Abyss

Patricia Hickerson

THE YEAR OF BEING THIRTEEN
—Patricia Hickerson, Davis

August without soul,
nothing moves
sap not rising
dusty branch
crackling leaf
soon to fall...

bristle of chin
thread of hair
thin of lip
corner bubbling...

He comes toward me
Hold still he says
wet kiss—
bristles scorch my face
Don't tell he says
nothing moves
but Grandpa

__________________

Thanks to Patricia Hickerson for today's sharp poems on a difficult subject. Born in New York, Pat Hickerson danced in Warner Bros. "kiddie" [movie] shorts, is a former Bay Area journalist and Penthouse contributor, and presently lives in Davis, California.


ROMANCE
—Patricia Hickerson

Rape, I want you to get the feel of it,
said the Green-Eyed Knight to his lady-in-arms
and she obeyed at 3 a.m.
bedded down at Grail Castle Hotel,
once the inn of gold-seekers,
storied of old, waters edge,
Port Camelot.

He held her
rammed against the bedstead's iron bars
head twisted round.
Hustled into her
deep, wide
too deep, too wide—

Hers was a small space skin space
soft place
linked to rose petals and nerve tendrils
trickled down the backs of her legs
locked in currents of pain
the rest of her life...

In too deep.
Was it only a 3-second nap
from all the fire pumped into her? or
from passion perverted,
its saturnine face darkly smiling
into hers?

She-who-must-be-punished
—she began to wonder,
floated a cautionary sailboat
out across Reason's lake.

__________________

ABYSS
—Patricia Hickerson

the hole kept getting bigger

she staggered out of her bedroom
down the hall to the dining room
and there, by one of the chairs,
she was stopped by the sight of the hole
spreading from where she stood
she was about to fall into it

she didn't care about her husband, only
her children
(who knew nothing about the nightmare man
at her heels)
though she could no longer see her children while
standing over their bodies in bed

to the hospital for pills
Have you been assaulted?
no...yes...I wanted it

she trembled—
Mother was reading Bluebeard
wives hung on hooks in the locked closet
blood pooled at their dangled feet
Mother's thready voice called up to the lookout tower:
Sister Anne, Sister Anne, do you see my brothers coming?

the pills kicked in,
she fell asleep hiding the tell-tale key
(Fatima waiting for rescue)

pills
hypo
breathless she slid down a no-holds brick wall
the abyss waited below

she pretended to be alive
ghost living in a foreign land...

___________________

SOFTLY PURRING HE RAPES HER PURSE
—Patricia Hickerson

King of Cats—
denizen of dark alleys
muscled, sleek and smiling
whiskers angled
ears on edge
slides over the back fence
six pack under his arm
out of Lisa's yard
into Megan's

Surprise!

scratches at the door
purrs her name whatever it is—confusion
after a day at the track
lost a bundle
but what of it?
he knows where to pounce...

Claws retracted
his velvet paws
massage her fur
into oblivion—
she'll forget she ever had a purse
Mmmmmmeow!

__________________

Today's LittleNip:

Twilight—the only conversation
on this hill
Is the wind blowing through the pines.

—Ryokan (translated by John Stevens)

__________________


—Medusa


SnakeWatch: What's New from Rattlesnake Press:

October is Sacramento Poetry Month! October’s releases from Rattlesnake Press include a new rattlechap from Moira Magneson (He Drank Because) and a free littlesnake broadside from Hatch Graham (Circling of the Pack). Both are available at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, or from me (kathykieth@hotmail.com), or from rattlesnakepress.com/. Rattlechaps are $6 by mail, $5 at The Book Collector.

Be sure to join us on Thursday, Oct. 30, 8 PM, when Rattlesnake Press will release not one, but two SpiralChaps to honor and celebrate Luna’s Café, including a new collection of art and poetry from B.L. Kennedy (Luna’s House of Words) and an anthology of Luna’s poets, artists and photographs (La Luna: Poetry Unplugged at Luna’s Café) edited by Frank Andrick. Come travel with our Away Team as we leave the Home of the Snake for a brief road trip/time travel to Luna’s Café, 1414 16th St., Sacramento to celebrate Art Luna and the 13 years of Luna's long-running poetry series. Who knows what auspicious adventures await us there??

And check out B.L. Kennedy’s interview with Art Luna in the latest Rattlesnake Review (#19)! Free copies are available at The Book Collector, or send me two bux and I’ll mail you one (address below). Next deadline, by the way, is November 15.

Coming in November: November will feature a new rattlechap from Red Fox Underground Poet Wendy Patrice Williams (Some New Forgetting); a littlesnake broadside from South Lake Tahoe Poet Ray Hadley; our 2009 calendar from Katy Brown (Beyond the Hill: A Poet’s Calendar) as well as Conversations, Vol. 4 of B.L. Kennedy’s Rattlesnake Interview Series. That’s Weds., November 12, 7:30 PM at The Book Collector.


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 SOWs; 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 and in-between! 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.