THE GARDEN HOSE
—Beatrice Janosco
In the gray evening
I see a long green serpent
With its tail in the dahlias.
It lies in loops across the grass
And drinks softly at the faucet.
I can hear it swallow.
___________________
REFLECTIONS ON A GIFT OF WATERMELON PICKLE
RECEIVED FROM A FRIEND CALLED FELICITY
—John Tobias
During that summer
When unicorns were still possible;
When the purpose of knees
Was to be skinned;
When shiny horse chestnuts
(Hollowed out
Fitted with straws
Crammed with tobacco
Stolen from butts
In family ashtrays)
Were puffed in green lizard silence
While straddling thick branches
Far above and away
From the softening effects
Of civilization;
During that summer—
Which may never have been at all;
But which has become more real
Than the one that was—
Watermelons ruled.
Thick pink imperial slices
Melting frigidly on sun-parched tongues
Dribbling from chins;
Leaving the best part,
The black bullet seeds,
To be spit out in rapid fire
Against the wall
Against the wind
Against each other;
And when the ammunition was spent,
There was always another bite:
It was a summer of limitless bites,
Of hungers quickly felt
And quickly forgotten
With the next careless gorging.
The bites are fewer now,
Each one is savored lingeringly,
Swallowed reluctantly.
But in a jar put up by Felicity,
The summer which maybe never was
Has been captured and preserved.
And when we unscrew the lid
And slice off a piece
And let it linger on our tongue:
Unicorns become possible again.
__________________
This weekend in NorCal poetry:
•••Tonight (Friday, 6/20), 7 PM: Poetry at Raven's Tale (formerly Wild Mountain Books and More) features Jeanine Stevens and Kimberly White. A short poetry open-mic follows (sign up before the featured readers). Raven's Tale is located at 352 Main St., Placerville. There is no charge.
•••Saturday (6/21), 7 PM: Brad Buchanan will be performing poems from his new book, entitled Swimming the Mirror: Poems for My Daughter, at Underground Books, 2814 35th St., Sacramento, 916-737-3333. Brad is Associate Professor of English at CSU Sacramento, where he teaches creative writing and British literature. His poetry and essays have appeared in more than 130 journals worldwide, among them Canadian Literature, Fulcrum, The Wisconsin Review, and the Journal of Modern Literature. His first book of poems, The Miracle Shirker, appeared in 2005, and his new book, Swimming the Mirror, was published in June of 2008. Brad and his wife are also in the process of establishing Roan Press, which he says will be a literary press that will fill the gap in Sacramento publishing venues.
•••Saturday (6/21), 7:30 PM: Poems-For-All presents William O’Daly reading Pablo Neruda at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento. William O’Daly is the best-selling translator of six of Pablo Neruda’s books, including The Book of Questions and The Sea and the Bells. This reading will be the first celebrating the release of The Hands of Day (Copper Canyon, 2008) and will feature readings from that book as well as excerpts from the forthcoming translation of World’s End (Copper Canyon, 2009). O’Daly may toss in a few poems of his own, but this will be primarily a reading of translations from Hands. Copies of the book will be available for sale at the free reading.
Pablo Neruda is one of the world’s great poets, and Copper Canyon Press has long been dedicated to publishing translations of his work in bilingual editions. The Hands of Day—at long last translated into English in its entirety—pronounces Neruda’s desire to take part in the great human making of the day. Moved by the guilt of never having worked with his hands, Neruda opens with the despairing confession, "Why did I not make a broom? / Why was I given hands at all?" The themes of hands and work grow in significance as Neruda celebrates the carpenters, longshoremen, blacksmiths, and bakers-those laborers he admires most-and shares his exuberant adoration for the earth and the people upon it. Info: Richard Hansen at (916) 442-9295 or e-mail: richard@poems-for-all.com/ or http://www.poems-for-all.com/.
•••Sunday (6/22), 11 AM-3 PM: El Camino Chapter of California Federation of Chaparral Poets, Inc. meets at the Hart Center, 27th & J Sts., Sacramento. Bring 10 copies of one poem for critique.
•••Sunday (6/22), 2-4 PM: Women's Writing Salon at Coffee Town in Grass Valley featuring Karla Arens, Terry Kent-Enborg, Bevery Lyon, Ronnie Paul, Elizabeth Soderstrom and Robin Wallace. Please join us as we celebrate these wonderful writers who will each share a tasty tidbit of their poetry, stories, essays and more. It always proves to be a delightful banquet. Come and eat up! (We'd encourage you to come early so that you can gather your beverages and treats and be settled in time for our first reader.) Info: Patricia Miller at dovepat@oro.net, 530-265-5165 or Betsy Fasbinder, bgf2u@sbcglobal.net, 530-613-9947.
•••Sunday (6/22), 1-5 PM: The Rites of Summer Festival at 1735 10th St. (between Delaware & Virginia), Berkeley. This is hosted by H D Moe. Some of the featured readers are Blake More, Ruth Weiss, Gordon Black and Clara Hsu. The theme is Greek. Come in your wraps and bring some Greek food.
•••Monday (6/23), 7:30 PM: Sacramento Poetry Center present James Lee Jobe and Gailmarie Pahmeier. Gailmarie Pahmeier teaches creative writing and literature courses at the University of Nevada where she has been honored with the Alan Bible Teaching Excellence Award and the University Distinguished Teacher Award. Her literary awards include the Chambers Memorial Award, a Witter Bynner Foundation Poetry Fellowship, two Artists Grants from Sierra Arts Foundation, and two Artists Fellowships from the Nevada Arts Council, a state agency she also served as a gubernatorial appointee. She is the 2007 recipient of the Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts from the state of Nevada. Her work has been widely published in literary journals and anthologies, and she is the author of two chapbooks from Black Rock Press and The House on Breakaheart Road from the University of Nevada Press. A new book, West of Snowball, Arkansas and Home, is forthcoming from Red Hen Press in 2010.
James Lee Jobe has been published in Manzanita, Tule Review and Pearl, and many other periodicals over the past 40 years. His poems are also included in The Sacramento Anthology: One Hundred Poems; Jewel of the Valley: A California Anthology; and How to be This Man: The Walter Pavlich Memorial Anthology. Jobe was, for five years, the editor and publisher of the monthly poetry journal, One Dog Press, and later the editor of Clan Of The Dog, a poetry quarterly. He is a producer of radio commercials in Sacramento and lives in Davis, CA with his wife and children. What God Said When She Finally Answered Me (Rattlesnake Press) is his fourth chapbook.
A NICE DOG
—James Lee Jobe
The little terrier
is well-mannered.
He does not bite
or bark, he waits
where the master
tells him, even when
the sky turns orange
and mushroom clouds
begin to dot the horizon.
He is patient. He wags
his tail and hopes
for a little fun. After all,
what is the point
if you can't have a little fun?
__________________
THE BASE STEALER
—Robert Francis
Poised between going on and back, pulled
Both ways taut like a tightrope-walker,
Fingertips pointing the opposites,
Now bouncing tiptoe like a dropped ball
Or a kid skipping rope, come on, come on,
Running a scattering of steps sidewise,
How he teeters, skitters, tingles, teases,
Taunts them, hovers like an ecstatic bird,
He's only flirting, crowd him, crowd him
Delicate, delicate, delicate, delicate—now!
___________________
Today's LittleNip
YOUR CAMEL IS LOADED TO SING
The
Camel
Is loaded to sing.
Look what good poetry can do:
Untie the knot in the burlap sack
And lift the golden
Falcon Out.
—Hafiz
The
Camel
Is loaded to sing.
Look what good poetry can do:
Untie the knot in the burlap sack
And lift the golden
Falcon Out.
__________________
—Medusa
SnakeWatch: What's Up With Rattlesnake Press
New in June: Day Moon, a new chapbook by James DenBoer, and Mindfully Moon, a littlesnake broadside by Carol Louise Moon, as well as Volume Three of Conversations, our third book of interviews by B.L. Kennedy, featuring Art Beck, Olivia Costellano, Quinton Duval, William S. Gainer, Mario Ellis Hill, Kathryn Hohlwein, James Jee Jobe, Andy Jones, Rebecca Morrison, Viola Weinberg and Phillip T. Nails. All this PLUS a brand-new edition (#18) of Rattlesnake Review! Now available at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, or (soon) from rattlesnakepress.com/. (Snake contributors and subscribers will be receiving their copies in the mail next week. If you're not among either of these, and can't get down to The Book Collector to get your free copy, send me two bux and I'll mail you one: P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726.)
The Snake will be snoozing through July and August, leaving Medusa to carry on alone. Then on September 10, we shall burst back onto the scene with Ten Poems, a new chapbook from Patrick Grizzell, plus Issue #19 of Rattlesnake Review. (Deadline is August 15.) Meanwhile, look in on Medusa every day, and, for heaven's sake, keep sending stuff! The snakes of Medusa are always hungry...
Medusa's Weekly Menu:
(Contributors are welcome to cook up something for any and all of these!)
Monday: Weekly NorCal poetry calendar
Tuesday: Seed of the Week: Tuesday is Medusa's day to post poetry triggers such as quotes, forms, photos, memories, jokes—whatever might tickle somebody's muse. Pick up the gauntlet and send in your poetic results; and don't be shy about sending in your own triggers, too! All poems will be posted and a few of them will go into Medusa's Corner of each Rattlesnake Review. Send your work to kathykieth@hotmail.com or P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726. No deadline for SOW; respond today, tomorrow, or whenever the muse arrives. (Print 'em out, maybe, save 'em for a dry spell?) When you send us work, though, just let us know which "seed" it was that inspired you.
Wednesday: HandyStuff Quickies: Resources for the poet, including whatever helps ease the pain of writing and/or publishing: favorite journals to read and/or submit to; books, etc., about writing; organizational tools—you know—HandyStuff! Tell us about your favorite tools.
Thursday: B.L.'s Drive-Bys: Micro-reviews by our irreverent Reviewer-in-Residence, B.L. Kennedy. Send books, CDs, DVDs, etc. to him for possible review (either as a Drive-By or in future issues of Rattlesnake Review) at P.O. Box 160664, Sacramento, CA 95816.
Friday: NorCal weekend poetry calendar
Daily (except Sunday): LittleNips: SnakeFood for the Poetic Soul: Daily munchables for poetic thought, including short paragraphs, quotes, wonky words, silliness, little-known poetry/poet facts, and other inspiration—yet another way to feed our ravenous poetic souls.
And poetry! Every day, poetry from writers near and far! The Snakes of Medusa are always hungry.......!
_________________
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). And be sure to sign up for Snakebytes, our monthly e-newsletter that will keep you up-to-date on all our ophidian chicanery.
