Photo by Ann Privateer
MONSIEUR CARAPACE
—Ann Privateer, Davis
All day, hanging on a string
without you, only
you can bring me life.
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Thanks, Ann! Watch for more of Ann Privateer's photos and poetry in Snake 18, due out in mid-June. And for more about Ann, see her rattlechap page on rattlesnakepress.com and check out her chapbook, Attracted to Light.
Time to harvest some Seeds of the Week:
Some of our regional poets have responded to recent Seeds of the Week. Here are a couple about keys/locks (two weeks ago), and one about last week's sand castle:
KEY
—Marie J. Ross, Stockton
Padlock a room
and all notions
are held hostage.
Windows cloud
cerebral activity,
shades pull down
on rationality.
Doors creak,
rusty nails impale
corroded wood of
groundless emotion,
splinters left to converse
in the darkness.
Cogitation is confined
to invisible rooms,
where from behind walls
indecision is culprit,
the doorknob of light not
yet turned.
The key unlocks
when shined and polished,
picks locks and opens gates.
Unbolts link fences that lead
to windows reflecting man's
saner side,
profiles his self assuredness,
no longer a shroud of dark
words,
as doors swing open into the sun
and the padlock falls.
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PLACES I LIVE
—jolena holt, Fair Oaks
I am as lonely
as one piece of pie
on an aluminum plate
I am as alone
as the Lochness monster
(one of a kind)
mythical dragon-like creature
A huge beast believed to be extinct
(living in a large body)
of water between Ireland and England
called a Loch
I am as lonely as a lock
with no keys or door
I am as alone
as a smooth warm stone in mud
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READING THE PAST
—Taylor Graham, Somerset
Out the window, the mesa dims
in twilight; turns dark, monumental.
She swirls her cup, so tea leaves
rise and settle, symbolic
as the lines engraved on skin
after the tattoo artist lays aside
his tools; as swirls of sand
after tides sweep away the child’s
castle; as the tick
of a wind-up tin soldier’s heart.
Who’s to wind it now, she wonders,
as a chill wind finds its way
down-canyon. Last light, a slant
yellow beam through aisles
of cottonwood, leaves falling
to come again next season,
repetitious as the mechanical toy
of a son who’s gone.
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Thanks, Marie Ross, jolena holt (a new voice heard from!—watch Medusa for more from jolena later this week), and Taylor Graham! All of these poets will also be represented in Snake 18. And it's never too late to respond to any of Medusa's Seeds. Bring 'em on!
Time for a new one, though. In Volume Three of Conversations from B.L. Kennedy's Rattlesnake Interview Series (due out June 11), Sacramento's first co-Poet Laureate, Viola Weinberg, talks about the epistolary poems she wrote for her book, Letters to Pablo Neruda. There are lots of ways to write epistolary poems: the love letter comes to mind, or the "Dear John" letter, or William Carlos Williams' note to his wife about plums, or even letters to one's self. How about "the letter you'll never send", which could be angry, sad, nostalgic, humorous... Your call. Send Medusa your poem that's "the letter you'll never send".
And speaking of Conversations, who's the go-to person in our area when you need an Esperanto translation? Pick up your copy of Conversations #3 when it premieres at The Book Collector on June 11 and find out! (For a listing of poets who will be interviewed in this volume, scroll down to SnakeWatch below.)
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Additions to this week's NorCal poetry calendar:
•••Weds. (6/4), 8 PM: Mahogany Poetry Series every Weds. night at Queen Sheba Restaurant, 1704 Broadway, Sacramento with Khiry Malik Moore, Slam, open mic.
•••Sat. (6/7): Galleria Posada open mic in Spanish and English, 1024 22nd St., Sacramento. Contact for times: 916-456-5323 or www.larazagaleriaposada.org/ or larazagaleria@sbcglobal.net/.
•••Sat. (6/7): Rhythm N Rhymes open mic every first Saturday, webcast and filmed for public TV. Butch N Nellie's, near corner of 19th & I Sts., Sacramento. Contact for time: myspace.com/RNRshow/.
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Marie Ross and Donald Anderson have embarked on some interesting work recently by co-writing poems. Here's one they sent me; another will appear in Snake 18:
IN A WORLD OF HER OWN
—Donald R. Anderson and Marie J. Ross, Stockton
From the podium of the mind
such works of classical magnitude
ring forth like words.
She would sit and listen, in that secret
small corner, and read Poe and Heinlein by lamplight,
while the orchestra performed, and the audience cheered.
Like a judge’s gavel she strikes a relationship with each note,
each pulse of sound.
In this state, she can almost see through the black lacquered panels
to the velvety red seats, the angelic faces in their masquerade.
In the mood of Poe, harps pluck like the claw of a raven,
and she sinks into discontent.
A clasp holds a turquoise jewel around her wrist on silver chain;
she taps her fingers to the notes, then turns yellowed page.
The old book of Grimm’s Fairy Tales intrigued her, she envisioned
fifes and cymbals reverberating as children danced joyfully.
She sipped red wine from a goblet, encrusted with sparkling reflections,
scenes of elves and peasants feasting around round tables of plenty.
She felt Wagner’s mind speak from his podium when he composed
Lohengrin, as the Holy Grail lay on the manuscript.
As she drifted to sleep, characters came to life in dramatic inhabitation,
a valley where side by side were Huckleberry Finn and Sherlock Holmes.
The pages drifted into the wind of her mind; slowly she passed the podium,
where works of classical magnitude faded softly.
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Today's LittleNip:
The material's out there, a calm lake waiting for us to dive in.
—Beverly Lowry
_________________
—Medusa
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.......!
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SNAKEWATCH: NEWS FROM RATTLESNAKE PRESS
New for May: Rattlesnake Press is proud to announce the release of Among Summer Pines by Quinton Duval and a littlesnake broadside, Before Naming, by Stephani Schaefer. Both of these are now available at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, and at rattlesnakepress.com/.
Coming June 11: Two Moons in June: Join us at The Book Collector for the premiere of 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! That's at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, 7:30 PM, June 11. See you there!
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.
