lost on the drifting ice of an unknown sea
while foraging for one more beer.
Sons of farmers,
seeking what they couldn't find at home,
seek even harder
as they step too heavily
on this last thin edge of America.

Who can tell them
that they are formed in the image of angels?

______________________

SINGING STILL
—Glen Simpson

An old woman sang
to stop the snow,
voice wavering
through damp canvas
in the soft light of dawn.
She sings to me now
through my father;
stil marveling
a lifetime later.

_____________________

Glen Simpson's poetry appears in Raven Tells Stories: An Anthology of Alaskan Native Writing, ed. by Joseph Bruchac for The Greenfield Review Press, 1991.

—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!

Friday, April 27, 2007

A Mouth Full of Shadow


Brother Raven


RAVEN TELLS STORIES
—Robert H. Davis

Raven, gather us to that dark breast,
call up another filthy legend,
keep us distracted from all this blackness,
sheltered and cloaked by your wing. Answer us
our terror of this place we pretend to belong;
the groping spirits we're hopeless against;
from where all this bleakness keeps rising.
We ask you only to lull us with lies,
expecting the moon attached to day
because we're your parasites
nested in feather,
we hope you'll offer
any false hope
we might conjure you back, that when
your mouth opens to tell this,
we will not notice
your tongue black,
your mouth full of shadow.

_____________________

Medusa is very pleased to have moved into the Territory of Ravens.


This weekend:

•••Saturday (4/28), 9 PM: "The Show" Poetry Series at Wo'se Community Center, 2863 35th St., Sacramento (off 35th & Broadway) presents Gospel artist Vadia Hubbard and Show Stoppers slam with poets Random Abiladeze, Ner City, Oct, Supanova, He Spit Fire, Juanita "Yoke Breaker" Mason, Candy. $5. Info: 916-455-POET.

•••Also Sat. (4/28), 10-12 PM: Enjoy the Bilingual Niños Program: Stories & Poems for Children. Los Escritores del Nuevo Sol is featuring 2 writers: Professor Francisco X. Alarcón of UC Davis and teacher/writer Luz María Gama in a poetry program dedicated to children. Professor Alarcón is the author of a beautifully illustrated series of bilingual poetry books for young readers. These will be available for purchase. La Raza Galeria Posada, 1024 22nd St., Midtown Sacramento. Free. Info: 916- 456-5323. The public is welcome to all activities. Website: www.escritoresdelnuevosol.com/

•••Also Saturday (4/28), 10 AM to 10 PM: Poems-For-All presents A MIMEO GATHERING featuring 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. 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. [See last Tuesday's post for a more detailed schedule of the day's activities.]

•••Sunday (4/29), 2 PM: Celebrate National Poetry Month with Poetry in Turlock at the Spiritual Science Church #4 on Crane Avenue, one block east of the Main Post Office, two blocks from the library. Members of the Licensed Fools from Modesto will read their work. They have been writing and performing in this area for over ten years and have appeared at the State Theatre, the Prospect, the Mistlin Gallery, and various other readings here and in nearby cities. Some of their work will be available for sale. Poets will include rattlechapper Karen Baker, Stella Beratlis, Tina Driskill, Sheila D. Landre, Angela Morales-Salinas, Linda Scheller, Linda Toren, Gary Thomas, Gillian Wegener, Ann Williams-Bailey and others. Everyone welcome! Open Mic reading to follow. This is a benefit for the church. We are badly in need of repairs, especially a new roof. Donations are welcome. ($5 is suggested).

•••Sunday (4/30), 1-3 PM: Poetry Month Open Mic held by The Nevada County Poetry Series. Free at Booktown Books and Tomes, 107 Bank Street (corner of South Auburn) in Grass Valley. For more info, call: (530) 432-8196 or (530) 272-4655.

•••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/

______________________

SOULCATCHER
—Robert H. Davis

Far from the scent of crackling spruce,
far from throbbing sealskin drum,
into space, into wind,
wild hair flying,
old man sings
across the endless dark;
the man who leaves himself
cross-legged, hollow and still.
Medicine man: soulcatcher.

In the short sharp ripples of firelight,
painted carvings and designs
weave and snap
on the bentwood box
holding mystical charms,
soulcatcher amulets
and magic rattle.

Animal people, ocean people:
this is how he brings them back.
The air begins to move in them.
Thick men in cedar bark clothes
Incantations. Song. Dance. Story.
He could capture your soul if he had to.

The trees know.
They know how easy it is to disappear,
how a figure slouched into fire
now wears a mask of ash and bone
in a village that feels air moving.

_____________________

NAMING THE OLD WOMAN
—Robert H. Davis

Why was that old woman
drawing the evening
shadows toward her like a spider?
What were those signs she wove
in dance? She wore a quarter moon
on her face, was wrapped in black
wind and feather, and lugged
a cedar bag of many masks,
many songs that reminded you
of wild animals
turning to fog and catching you.

She was carried through the wildness
of dreams. She was pulled
into the tattooed skin of the earth.
She was the crazy lady
you spent your whole life hunting,
and now in the smoke
you rake at the moon shadow
burning the other
part of itself on you,
and you can't get her out of you.

___________________

Today's poetry was from Raven Tells Stories: An Anthology of Alaskan Native Writing, ed. by Joseph Bruchac for The Greenfield Review Press, 1991. Robert H. Davis is a Tlingit from Southeast Alaska; his clan crest is Killerwhale.

—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!

Thursday, April 26, 2007

All Those Snakes Bouncing


Tammy's Inspiration
Photo by Tammy Brierly



CHRYSANTHEMUMS
—Tammy Brierly, Tuolumne

I remember when you were small and pretty
but the seasons changed, covering
you in heavy snow smothering
you in a silent death,

so I replaced you.
And planted a circle of pansies
to adorn the bird bath.
Spring had arrived

playing it’s symphony in color
as the bulbs surfaced, like a delicate string,
and learning their song as they rose
I could hear,

the music beginning to tune in rhythm,
with tulips in purples and daffodils in
yellows, and the greens of grass all
together again.

Then I noticed,
unusual stalks of green that had no
song, but kept growing long past
the sounds of spring, smothering the
pansies and growing up the bird bath.

As fall arrived you were to be the final piece,
and as your stalks began to bloom, I remembered
your old song smothered in white.
You emerged triumphant and tall, your color sang
to me brilliantly, loud and clear,
a solo, to end the year.
Bravo.

______________________

Thanks, Tammy! Tammy Brierly is one of the many Manzanita poets from Tuolumne, Amador, Calavaras and other counties in that area who are sending me poetry for the Manzanita feature coming up in Snake 14, which will be out in June (deadline is May 15—hey, that's pretty soon!). Read more about Tammy on mylifeasawarrior.blogspot.com/


Also coming in May are two contests:

•••Artists Embassy International is proud to announce the opening of their new website, www.dancingpoetry.com. For information on the Dancing Poetry Contest and the Dancing Poetry Festival, visit this exciting new site. There are Grand Prize- winning poems from 2006, and photos from the 2006 Festival. Since this is a new site, visit us frequently and watch us grow. Contest information, Festival information, Dancing Poetry classes, poetic products related to various arts, reports on recent and upcoming events are all scheduled to be regularly updated. Mark your calendars for two important dates: May 15, 2007 is the deadline to submit your poems to the Dancing Poetry Contest. (See www.dancingpoetry.com for rules.) Then, on Saturday, September 29, 2007, come to the fabulous California Palace of the Legion of Honor to see and hear the premier dance performance of the three Grand Prize-winning poems, plus all Dancing Poetry Contest prize-winning poets are invited to read their poems at this prestigious podium. Dance troupes from around the world will offer an afternoon of performing to poetry in this spectacular theatrical setting. Check it out!

•••Calyx, a journal of art and literature by women, announces the May 31 deadline for its sixth annual Lois Cranston Memorial Poetry Prize ($300 plus publication). Final judge: Paulann Petersen. Fee: $15 per entry (three poems, six manuscript pages). Send to: Calyx, Lois Cranston Poetry Prize, PO Box B, Corvallis, OR 97339. Complete guidelines: calyx@proaxis.com or www.calyxpress.org/


Or get away from it all:

•••Donna Hanelin writes: The June 23rd-July 1st retreat in Teotitlan del Valle (25 km east of the city of Oaxaca) has one space available. Please let me know right away if you'd like to join that group; $50 discount for payments made in full by May 10! The experience of being and writing in this highland valley in Mexico is inadequately described by the word 'fantastic'. Please call for more info or paper brochures, 530-265-8799 or write me at donna@creativewritingclasses.us/

•••The Writing Life: June 8-10 at Esalen in Big Sur with Ellen Bass: This weekend will allow us to leave the rush of our busy lives and be still enough to hear the stories and poems that gestate within us. We'll write, share our writing, and hear what our work touches in others. We'll help each other to become clearer, go deeper, take new risks. With the safety, support, and inspiration of this gathering, you will have the opportunity to create writing that is more vivid, more true, more complex and powerful than you've been able to do before. Esalen fees cover tuition, food and lodging and vary according to accommodations—ranging from $320 to $605. The sleeping bag space is an incredible bargain. Some work-scholarship assistance is available, as well as small prepayment discounts and senior discounts. All arrangements and registration must be made directly with Esalen, but if you have questions about the content of the workshop, feel free to email me or call me at 831-426-8006. Please register directly with Esalen at 831-667-3005 or at www.esalen.org/


Tonight:

•••Thursday (4/26), 7 PM: Borders Books in Laguna (7215 Laguna Blvd., Elk Grove) presents An Evening of Poetry to celebrate National Poetry Month. Featured poets include Indigo Moor, Lawana Cager, Lisa Abraham and Emmanuel Sigauke. This is a joint event sponsored by the CRC English Dept. and Borders Books.

•••Thursday (4/26), 8 PM: Poetry Unplugged at Luna's Cafe, 1414 16th St., Sacramento presents D.R. Wagner and Neeli Cherkovski. Open mic before and after.


And save the date:

•••Sunday (6/3), 1-4 PM: Century House Poetry Series presents San Francisco Poet Laureate Jack Hirschman reading with Latif Harris. This will be Host Cynthia Bryant’s last gig as Pleasanton Poet Laureate. Open mic (one poem, up to 40 lines); refreshments. Free. 2401 Santa Rita Road, Pleasanton.

_____________________

MEDUSA LISTENS TO BAD POETRY
—Stephani Schaefer, Los Molinos

it's disconcerting to hear

when you try to share
your sincerely illuminating work

all those hisses

_____________________

MEDUSA ON A POGO STICK
—Stephani Schaefer

all those snakes bouncing
like Shirley Temple curls

it's the only time
I've ever seen her smile

_____________________

KEEPING COOL
—Stephani Schaefer

Medusa must have slept
on a pillow carved of ironstone
a smooth head cradle
to keep those serpents cool

otherwise she might have died
of self-accusation
that mirror she holds up to us

_____________________

—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!

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

The Underbrush of Instinct

Taylor Graham and The Kids
Photo by Hatch Graham



YORKSHIRE PIG
—Taylor Graham, Somerset

Just a hog-wire fence between
daily feedings at the trough
and forest falling
out of sight to rock and river.

How did she escape? How far/
how fast can two hundred pounds travel
on dainty cloven hooves?
In what direction at the bid

of a pink snout?
Does a finishing-pig dream of
wallowing afternoons,
blue ribbon, auction,

and the electric stunner?
Or did she hear coyote calling
across the canyon, imagine mountain
lion’s tooth and claw? What

could a domestic swine know
of rooting into dead-
fall for survival
rations, pushing through

the underbrush of instinct,
finding home?

_____________________

Thanks, TG! "Yorkshire Pig" is a tale of TG's adventures chasing the neighbor kid's 4H project through hill and dale last weekend. Taylor Graham is a volunteer search-and-rescue dog handler in El Dorado County, where she's a member of Red Fox Underground and Tuesday at Two poetry workshops. She also helps her husband, Hatch (a retired wildlife biologist), with his field projects. In addition to Rattlesnake Review and Medusa's Kitchen, her poems have appeared in America, The Iowa Review, The New York Quarterly, Poet Lore, Poetry International, Southern Humanities Review, and elsewhere, and she’s included in the anthology, California Poetry: From the Gold Rush to the Present (Santa Clara University, 2004). She’s also a regular columnist for Rattlesnake Review. Her newest book, The Downstairs Dance Floor (Texas Review Press, 2006), is winner of the Robert Phillips Poetry Chapbook Prize. Email her at piper@innercite.com or her website, http://somersetsunset.net/Poetry.htm

____________________

Two calendar additions for the week:

•••Thursday (4/26), 7 PM: Borders Books in Laguna (7215 Laguna Blvd., Elk Grove) presents An Evening of Poetry to celebrate National Poetry Month. Featured poets include Indigo Moor, Lawana Cager, Lisa Abraham and Emmanuel Sigauke. This is a joint event sponsored by the CRC English Dept. and Borders Books.

•••Saturday (4/28), 9 PM: "The Show" Poetry Series at Wo'se Community Center, 2863 35th St., Sacramento (off 35th & Broadway). $5. Info: 916-455-POET.


May Boot Camp:

Molly Fisk
writes from Grass Valley: The May Poetry Boot Camp is sneaking up on us fast: it runs from Sunday, May 6th to Friday, May 11. If you'd like to join us for this six-day-long Internet workshop to generate new poems, you can register and find out details at http://www.poetrybootcamp.com Remember that I simultaneously do private Revision Camps with individuals while the regular Boot Camp is going on, so if you're polishing up some poems for a new manuscript or just want to take a second look at some stuff, that's the way to work with me on individual poems. I also do ms. critique for chapbooks and full-length poetry manuscripts if you're interested (which are not related to the timing of Boot Camps!).


Speaking of Grass Valley:

Six Ft. Swells Press presents the release of their new chapbook of After Hours Poetry, Cocktails and Confessions: A collection of the greatest poetry inspired by lust and libations. There will be a book release/reading at Jason’s Studio Cafe, 134 Auburn St., Grass Valley on Sat., May 12 at 7 PM. For more info: 530-271-0662 or sixfootswells@yahoo.com or www.myspace.com/sixftswells


And another book release:

End-Cycle, poems about caregiving and winner of Palabra Productions Chapbook Contest 2006, is now available from Patricia Wellingham-Jones for $8, including shipping, at PWJ Publishing, PO Box 238, Tehama CA 96090. Info: http://www.wellinghamjones.com or pwj@tco.net


Ginosko:

The Bay Area e-journal, ginosko (ghin-oce-koe, circulation 2200+), is now accepting short fiction & poetry for its fifth issue. Editorial lead time is 1-3 months; they accept simultaneous submissions and reprints, email & postal submissions. Length flexible. Copyright reverts to author. Publishing as semiannual ezine—summer & winter. Moving towards printed version to be distributed throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Selecting material for anthology. Downloadable issues on website: http://www.ginoskoliteraryjournal.com/ Also looking for artwork, photography, CDs to post on website, and links to exchange.

GINOSKO LITERARY JOURNAL
Robert Paul Cesaretti
PO Box 246
Fairfax CA 94978

_________________

FIVE EYES
—Walter de la Mare

In Hans' old Mill his three black cats
Watch the bins for the thieving rats.
Whisker and claw, they crouch in the night,
Their five eyes smouldering green and bright:
Squeaks from the flour sacks, squeaks from where
The cold wind stirs on the empty stair,
Squeaking and scampering, everywhere.
Then down they pounce, now in, now out,
At whisking tail, and sniffing snout;
While lean old Hans he snores away
Till peep of light at break of day;
Then up he climbs to his creaking mill,
Out come his cats all grey with meal—
Jekkel, and Jessup, and one-eyed Jill.

_____________________

Walter de la Mare, best known for his children's poetry, would've been 134 years old today. Speaking of kids' poetry, don't forget the free Bilingual Niños Program: Stories & Poems for Children this coming Saturday morning from 10 AM-12 PM at
La Raza Galeria Posada, 1024 22nd St., Midtown Sacramento. Los Escritores del Nuevo Sol is featuring two writers, Professor Francisco X. Alarcón of UC Davis and teacher/writer Luz María Gama, in a poetry program dedicated to children. Professor Alarcón is the author of a beautifully illustrated series of bilingual poetry books for young readers; these will be available for purchase. Info: 916-456-5323 or www.escritoresdelnuevosol.com/

_____________________

BEHIND JAKE’S PLACE
—Taylor Graham

The mule they call Jackass
stands under a splinter of shade
where the sulky brothers tied
him up, and went for beer.
It’s noon. A flotilla of flies
makes hot-date with his
withers, his rump, his dismal
droop ears, the twitching
corners of his lips
that tell such a long
story.

_____________________

MEDITATION ON THE COUCH
—Taylor Graham

Centering. Close your eyes
to the overhead light, its question-
and-answer fluorescent tick
to that duet between sax and snare-
drum coming from the garage,
a breath long-drawn till almost
painful, percussive pulse —
the grandkid playing some take-
off on “The Neckbone’s Connected to
the Backbone.” You’re centering
on worn brown corduroy;
flat on your back, centering on
spine (Lumbar 4 or is it 5?), a fret
to the long complex thread
of music, jigsaw pieces interlocked
misaligned to pinch the cord
connected to the tingle —
no, a trumpet-blast of pain
if you move the legbone connected
to the anklebone. And now
they’re jazzing it with variations
of breath and beat, “The back-
bone’s connected to the wishbone”
as you’re centered on the wish
to jump up and dance again.

____________________

—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!

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

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!

Monday, April 23, 2007

A Day in the Life



MEDUSA'S HAIR
—Stephani Schaefer, Los Molinos

Medusa had headaches day and night.
No wonder her hair was such a fright,
from tossing and turning and hate and contempt—
no wonder her tresses were so unkempt.

Her hairdresser said her efforts were spoiled
by venom swept up in serpentine coils.

No wonder we look at her and say
whatever's been eating her night and day?
No wonder we look on her and stare—
she holds up a mirror and we are there.

_____________________

MEDUSA EATS SPAGHETTI
—Stephani Schaefer

if she leans over her plate too far
she might spiral up the wrong mouthful

then watch out for invective! expletive!
sometimes she just has to spit things out

_____________________

Thanks, Steph! Stephani Schaefer is spawning a series, called "A Day in the Life of Medusa", which was inspired while she and Tehama Poet Patricia Wellingham-Jones were "free-writing". More about Medusa's day later; here's a poem that PWJ came up with while free-writing:

ALL DECKED OUT
—Patricia Wellingham-Jones

A lizard behind the ear
owl faces linked in a necklace
a snake wrapped around the waist
foxes dangling to the knee
a goat draped across her shoulder
elephants on her feet
she claps on a bat in place of a hat
and heads for town

_________________

All this reminds us to keep it free, keep it loose, let it be silly from time to time. Thanks, Ladies!

I think the "Comments" section [at the bottom of each post] works for anyone now, whether they subscribe to blogspot or not; I changed the setting. Give it a try: click on it and fill out the comments square—testing one two three or something silly or whatever; let's see if it works!


Poetry this week:

•••Tonight (Monday, 4/23), 7:30 PM: Sacramento Poetry Center presents Peter Grandbois at HQ for the Arts, 25th & R Sts., Sacramento. Peter Grandbois holds an MFA in fiction from Bennington College and a PhD in creative writing and literature from the University of Denver. He is currently a professor of creative writing and contemporary literature at California State University in Sacramento. Peter is the author of The Gravedigger (Chronicle 2006), which was selected for both the Barnes and Noble “Discover Great New Writers” award and the Border’s “Original Voices” award. In addition, his short fiction was recently cited with an honorable mention for the 2007 Pushcart Prize. His translation into English of San Juan: Ciudad Soñada by Edgardo Rodríguez Juliá is forthcoming from the University of Wisconsin Press in 2007. He is currently at work on his second novel, entitled Nahoonkara, which is set in Wisconsin and Colorado during the nineteenth century. Peter has lived in Denver, San Francisco, Chicago, Barcelona, and Malaga, but currently makes his home with his wife and three children in Davis, California. Next Monday (4/30) at SPC features Jeff Knorr's Sacramento City College creative writing class.

•••Wednesday (4/25), 6-7 PM: Hidden Passage Poetry Reading at Hidden Passage Books, 352 Main St. in Placerville. It's an open-mic read-around, so bring your own poems or those of a favorite poet to share, or just come to listen.

•••Thursday (4/26), 8 PM: Poetry Unplugged at Luna's Cafe, 1414 16th St., Sacramento presents D.R. Wagner and Neeli Cherkovski. Open mic before and after.

•••Sat. (4/28), 10-12 PM: Enjoy the Bilingual Niños Program: Stories & Poems for Children. Los Escritores del Nuevo Sol is featuring 2 writers: Professor Francisco X. Alarcón of UC Davis and teacher/writer Luz María Gama in a poetry program dedicated to children. Professor Alarcón is the author of a beautifully illustrated series of bilingual poetry books for young readers. These will be available for purchase. La Raza Galeria Posada, 1024 22nd St., Midtown Sacramento. Free. Los Escritores del Nuevo Sol/Writers of the New Sun is a literary community, established in 1993 to foster and honor the literary arts of the cultures & traditions of Chicano, Native American and Spanish-language communities. The group has published an anthology, Voces del Nuevo Sol/Voices of the new Sun. Members write in English, Spanish, or both. Regular writing meeting is 11 a.m. on the 1st Saturday of each month.Info: 916- 456-5323. The public is welcome to all activities. Website: www.escritoresdelnuevosol.com/

•••Also Saturday (4/28), 10 AM to 10 PM: Poems-For-All presents A MIMEO GATHERING featuring 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. Slip in whenever you like. INFO: (916) 442-9295 or richard@poems-for-all.com ONLINE: 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. [Medusa will publish a more detailed schedule later in the week.]

•••Sunday (4/29), 2 PM: Celebrate National Poetry Month with Poetry in Turlock at the Spiritual Science Church #4 on Crane Avenue, one block east of the Main Post Office, two blocks from the library. Members of the Licensed Fools from Modesto will read their work. They have been writing and performing in this area for over ten years and have appeared at the State Theatre, the Prospect, the Mistlin Gallery, and various other readings here and in nearby cities. Some of their work will be available for sale. Poets will include Karen Baker, Stella Beratlis, Tina Driskill, Sheila D. Landre, Angela Morales-Salinas, Linda Scheller, Linda Toren, Gary Thomas, Gillian Wegener, Ann Williams-Bailey and others. Everyone welcome! Open Mic reading to follow. This is a benefit for the church. We are badly in need of repairs, especially a new roof. Donations are welcome. ($5 is suggested).

•••Sunday (4/30), 1-3 PM: Poetry Month Open Mic, held by The Nevada County Poetry Series. Free at Booktown Books and Tomes, 107 Bank Street (corner of South Auburn) in Grass Valley. For more info, call: (530) 432-8196 or (530) 272-4655.

____________________

Tom Goff of Carmichael has also let his sense of humor run free with this poem, of which he says: I was reading John Keats' "Bright Star," sent by Poemhunters.com, an admirable poem of course, and then it struck me how little chance Fanny Brawne, the poet's girlfriend as we'd call her now, has ever had to reply...

FANNY BRAWNE RESPONDS
—Tom Goff

I gazed in stealth at my fond lover's book
and saw your image in it, O bright star.
But as I read, the singeing heat it took
from you shot off the page, and, with not far
to pounce, leaped into my abashed red cheek.
He writes that he who comprehends your light
must translate your steadfastness into meek
and uncomplaining watchfulness: all right.
But I must draw the line at his intent
to "pillow"—that's what he calls suffocate—
meaning his genius-heavy head has bent
my chest as mutton bends a pewter plate.
It's one thing to extol my grace, my fair ways;
another thing when love's heft blocks my airways.

_____________________

—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 10 (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.

Something new: Rattlesnake Interview Series with B.L. Kennedy is also available (free) at The Book Collector (or contact Kathy Kieth). #1 is Ann Menebroker.

Also: Check out the Rattlechaps Chapbook Series page on the 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 names that are in red. That should lead you to a separate page for each of them, including photos, bios, poems, contact info—and more to come, once we get them all up and running. Saa-weet!

Sunday, April 22, 2007

Celebrating the Colors


Photo by Kathy Kieth, Pollock Pines


AMAZEMENT
—Czeslaw Milosz

O what daybreak in the windows! Cannons salute.
The basket boat of Moses floats down the green Nile.
Standing immobile in the air, we fly over flowers:
Lovely carnations and tulips placed on long low tables.
Heard too are hunting horns exclaiming hallali,
Innumerable and boundless sustances of the Earth:
Scent of thyme, hue of fir, white frost, dances of cranes.
And everything simultaneous. And probably eternal.
Unseen, unheard, yet it was.
Unexpressed by strings or tongues, yet it will be.
Raspberry ice cream, we melt in the sky.

____________________

A PARABLE OF THE POPPY
—Czeslaw Milosz

On a poppy seed is a tiny house,
Dogs bark at the poppy-seed moon,
And never, never do those poppy-seed dogs
Imagine that somewhere there is a world much larger.

The Earth is a seed—and really no more,
While other seeds are planets and stars.
And even if there were a hundred thousand,
Each might have a house and a garden.

All in a poppy head. The poppy grows tall,
The children run by and the poppy sways.
And in the evening, under the rising moon,
Dogs bark somewhere, now loudly, now softly.

______________________

from THE GARDEN OF EARTHLY DELIGHTS
—Czeslaw Milosz

4. Earth

Riding birds, feeling under our thighs the soft feathers
Of goldfinches, orioles, kingfishers,
Or spurring lions into a run, unicorns, leopards,
Whose coats brush against our nakedness,
We circle the vivid and abundant waters,
Mirrors from which emerge a man's and a woman's head,
Or an arm, or the round breasts of the sirens.
Every day is the day of berry harvest here.
The two of us bite into wild strawberries
Bigger than a man, we plunge into cherries,
We are drenched with the juices of their wine,
We celebrate the colors of carmine
And vermilion, as in toys on a Christmas tree.
We are many, a whole tribe swarming,
And so like each other that our lovemaking
Is as sweet and immodest as a game of hide-and-seek.
And we lock ourselves inside the crowns of flowers
Or in transparent, iridescent bubbles.
Meanwhile a flock of lunar signs fills the sky
To prepare the alchemical nuptials of the planets.

_____________________

—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.)

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Dancing With Georgia O


Marie Riepenhoff-Talty of Roseville sends us this photo of
"my voluptuous white Phalaenopsis, that I nicknamed Georgia O"



UNCULTIVATED APRIL
—Taylor Graham, Somerset

In this derelict old lot
beyond what's left of a chainlink fence,
spring is pushing up waist-high
in golden mustard, feathery anise
laced with vetch, wild radish
a white-pink-purple I can’t quite
describe. Profitless profusion
of blooms that we call
weeds.

It’s 6 a.m. My dog sighs and sniffs
into the breeze. She's satisfied
with morning. I'll buy black coffee
at the first fast-food that’s open.
My dog lowers
herself and sighs again, as she
rolls in all these gloriously
unmarketable
colors.

____________________

THE WANTONNESS OF PEONIES
—Patricia Wellingham-Jones, Tehama

I have trouble
connecting your peonies
with Chinese paintings, Japanese silks,
where they are treated
with formal near-reverence.

The peonies you gather
and thrust into my eager hands
are the blowsy broads
in your garden—all double
frills and flirty petals
prancing in the wind.

Their reckless swirls
toss pink raptures,
rain purple at our feet.

Even in the blue glass vase
on my black walnut table
their air of abandon
tempts me to turn up the music—
I need to dance.

____________________

ONE SPRING MORNING
—Wayne Robinson, Lodi

I sit and ponder this one drying rose, she threw it
back at me

At me and my love, my caring, an extended possibility.

Red it was, burgandy, bloody on a white sheet of
paper

Through the window sunrise, a bright blurr on the
table.

Dried tears on my face, like afternoon dew, trying to
be stable.

The sweet smell calling for Cupid, only draws a few
flies

Must get up and go outside, see the blue of the
spring skies.

_____________________

SILENT FLOWERS
—Stephani Schaefer, Los Molinos


You know those
roadside shrines
of simple crosses
burdened by flowers?

I wish we could assign
each soldier to kneel down
and plant a shrine
for each civilian killed
at every silent spot
where their blood bloomed.

______________________

Thanks to those of you who jumped on the drive-by give-away yesterday, sending some wonderful flower poems to help us celebrate Earth Weekend.

—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 10 (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.

Something new: Rattlesnake Interview Series with B.L. Kennedy is also available (free) at The Book Collector (or contact Kathy Kieth). #1 is Ann Menebroker.

Also: Check out the Rattlechaps Chapbook Series page on the 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 names that are in red. That should lead you to a separate page for each of them, including photos, bios, poems, contact info—and more to come, once we get them all up and running. Saa-weet!