Kasey Rae
KING DAVID’S COVERS
—Kasey Rae, Canyon Country
the tropics are gathered with an indian as skin and flesh,
bones and sinews
fashioned with a warm intent.
let them lie,
no longer too cold bodies.
the tropics are gathered with an indian as skin and flesh.
let not man make a dam.
the tropics are gathered with an indian as skin and flesh.
but we will know.
—Kasey Rae, Canyon Country
the tropics are gathered with an indian as skin and flesh,
bones and sinews
fashioned with a warm intent.
let them lie,
no longer too cold bodies.
the tropics are gathered with an indian as skin and flesh.
let not man make a dam.
the tropics are gathered with an indian as skin and flesh.
but we will know.
Thanks, Kasey! Kasey Rae currently subsists in Canyon Country, the sub-urban, sub-par, art-starved pit of Southern California. She is a final-year English major at The Master's College in Santa Clarita, California, emphasizing mainly in critical theory, both erstwhile and contemporary. She is getting married the 17th of this month. So, besides planning and... planning and planning, as of late, her poetry and art will appear in Snake 19, as well as the winter issue of The League of Laboring Poets. Aside from the literary art of poetry, she is a visual artist, mainly painting panels and canvas, with the occasional coffee table and tattoo design as well. Her art is currently displayed at Abbey Lane Cafe in Stevenson Ranch, CA. In general, Kasey Rae thrives on philosophical inquiry, criticism, and a good laugh now and then, so do drop her a word at: www.rootcandy.blogspot.com/.
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This weekend in NorCal poetry:
•••Saturday (8/9), 2-4 PM: Culture Collection Poetry Series features Nicole Dominque and Yolanda Stevenson at 6391 Riverside Blvd. in Greenhaven (Sacramento). Free!
•••Sunday (8/10), 3-5 PM: Please join us as we show our appreciation for your support of Wild Mountain Books on Main Street in Placerville, and welcome, with a toast, the new owners of Raven's Tale Books: Vicky & John. Live music & refreshments!
•••Monday (8/11), 7:30 PM: Sacramento Poetry Center presents Wendy Taylor Carlisle and Brad Buchanan at HQ for the Arts, 25th & R Sts., Sacramento. Wendy Taylor Carlisle lives in East Texas. Her poems have appeared in Monserrat Review, Cider Press Review, Borderlands, Passager, Prairie Dog, Maverick and on-line at 2 River View, Unlikely Stories, Perihelion, The Astrophysicist’s Tango Partner, Isibongo, Conspire, Tintern Abbey, Zuzu's Petals, Three Candles, and Pig Iron Malt. She has won The Lipscomb Award from Centenary College, a Passager Poetry Contest Award, and has been three times nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her first book, Reading Berryman to the Dog, was published by Jacaranda Press in 2000, her second book, Discount Fireworks (Jacaranda, 2008), won the 2008 Bernice Blackgrove Prize. Her work also appears in Athens Avenue: A Collection of Poetry (Funky Dog Publishing, 1999). Brad Buchanan teaches Modern British and American Literature and Creative Writing at California State University, Sacramento. His work has appeared in the U.S. in American Poets and Poetry, The Comstock Review, Confrontation, The Connecticut Poetry Review, Illuminations, Northeast, The Notre Dame Review, Peregrine, The Portland Review, RE: AL, The Seattle Review, The South Dakota Review, and Whetstone. His first book, The Miracle Shirker, was published by Poets Corner Press in 2005, and he has recently started his own literary press, Roan Press, which has published Swimming The Mirror, a book of his poems dedicated to his daughter, Nora. He sometimes pawns himself as an amateur gerontologist just to make people happy, and he also refers to himself as a relapsing rhymester.
Soul-Making Literary Competition, 2008:
Established in 1994, the Soul-Making Literary Competition (and its subsequent Awards Reading at the Koret Auditorium, San Francisco Main Library, Civic Center) is a community arts outreach program of the National League of American Pen Women, Nob Hill, SF Bay Area Branch. There are 11 categories, including one for poetry, one for prose poetry, and one for young adult poetry (grades 9-12). Cash prizes for each category are $100, $50, and $25. For complete details, visit www.soulmakingcontest.us/. Deadline is November 30.
Poetry in the trees!
You might want to plan ahead to attend the Third Annual Poets with Trees Reading at Jerry Garcia Amphitheater in San Francisco on Sunday, August 24, from Noon to 4 PM. Join them for a picnic and reading at the amphitheater. For detailed information and a photo of the amphitheater, go to clarahsu.com/hotel.html/ or contact Clara Hsu, 301 Gambier St., San Francisco, CA 94134-1341, tel: 415-244-1317, http://www.clarahsu.com/. She says bring a hat. This year they will be featuring four Bay Area Poet Laureates: Albert Flynn DeSilver of Marin, Penelope La Montagne of Healdsburg, Martha Meltzer of Pleasanton, and Connie Post of Livermore, as well as open mike before and after the featured readers.
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[title]
—Kasey Rae
Night comes like leviathan, appalling.
When it is, it is under and around.
It is those depths who, in torrent, flush meaning-
a certain nameless terror on no ground.
Night seeps in, like the dark ocean, heavy.
And when it sneaks it brings assured rest.
But I despair of putting forth this form,
for night's effects tend to be ubiquitous:
For sleep is just another type of death,
And in this darkness all true meaning rests.
But when we get there we are unaware,
like hunting whales whose whiteness bares just jests.
What is most certain brings the most unknown.
The darkness is another blankness shown.
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MANIPULATING THE BREED
—Kasey Rae
briars in the sock of this foot.
running in a reincarnated newness.
tenderness branching out.
a hedge markedly old.
running round this flowering weed.
bastion of thorns.
oh the little white fence.
running into the dead roots.
tendrils of past.
hands which fortify this system.
running on cultivated responses.
manipulating the breed.
the latch is breaking.
the fruit is running out.
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Today's LittleNip:
The ordinary mind as it is released from its narrow confines into the opening heart makes the most beautiful sounds. Music and poetry rise as light as bell tones.
—Stephen Levine
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Ennui
Drawing by Kasey Rae
—Medusa
SnakeWatch: What's Up With Rattlesnake Press
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 Thirteen Poems, a new chapbook from Patrick Grizzell; #2 in Katy Brown's series of blank journals (Musings2: Vices, Virtues and Obsessions); a littlesnake broadside (Wind Physics) from Jordan Reynolds; 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 (sometimes): 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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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.
