UNDER THE HARVEST MOON
—Carl Sandburg
Under the harvest moon,
When the soft silver
Drips shimmering
Over the garden nights,
Death, the gray mocker,
Comes and whispers to you
As a beautiful friend
Who remembers.
Under the summer roses
When the flagrant crimson
Lurks in the dusk
Of the wild red leaves,
Love, with little hands,
Comes and touches you
With a thousand memories,
And asks you
Beautiful, unanswerable questions.
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Poets on Deck this Saturday:
This Saturday, October 11, marks the culmination of Sacramento Poet Laureate Julia Connor’s Poets on Deck project, a deck of cards featuring the art and poetry of individual Sacramento poets. The vision of this deck is to educate the public about and celebrate the history of Sacramento’s poetry community. The deck honors many of the poets and supporters who were active in Sacramento during the creation and solidification of our poetry scene. Come by and visit with Julia and see the completed deck of cards!
The evening will also include an exhibit of the poets’ portraits by Sacramento artist Suzanne Johnson, and the portraits and the Poets on Deck cards will be available for purchase. That’s this coming Saturday, 6-9 PM, at the Art Foundry Gallery, 1021 R St., Sacramento, 916-444-2787. More information on the poets and the project is at www.SacMetroArts.org/. The Sacramento Poet Laureate Program is a program of the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission.
B.L.'s Drive-Bys: A Micro-Review by B.L. Kennedy:
The Graves Grow Bigger Between Generations
Poems by Jared Smith
Higganum Hill Books
P.O. Box 666
Higganum, CT 06441
67 pages, $12.95 Trade-Paper
ISBN 978-0-9776556-8-7
Every now and then you read a review of some poet and you say, “Hey, I’d like to read more of this writer’s stuff.” So you send for one. And then you wait. A book finally arrives in the mail and you are filled with excitement with the opportunity of discovering a new poet. And that is how it all went down with The Graves Grow Bigger Between Generations by Jared Smith
But it’s sad for me to report that the collection simply does not hold up to the expectations of this reader. All hoopla and little fist-to-gut delivery here; I was left wanting something, anything to kick in. So, if you are really interested in this book, I say go to the library...
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NOCTURNE IN A DESERTED BRICKYARD
—Carl Sandburg
Stuff of the moon
Runs on the lapping sand
Out to the longest shadows.
Under the curving willows,
And round the creep of the wave line,
Fluxions of yellow and dusk on the waters
Make a wide dreaming pansy of an old pond in the night.
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NIGHT STUFF
—Carl Sandburg
Listen a while, the moon is a lovely woman, a lonely woman,
lost in a silver dress, lost in a circus rider's silver dress.
Listen a while, the lake by night is a lonely woman, a lovely
woman, circled with birches and pines mixing their green
and white among stars shattered in spray clear nights.
I know the moon and the lake have twisted the roots under my
heart the same as a lonely woman, a lovely woman, in a silver
dress, in a circus rider's silver dress.
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PEOPLE OF THE EAVES, I WISH YOU GOOD MORNING
—Carl Sandburg
The wrens have troubles like us. The house of a wren will not
run itself any more than the house of a man.
They chatter the same as two people in a flat where the laundry
came back with the shirts of another man and the shimmy of
another woman.
The shirt of a man wren and the shimmy of a woman wren are
a trouble in the wren house. It is this or something else back
of this chatter a spring morning.
Trouble goes so quick in the wren house. Now they are hopping
wren jigs beaten off in a high wren staccato time.
People of the eaves, I wish you good morning, I wish you a
thousand thanks.
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SNATCH OF SLIPHORN JAZZ
—Carl Sandburg
Are you happy? It's the only
way to be, kid.
Yes, be happy, it's a good nice
way to be.
But not happy-happy, kid, don't
be too doubled-up doggone happy.
It's the doubled-up doggone happy-
happy people... bust hard... they
do bust hard... when they bust.
Be happy, kid, go to it, but not too
doggone happy.
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TO SURVIVE THE SEASON
—Marie J. Ross, Stockton
Have you ever been startled
by defining sounds of thunder,
where in the comfort of your room
lightning flashes, like fiery darts and
flaming spears?
Did the din of storm create sudden shiver,
as wind howled like an army of demons,
your rooftop becoming victim of chips and
holes?
Why so frightened—it's only an act of nature
her sassy way of getting us through the season.
And we ask ourselves “why do we complain?”
Autumn has blessed our eyes with the beauty of
colorful leaves and acceptable weather;
so why do we grumble as winter trots in on its horse
called Disturbance, on his journey into spring and
her rebirth?
__________________
Thanks, Marie Ross, for your response to our Seed of the Week: Poems in the form of questions.
__________________
Today's LittleNip:
What is your heart like? That's what they wanted to know. They brought in someone who had just died. They proceeded to open up her heart. You wouldn't believe what was in there. You wouldn't believe it—white people, black people, atheists, rich people, poor people, drunkards, prostitutes, children, judges, baseball players, cranks, and me—even me—how did I get there?
Is that what I will be like when I die? When they open up my heart, what will they find?
—Father Theophane, Tales of a Magic Monastery
—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—soon—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.
