THE SHEETS
—Erica Jong
We used to meet on this corner
in the same wind.
It fought us up the hill
to your house,
blew us in the door.
The elevator rose
on gusts of stale air
fed on ancient dinners.
Your room smelled
of roach spray and roses.
In those days
we went to bed with Marvell.
The wind ruffled sheets and pages,
spoke to us through walls.
For hours I used to lie
with my ear to your bare chest,
listening for the sea.
Now the wind is tearing
the building down.
The sheets are rising.
They billow through the air like sails.
White with your semen,
holding invisible prints
of the people we were,
the people we might have been,
they sail across the country
disguised as clouds.
Momentarily they snag
on the Rocky Mountains,
then rise
shredded into streamers.
Now they are bannering westward
over California
where your existence
is rumored.
—Erica Jong
We used to meet on this corner
in the same wind.
It fought us up the hill
to your house,
blew us in the door.
The elevator rose
on gusts of stale air
fed on ancient dinners.
Your room smelled
of roach spray and roses.
In those days
we went to bed with Marvell.
The wind ruffled sheets and pages,
spoke to us through walls.
For hours I used to lie
with my ear to your bare chest,
listening for the sea.
Now the wind is tearing
the building down.
The sheets are rising.
They billow through the air like sails.
White with your semen,
holding invisible prints
of the people we were,
the people we might have been,
they sail across the country
disguised as clouds.
Momentarily they snag
on the Rocky Mountains,
then rise
shredded into streamers.
Now they are bannering westward
over California
where your existence
is rumored.
_________________
Thanks to Katy Brown for finding us the delightful photo, and to Mitz Sackman and Erica Jong (wherever she is) for today's poems.
CFCP, Inc. Convention in May:
CFCP, Inc. President Ed Bearden from Modesto writes: The California Federation of Chaparral Poets, Inc. will host its annual convention in Modesto on May 1, 2, 3. Detailed information and registration forms are available at http://www.chaparralpoets.org/welcome.html/. If you are not a member, I would encourage you to sign up for the Saturday workshops (the fee is $15.00), or to attend the free presentation by John Fox on Sunday.
_________________
FOR JT LOVETTE, FATHER OF THREE SONS
—Mitz Sackman, Murphys
For you who slipped away…
Rest in peace
The meaning of your life
Is still unfolding
—Alice Walker
A brief but meaningful life you trod
Three sons you left behind
Missing you
For you who slipped away
Formed an important role
In their young lives
You left the parenting undone
Rest in peace
Another generation follows
Your three sons
Handsome and bright, in them
The meaning of your life
Now gone from this world
You must trust the sons you left
In them your future
Is still unfolding
_________________
HIS SILENCE
—Erica Jong
He still wears the glass skin of childhood.
Under his hands, the stones turn mirrors.
His eyes are knives.
Who froze the ground to his feet?
Who locked his mouth into an horizon?
Why does the sun set when we touch?
I look for the lines between the silences.
He looks only for the silences.
Cram this page under his tongue.
Open him as if for surgery.
Let the red knife love slide in.
__________________
THE QUARREL
—Erica Jong
It is a rainy night
when the wind beats at your door
like a man you have turned away
He comes back trailing leaves & branches
He comes back in a shower of earth
He comes back with blades of grass
still clinging to his hair
No matter how hard he holds you
he is still elsewhere
making love to another
No matter how hard you hold him
you are still
elsewhere
Your bodies slide together
like wet grass blades
You cling & stop the raindrops
with your tongues
Later you rise
& pick the nettles from your hair
You take the leaves for clothing
Your loneliness
is a small gray hole in the rain
You rise & go knocking
at his locked front door
_________________
Today's LittleNip:
Beware of the man who denounces women writers;
his penis is tiny & cannot spell.
—Erica Jong, from "Seventeen Warnings in Search of a Feminist Poem"
_________________
—Medusa
SnakeWatch: What's New from Rattlesnake Press:
Rattlesnake Review: The latest Snake (RR21) is now available (free) at The Book Collector, or send me four bux and I'll mail you one. 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, and please—only one submission per issue.
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!
NEW FOR APRIL: A SpiralChap of poetry and photos from Laverne Frith (Celebrations: Images and Texts); a (free!) littlesnake broadside from Taylor Graham (Edge of Wildwood); and Musings3: An English Affair, a new blank journal of photos and writing prompts from Katy Brown. Now available from the authors, or The Book Collector, or (soon) rattlesnakepress.com/.
April 15 was the deadline for the second issue of WTF, the free quarterly journal from Poetry Unplugged at Luna's Cafe that is edited by frank andrick. Submission guidelines are the same as for the Snake, but send your poems, photos, smallish art or prose pieces (500 words or less) to fandrickfabpub@hotmail.com (attachments preferred) or, if you’re snailing, to P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726. And be forewarned: this publication is for adults only, so you must be over 18 years of age to submit. Copies of the first issue are at The Book Collector, or send me two bux and I'll mail you one. Next deadline, for issue #3, is July 15.
COMING IN MAY: Join us Weds., May 13 for a new rattlechap, Sinfonietta, from Tom Goff; Vol. 5 of Conversations, the Rattlesnake Interview Series by B.L. Kennedy; and the inauguration of a new series, Rattlesnake LittleBooks, with Shorts: Quatrains and Epigrams by Iven Lourie. That’s at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, 7:30 PM. Free!
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.......!
_________________
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.
