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Monday, April 30, 2012

Perfect Songs

—Photo by Ronald Edwin Lane


UNTENDED
—Ronald Edwin Lane, Colfax

You probably don’t know this,
but there’s a bed of roses, miniature
ones, in bloom, and they’re
suffocating—suffering

the grip of purple vetch, while
bunched by bromes, and topped
by thistles bearing green pumpkin
head buds pushing purple Mohawks.

The sky is gray.  Rain mists.
Weeds compose once clean
decomposed granite paths.
It’s painful to get around.
Foxtails cling to socks, poke ankles,
foot.  Filaree corkscrews through
shoes.  Prickles abound. 

And you can’t hear them scream,
these roses you don’t know, though
it seems they should, after all

they’re dying inside, despite
the show that others try to hide,
deny.  And they may survive, but
with a gardener’s hand
the roses would surely thrive.

______________________

SPRING OPENING
—Patricia Hickerson, Davis
 
Spring hides nothing
everything opens
the trees the leaves the buds
voices are softer—listen!
rain pauses to let in May
where we walk
along the rosemary hedge
breeze drifts up we sneeze
cloud covers sky blue earth whirl
spinning Spring on the ant trails
where we walk
dirt roads and muddy bypaths
rabbit jerks its head to our footsteps
we’re not a quiet species hammering atop nature
where we walk
weeds poke through our concrete efforts
might as well give in to Spring
surrender         

______________________

ODDQUAINS
—Michael Cluff, Corona

Ought
needs to be
must in most cases
when humaneness calls me forth
now

Dawn 
becomes clear
as the rainbow shows
what man refuses to laud
hope

Vans
move highchairs
across Merced town
Mirelle follows right behind
firm

All
suits encumber
one into doldrums
safety in conformity
dead

__________________________


Gopherweed with Bee
—Photo by Taylor Graham


THE ZEN OF PUPPY TRAINING
—Taylor Graham, Placerville

She's worn us both out with mis-
match sits and stays; she breaks—why
can't she learn simple English

commands? and now she's high
as April grass on the ground, humming
to herself, a silent music

simply breathing free.
I drop the leash and wander off
to watch the gopherweed

in bloom, the bees have found it,
tiny golden bees wild as
April puppies, moving in and out of all

the harbors of gopher-flower green,
and as I wander in and
out of thought-flower, flies and bees

and one silken moth,
my puppy follows me, her breath
a perfect song.
 
______________________

Carl says: When I lived in the L.A. area, I had to drive 60 miles out of town to see the stars and planets… 

TIS SPRING AGAIN
—Caschwa, Sacramento

Fever, virus, falling Venus
Crescent moon growing soon
Weather and wardrobes each
Try to outsmart the other

Hot tubs warming
Mosquitoes swarming
Time to mate, commit to fate
River rising over the gate

Short handed, left stranded
Abandoned fertile farmland
Ears of corn filmed as porn
Gobble the curious like quicksand

Blue tarps cover sheds and cars
Royal blood flows from their scars
Weathermen shout what has transpired
They’re wrong a lot but don’t get fired

Most accidents happen close to womb
We’re having a sonic baby boom
Pull over, kid, you skate too fast
It feels good now but it won’t last

Parasailing in the parking lot
No one is chasing, no one gets caught
Takes us back to a starlit sky
Spring fever heat, an open fly.

______________________

A true story...

LET ME PUT YOU ON HOLD
—Caschwa

The lady with the shiny oversized
Crucifix necklace had just finished
Buying some merchandise and was
Walking toward the exit of the store

Holding a few shopping bags in her hands
And talking busily on a cell phone
Held tightly to one ear, she reached
for her car keys…..gone!

She hurriedly checked in every bag
And in the shopping basket she used
And then in other shopping baskets
And asked the cashier if she saw them

When there were no keys found and
No answer right away, she put
The cell phone on hold and starting
Using words that don’t appear in scripture

Soon she found her car keys in the store,
Regained her composure and promptly left,
Leaving us a distinct memory of her shiny crucifix,
Along with those words we can’t repeat.

______________________

Thanks to today's cooks and artists for our Monday morning breakfast! 

Those Crossroads Reading Series gals (Trina Drotar and Sandy Thomas) have their ducks in a row, for sure! Trina writes: The audio of the latest Crossroads reading featuring Lisa Dominguez Abraham and Susan Kelly-DeWitt is now available at www.ccasac.org.  Look on the right hand side and scroll down a bit.

The audio from the first reading featuring Julia Connor and Victoria Dalkey is still available in the archived area.  Look for past events and scroll down.

Don't forget to mark your calendars for the next Crossroads reading series on July 21 featuring Shawn Pittard and Danyen Powell.

To get a head start on the rest of the season, the dates and featured readers are:

October 20 - Laura Hohlwein and Alexa Mergen
November 17 - Kathryn Hohlwein and Dennis Schmitz
December 15 - JoAnn Anglin and Graciela Ramirez

If you want to keep updated on the Crossroads readings, please consider checking out the Crossroads Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Crossroads-Reading-Series-at-CCAS/307059609360186 or go to Facebook and search for Crossroads Reading Series at CCAS.  That is where you'll find event photos, event news, and links to the audio.

_____________________

Today's LittleNip: 

Caschwa (Carl Bernard Schwartz) took his inspiration for this from yesterday's Benét poem:

I see your Stephen Vincent Benét
And raise you one Edna St. Vincent Millay
Each is betting the farm on the belief
That Spring is not just another day.

—Caschwa

Thanks, Carl! More about Steve Benét's poem tomorrow...

____________________

—Medusa



The journey is
really the writing process.
I am the conclusion
 
—Photo and Caption by Ronald Edwin Lane