Arrival of the Queen
—Painting by Salvador Dali
ANY DAY
—Paul Lojeski, Port Jefferson, NY
Two old men sat
in a strip club
by the highway,
silently watching
the naked young
woman lolling
about the shiny,
golden pole,
uninspired
by the light crowd
and meager tips.
They stared watery-
eyed with mouths
agape, remembering.
______________________
THE TRIUMPHANT
—Paul Lojeski
You flail about the barren
landscape burning at dusk.
You cast blame at ghosts
and shout worn out
declarations, while the sun
closes in. Yet, still, you
relish the worship of denial,
huffing and puffing to the last,
boisterous even as the final
breath is sucked out of you.
_____________________
UNEXPLAINED
—Paul Lojeski
My eyes popped open
in the middle of the night
as if a pistol had been
fired just above my sleeping
head. I sat up, stunned,
blinking and thinking, does
this happen to animals?
Do lions deep in the Serengeti,
deep in lion dreams snap
awake at 3 a.m. for no
apparent reason, shifting
their regal heads about
in the pitch black, trying
to see what had happened.
What had happened, anyway?
______________________
STAFFORD
—Paul Lojeski
That train runs silent out
on the Kansas plains.
Still, the moonlit, 4 a.m.
sky hums its reverent
song, escorting new light
to those forever waiting,
forever following the lonely
path he first revealed
at the edge of that prairie town.
____________________
IN MEMORY OF MYSELF
—Paul Lojeski
This field once so ripe
burgeoned beneath
serious skies,
ravishing the world
with birthings,
the lavish sights
full and tall
and round back
when sunshine
grew here too.
In that yellow
light quiet
on flawless skin
sounds seemed
louder, color bolder,
and the touches
of desire but bolts
electric as lightning
rendered the shimmer
of soft summer air.
____________________
WORKING THE PHONES
—Paul Lojeski
—Paul Lojeski
In tiny cubicles,
in rows of cubicles,
in rooms full of rows,
they speak to strangers
and hear them cry out.
But nothing soothes
them, nothing except
their hanging up, except
their disappearing back
into that dead dial tone,
that black buzz of time
flat-lining through space.
_____________________
Thanks to SnakePal Paul Lojeski for cooking up some poems for us today, all the way from Port Jefferson, New York! And thanks to Michelle Kunert for photo of the Dali painting. About it, she writes that the painting is "on sale at the Kennedy Gallery for about 10 grand. A docent pointed out that the lake is in the shape of a 'lion's ass', and at the top of the palm tree are actually secret messages written in Morse code. I had to discuss, too, with the docent what I admire about Dali's is the same for Pablo Picasso; unlike so many modern so-called artists nowadays, they had already proved they were talented in mastering highly skilled and detailed drawing and painting before they decided to go extremely abstract late in their lives, as with this piece."
Michelle also sent us photos of the Sac. Poetry Center Black History Month reading which took place last Monday night. See Medusa's Facebook page for those.
Today at noon is the monthly SPC reading at the Main Library in Sacramento; bring poems of love or of Black History Month. And tonight is the unveiling of the latest (lucky 13!) edition of WTF, edited by frank andrick, with help from Rachel Leibrock, and published by Rattlesnake Press. Pop down to Luna's Cafe, 1414 16th St., Sacramento at 8pm, when Rachel will be reading, plus open mic and the dandy food and libations of Art Luna. Be there!
There are two new reading series for you to watch out for: one, called Imagining Words, will be at the Woodland Public Library on the last Wednesday of each month, starting Feb. 29 and featuring Phillip Larrea plus open mic. The other will be at the Center for Contemporary Arts, Sacramento, and will begin March 17 with Julia Connor and Victoria Dalkey. See the "More Than a Week Away" section of our blue board for more info.
And thanks, finally, to Rhony Bhopla of Sacramento for Today's LittleNip, which was written by "Mrs. Kulkarni's 3rd-grade class with [Rhony's] guidance."
____________________
Today's LittleNip:
PEACE
Peace is a baby sleeping
Peace is two friends holding hands
Peace is like listening for pauses in nature
Peace is parents smiling
Peace is brother and sister watching cartoons
Peace is a teacher wiping away a tear
Peace is decreasing footsteps in a museum
Peace is as quiet as a fluttering butterfly
Peace is like watching the sunset
Peace is as quiet as space
Peace is watching a poet write a poem
____________________
—Medusa
V.S. Chochezi talks about her t-shirt which
she got when Rose Parks visited Sacramento
on a speaking tour.
SPC Black History Month Reading
February 13, 2012
—Photo by Michelle Kunert
[For more photos of this event, see
Medusa's Facebook page.]
