Lost Keys & The North Wind

Now What?

—Anonymous Photos Courtesy of Joseph Nolan, Stockton, CA

KEY
—Kevin Jones, Elk Grove, CA

Not lost,
There in plain
Sight, in the
Ignition
Of the locked
Car,
Again,
Waiting for
The Triple A
Driver
To arrive
With the rueful
Smile and
The shiv, again. 

CHRONIC PAIN
—Joseph Nolan, Stockton, CA

It’s a little bit
Like a torture chamber,
A little bit
Like rain;
It’s a place
Where you
Can manage,
But always
In pain.

They try to
Give you opium,
To numb you
From your pain,
But, of course,
They’ll always
Charge you,
‘Til your money’s
Gone away.

Money gone,
But pain
Still there,
Look out
Your rainy
Window,
And stare!

Look out
Your rainy
Window,
And stare!

___________________

DEVELOPING ART
—Joseph Nolan

She is a work of art
In the process of development,
Her features gradually appearing
Through the blurry liquid in the tray,

Almost ready
To be hung up to dry,
In total darkness,
Except for glowing, red light
From an indirect source.

Her nose, her lips,
Cheekbones,
Her mouth, a rose!
Her eyes, reflective mirrors.
She knows, she knows, she knows!

SUMMER NIGHT IN THE OUTBACK
—Joseph Nolan

I listened to another
Softly sleeping,
Curtains rustling,
In the warm-night’s
Summer breeze,

All windows open,
Protected from the world, outside,
Only by the thinnest screens

And I sat listening,
As the soft sounds of quiet breathing
Turned to snores.

Surely, then, she was resting,
Deeply resting,
And I grew bored,

And dropped down in my chair
As we both let the summer air
Blow from screen to screen.

__________________

TOUR CHINA NOW?
—Joseph Nolan

There’s great prices
For tours of China
For those willing to
Wear haz-mat suits
All the way through.

__________________

MUSINGS
—Joseph Nolan

The Earth,
A stone,
Thrown
Into the sky.

Our lives,
We never own.
We always die.

Time
Rhymes with
Rhyme,
But never echoes
Or returns.

Passion
Is not an end
In itself.
It always burns.

Eternity
Is what
Maternity
Is shooting for.

Expectant fathers
Always pace the floor.

SWEETS & SOURS
—Caschwa, Sacramento, CA

we have come to another
holiday weekend!

put out the flag and handle
it properly

stock up on all those spirits
and tasty treats while gleefully
acknowledging that they are
not really part of your carefully
managed diet

read and watch commercial
ads that feature some of the
most trivial aspects of people
who have served in the
highest office

bury your head in the sand
when the local newspaper
prints out statistics showing
all the holiday traffic fatalities,
again, as everyone knew
there would be, again

take in the flag and handle
it properly

RAW POTATOES
—Caschwa

ushered in by the North Wind
with delightful flavor hints
daring to contradict unsweetened tea
and un-rhymed poetry:

a new house, a new spouse
shifting candidates, drifting tectonic plates
puppies, babies, what ifs, maybes

bake so nice, or fry and slice
add onions and salts
suits kids and adults

ignore allergies, itchin’
it passed the damn test kitchen
start heating the oven, prepare for some lovin’
the timer is set, our lips are so wet

get that bag from the store off of my nice, clean floor
only the real deal becomes part of our meal
peeled and skinned by gusts from the North Wind

___________________

A trio of cinquains:

LOST
—Caschwa

stepped out
off of the trail
out of my mind for sure
what could I have been thinking of?
photos

* * *

FOUND
—Caschwa

perfect
big rib eye steaks
rubbed, ready for the grill
baked Yukon Gold potatoes, too
eaten

* * *

SAFE
—Caschwa

today
I yielded my
right of way to morons
this was for my own benefit
no dents 

WHAT IT FEELS LIKE XXVI
—Caschwa

when you do your best to be proactive
because that is supposed to be a good thing

and you dutifully mark your calendar
in pencil several months ahead
to indicate which different days the County
is scheduled to pick up which different cans

and then the County, for no stated reason,
decides to change those pickup days

that’s why the pencil

_____________________

Today’s LittleNip:

VERY CRUDE POEM
—Caschwa

Okay, let’s get started: this is a
Very Crude Poem (VCP)
to highlight the differences among
Voluptuous Pudding Chocolate (VPC)

Positive Crankcase Ventilation (PVC)
Polyvinyl Chloride (PCV)

Carefully Pruned Vines (CPV), and
Creative Voodoo Potions (CVP)

_____________________

Thanks to our lively Monday crew for today's poems and photos! Lost Keys and The North Wind are two of our recent Seeds of the Week.

Poetry readings in our area tonight begin with Kelly Grace Thomas and Linda Scheller at Sac. Poetry Center, 7:30pm, plus open mic. That’s at 25th & R Sts., Sacramento.

Thursday is busy, with Third Thursdays in the Sacramento Room at noon for a poetry read-around (bring poems by someone other than yourself) at the Central Library in Sacramento at 828 I St. Then at 8pm at Poetry Unplugged at Luna’s Cafe and Juice Bar on 16th St. in Sacramento, Jorge Quintana reads, plus open mic. Also at 8pm but at Poetry in Davis, John Brantingham reads, plus open mic, at the John Natsoulas Gallery, 521 1st St.

On Friday, also at Luna’s, also at 8pm, there will be a Sac Unified Slam fundraiser for the women who are headed to Dallas, Texas this March for the Women of the World Poetry Slam. And in Davis at 7:30pm that night, Bill Gainer and Traci Gourdine read (plus open mic) at The Other Voice Poetry Series, Unitarian Universalist Church library, 27074 Patwin Rd., Davis. (Wish Bill Gainer a happy birthday today!)

Saturday will also be very busy, beginning at 9:30am in the morning with Writers on the Air at Sac. Poetry Center, featuring Frederick Foote, Michelle Woods and Vicki Carroll plus open mic. That afternoon, a Poetic License read-around will take place from 2-4pm at Placerville Sr. Center lobby on Spring St. in Placerville. The suggested topic for this month is "close encounter" but other subjects are also welcome. Then at 4pm at Sac. Poetry Center, there will be readings from the 2020 Tule Review. Scroll down to the blue column (under the green column at the right) for info about these and other upcoming poetry events in our area—and note that more may be added at the last minute.

Interested in workshops? Check the green box at the right for a listing of local ones which will be held this week and/or later.

____________________

—Medusa, celebrating the diverse subjects of today’s poetry crew ~

 Fruit Does Not Belong On Pizza!

—Anonymous Photo Courtesy of Joseph Nolan

Photos in this column can be enlarged by
clicking on them once, then clicking on the x
in the top right corner to come back to Medusa.