—Maureen Hurley, Marin County
I was born within sight of the ocean
but a nervousness dances within
when I stray too far from the coastal hills of my birth.
The slopes of Mt. Barnabe sheltered me.
The long arm of the ridge wrapped itself
around our house holding us in from the world.
Afternoons I'd ride the crest of the ridge
testing the odor of pine and bay.
Sweet lethe, the crickets sizzled
in the rattlesnake grass
shaking a soft rhythm in the breeze.
______________________
At home my gradmother, old as
—Carl Bernard Schwartz, Sacramento
I needed a vacation from civilization
to do some writing without all the
usual distractions. A shopping trip
was in order to gather necessary
provisions, including of course
jumbles of generations of
dictionaries:
crossword puzzle
foreign language
Oxford English
unabridged
technical
abridged
rhyming
spelling
college
picture
online
slang
law
Now I’m ready to leave town!
—Carl Bernard Schwartz
can be an insufferable burden
on those who like to read.
Intellectual property lawyers
have locked up a significant
amount of worthwhile reading
matter with the prohibition:
No part of this book may be
reproduced in any form…
without permission in writing
from the author.
A person whose mind captures
images like a copy machine
cannot just pick out a book
and start reading it, even while
shopping. They must follow
the mandate to get written
permission ahead of time!
Thank goodness for bibles
and poetry readings.
—Carl Bernard Schwartz
beyond the reach of the
librarian’s ladder, on a
precipice higher than ceilings
or rooftops, or even clouds
is a kind of savvy that defies
any material quantification,
that is not passed down from
father to son nor shared online.
It’s just that you get it or you
don’t, and many who do lord
it over those who don’t, as if
they are the chosen ones who
have been bestowed a royal
privilege to be shepherd for the
common man, those lowly,
pitiful, ignorant subjects.
These kings and queens do not,
cannot radiate a beacon of light
or blaze a trail to follow, they
only leave a gaping black hole
that poses an ever-present
danger to those fortunate
enough to have even a little bit
of that precious knowledge
who dare to harbor words and
thoughts that might take them
to a place that is up above
intelligence.
—Carl Bernard Schwartz
A series of wooden slats
each closely resembling its
neighbor, but each answering
to a different name and
producing a different result
TV remotes and garage door openers,
straight edge and serrated knives,
spouse number one and spouse number two,
front seat and back seat,
pickle halves, spears, and slices
the moment before you opened your mouth and
the moment after the bomb was dropped
A tap on the slat creates a tone
that does not exist alone
it is one part of an arrangement
like a chorus of voices
or a vase of flowers
synthesized, synchronized
Next in line, please…
What do you want on your sandwich?
Today's LittleNip:
—Kim Kwangsop
I would become a cloud,
________________________