Photo by Stephani Schaefer, Los Molinos
MOTHER MAY I IN SANTA CRUZ
—Ellaraine Lockie, Sunnyvale
Buried under a pink feather boa
faux fur pink stole
lacy pink shawl with sequins
And coral stuffed cat purse
suspended from one shoulder
Is the essence of woman
She wears a short pink chiffon dress
that swishes Look at me
with each slow Mother-May-I step
that her pink Lyrca legs, red ruffled ankles
and crimson-heart-covered tennis shoes take
I pretend to be intent on the street puppeteer
enacting a political play with Fisher-Price toys
in a General Electric stove box
Sunglasses obscuring my stare
at the Valentine inching her way past me
A cinnamon sweet smile for every oncoming pedestrian
radiates between dollar-sized rouged cheeks
and rose decaled forehead and neck
Glint of pink pearls in pierced ears
pales under the glare from aluminum foil
That borders the beet-red paper umbrella
crowning her pink crocheted cap
Not until a woman hugs her and says Hi Robert
do I notice the clipped earlobe hairs
five o-clock mustache shadow
That her tennis shoes are maybe size twelve
And that she probably didn't wait around
for her mother's permission
(First published in Centrifugal Eye)
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Thanks for the poems and pix today. We're still talking about Santa Cruz, in the midst of a give-away, in fact. Send your poems about Santa Cruz to kathykieth@hotmail.com or P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726 postmarked by midnight tonight and receive a free copy of Julia Connor's new chapbook, Oar.
We were saddened to hear that one of our SnakePals, Ray Dunn of Red Bluff, passed away this weekend. Ray has contributed poems to each and every of our 21 issues of Rattlesnake Review (and lately photographs, too)—most recently, due to his illness, with the help of Steph Schaefer. Steph and Patricia Wellingham-Jones are putting together a tribute to him for Ish 21; check it out.
Cynthia Linville writes that the Spring '09 issue of Sacramento's Convergence is online! In addition, Editors' Choice pages and photos throughout the site have also been updated. Look for work by people you may know, including: James Lee Jobe, Brent Wiggans, Chris Moon, Jerome Holt, Jennifer Woods, Martha Clarkson, Dani Thole, Francisco DiClemente, Steve Mereu, Amy Bernays, Anne Glista, Alexis Findarle, Jane Blue, Lisa Jones, Martin Ott, Ocean Vuong, Chris Turnbull, Patricia Hickerson, and James Benton. http://www.convergence-journal.com/spring09/
This week in NorCal poetry:
•••Monday (3/2), 7:30 PM: Sacramento Poetry Center presents Richard Loranger at HQ for the Arts, 1719 25th St., Sacramento. Richard Loranger is a writer, performer, and visual artist who wandered back to San Francisco last fall after fifteen years in less savory climes. He is the author of Poems for Teeth (We Press, 2005), which Bob Holman calls “one of the most extraordinary and virtuosic poetic feats since Francis Ponge took on Soap,” as well as The Orange Book and eight chapbooks, including Hello Poems and The Day Was Warm and Blue. He is a recent and very happy escapee from The Big Mean Dirty City (New York). Free; donations accepted. Open mic. following the feature. Next Monday, March 9, SPC will feature Dobby Gibson and Matt Hart.
•••Tues. (3/3), 3:30 PM: Sacramento Poetry Center (HQ for the Arts, 1719 25th St., Sacramento) presents Brian Turner, a soldier-poet whose debut book of poems, Here, Bullet, won the 2005 Beatrice Hawley Award, the New York Times “Editor's Choice” selection, the 2006 Pen Center USA "Best in the West" award, and the 2007 Poets Prize, among others. Turner served seven years in the US Army, including one year as an infantry team leader in Iraq with the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. Prior to that, he was deployed to Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1999-2000 with the 10th Mountain Division. Turner's poetry has been published in Poetry Daily, The Georgia Review, and other journals, and in the Voices in Wartime Anthology published in conjunction with the feature-length documentary film of the same name. Turner was also featured in Operation Homecoming, a unique documentary that explores the firsthand accounts of American servicemen and women through their own words. He earned an MFA from the University of Oregon and has lived abroad in South Korea.
•••Weds. (3/4), 9 PM: Bistro 33 in Davis (226 F St.) presents Rebecca Foust, who has earned degrees from Smith College, Stanford Law School, and the Warren Wilson MFA Program. Her poetry can be found in many national journals, including Margie and the North American Review, and in her two prize-winning books. Rebecca’s new book, Mom’s Canoe, won the 2008 Robert Phillips Poetry Chapbook Award and will be released in March 2009 by Texas Review Press. It addresses family and place in the Allegheny Mountains of western Pennsylvania, an area of once-pristine rural landscapes now recovering from the last century’s extensive coal mining and railroading industries. Most of the poems were previously published in journals such as Margie, North American Review, Spoon River Poetry Review, and Texas Review, and one was nominated for a 2008 Pushcart Award. Mom’s Canoe has endorsements from poets Robin Becker, Barry Spacks, Mathew Lippman, and Susan Griffin. Rebecca’s first book, Dark Card (TRP 2008), won the Robert Phillips Poetry Chapbook Award in 2007, and was endorsed by Molly Peacock, Barry Spacks and Robert Phillips. Dark Card collects poetry about the experience of raising a son with Asperger’s Syndrome, the Autism Disorder featured in the film “Rain Man.” This book has been the subject of more than 20 features and reviews in The Marin Independent Journal, The American Book Review, Calyx, Chiron Review and Hudson Review and others linked at www.rebeccafoust.com/. Open mic at 10 PM.
•••Sat. (3/7), 1-4 PM: You are cordially Invited to “Bay Area Poets Laureate”, a reception in Livermore hosted by Livermore Poet Laureate Connie Post at the Livermore Public Library, 1188 S. Livermore Ave., Livermore. This gathering is being held as a reception to kick off the photography exhibit, “Poets Laureate in California” by Ronna Leon (photographer). Come see the remarkable display of past and current Poets Laureate of California. The photo display will be in the main gallery of the Livermore Library. Refreshments will be served. Stop by anytime from 1-4 PM; from 2-3 PM, Bay Area Poets Laureate will read poems. Join us to enjoy Ronna Leon’s photography, meet Bay Area Poets Laureate, hear their poetry, and get a sense of history of the Poets Laureate Programs in California. Info: Connie Post (connie@poetrypost.com). Directions: from Hwy 580, take the North Livermore Exit. Head South. Keep going through town until you see the civic center and then the Library on your left.
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SANTA CRUZ
—Taylor Graham, Placerville
Too much rain too fast,
mountain too steep
to hold. Mud
churns the creeks, washes out
roads, tracks
of somebody lost in redwoods.
No matter how we search
she disappears
like fog over ocean
footprints in sand
the evening tide.
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PHOTO CAPTION—LEFT TO RIGHT
—Barbara March, Cedarville
Bobbie, her four-year-old sister Nancy
and their mother Hazel put their feet in the Pacific
for the first time. Little Nancy doesn’t smile at her father
Paul who is struggling to keep his footing knee deep
in surf. She is bedazzled, watching the sparkling sand and
water swirl at her feet.
Bobbie is thrilled to be in Santa Cruz
even though she hates her new bathing suit. When it
gets wet, it hangs down like a soggy piece of wool,
which it may be. She hears the merry-go-round up on the boardwalk.
What horse shall she ride? Please don’t put me on a kangaroo.
Hazel who has been working on her tan especially for this occasion
wears a light green or peach colored bathing suit. Bobbie can’t remember
for sure. Either one would compliment her, for the moment, red hair.
Paul (not pictured) has just come off a hassle with the owner of
of a local deli during which Paul, in dramatized Italian puzzlement,
asked the counter man if he, Paul, had his pants on backwards.
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Otter Prints Photo by Sally Rhymes
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Today's LittleNip:
Poetry is the journal of a sea animal living on land, wanting to fly the air.
—Carl Sandburg
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—Medusa
SnakeWatch: What's New from Rattlesnake Press:
Rattlesnake Review: The latest issue (RR20) is currently available at The Book Collector, or send me four bux and I'll mail you one. Deadline for RR21 was Feb. 15; the issue will appear in mid-March. Next deadline is May 15 for RR22: send 3-5 poems, smallish art pieces and/or photos (no bio, no cover letter, no simultaneous submissions or previously-published poems) to kathykieth@hotmail.com or P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726. E-mail attachments are preferred, but be sure to include all contact info, including snail address. Meanwhile, the snakes of Medusa are always hungry; let us know if your submission is for the Review or for Medusa, or for either one.
Also available (free): littlesnake broadside #46: Snake Secrets: Getting Your Poetry Published in Rattlesnake Press (and lots of other places, besides!): A compendium of ideas for brushing up on your submissions process so as to make editors everywhere more happy, thereby increasing the likelihood of getting your poetry published. Pick up a copy at The Book Collector or write to me and I'll send you one. Free!
Coming in March: On Wednesday, March 11, Rattlesnake Press will be releasing a new chapbook from Norma Kohout (All Aboard); a littlesnake broadside from Patricia Hickerson (At Grail Castle Hotel); and a new issue of Rattlesnake Review (the Snake turns 21)! Join us at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, 7:30. Refreshments and a read-around will follow; bring your own poems or somebody else's.
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, or any other day!): 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.
