And Rivers Keep On Flowing

Good Morning, Monday!

—Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Joseph Nolan

A MORNING’S CONTEMPLATION
—Joseph Nolan, Stockton, CA

Light pours through the canyon,
In the water,
In the rain,
While I am undertaking,
To develop,
To explain,
Abstract concepts
Fevering
My aching brain,
About how,
In foreign lands,
We murder,
In our country’s name,
And rivers keep on flowing
All the same,
Just like it was nothing. 

 —Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Joseph Nolan


  

THE SILENT DEATH OF GEORGE FLOYD
—Joseph Nolan
 
George Floyd died
A quiet death
In handcuffs
On his belly
With a knee
Upon his neck.

He couldn’t yell.
He couldn’t scream
He couldn’t get his breath.

What if no-one noticed?
What if no video?

At the same night-club,
They had worked, together,
One, in security,
One, a bouncer.

What was the motive?
Was it personal?
Was there a love-triangle involved?
Was it a drug-land hit job?
Will we ever know the truth
About the silent death
Of George Floyd?

 —Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Joseph Nolan

SLOW-MOTION CRASH

—Joseph Nolan

Are we watching
Humpty-Dumpty falling?
Anxiously anticipating
The sound of cracking shell?
Do we have that sucking feeling
Everything, no longer well?
No longer a buzz in the market,
No longer the things on the shelves?
When something is crushed,
It’s broken—
The powers that be won’t tell! 

 —Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Joseph Nolan

GO BUY THE BIG MUSHROOM!
—Joseph Nolan
 
You were scrimping and saving
All of your life,
Shopping only the sales,
So you wouldn’t run out
Of money,
When you were old,
And boyfriends were far fewer
And not of much use, anymore,

But you find the hour is late,
Not much time left to squander!

Now, it’s time to splurge,
To go for the gusto
And buy the big mushroom,
The tasty one,
The delicacy,
The one that makes you ooze with glory—
Joy pouring out of every pore.

It’s time to buy
The big mushroom
You denied yourself all of your life,
Now, today, for at least once in your life,
Before your prayers are answered
And you go to that
Big Mushroom Field in the Sky.

 Tomato Season in Carl's Garden!

—Photo by Caschwa

EPITAPH FOR YESTERDAY
—Caschwa, Sacramento, CA

my dad’s garage had lots of stuff
hardware, extra parts, never enough
almost anything you’d ever need to find
was there in multiples, this and that kind

when he left this world, and mom did, too
his 3 sons got his stuff, to use and review
tools to reach all angles of jobs we knew not
rock solid paint in old cans he had bought

somewhere among all that stuff and odd parts
was a spare vacuum tube known well to old farts
decades later I still use his pliers
but we still can’t fix stupid, or re-solder liars 

 —Photo by Caschwa

OF THEE I SING
—Caschwa

of
sort of

nerves of steel
tunnel of love
line of scrimmage

margin of error
point of no return
bone of contention

Jesus of Nazareth
mountain of evidence
mother of invention

office of the president
matter of interpretation
failure of epic proportions

 —Photo by Caschwa

PARADE

—Caschwa

The meek man stood
At the lectern hoping to
Assimilate the thunder
Of discovery, as if perched

High in a crow’s nest
About to shout his greater
Vision to an eager audience
Diva center stage

His shrill voice more explosive
Than a firecracker, like putting
A bullhorn to a ditch digger
It is now time to speak

He summons his courage
Readier than ready ever is
And reaches for his tongue
Which is hopelessly tied
 
 

 —Photo by Caschwa

QUICKIES
—Caschwa

When baby millipedes are born
The proud parents have to count
All those feet.

Just what does it mean, there are
No stupid questions?  Huh?  Huh?

Shouldn’t a mountain bike
Have a camping gear?

Light switches are handy
Because heavy whips are hard to carry.

Even a tone deaf welder
Can join a heavy metal band.

It sounds dirty, but
Be punctual to your nuptials.
 

 —Photo by Caschwa

Today’s LittleNip:

WINTER MORNING’S BREATH
—Joseph Nolan

A cold winter morning’s breath
Drifts across the sun.
Shivering in mittens,
We are near undone,

By snow atop the pine trees,
Bright in white,
So bright in white!
As back home we run.

____________________

Many Monday thanks to today’s poets/photographers for spicing up the beginning of our week on this, our day of peppy-poetry-potpourri!

Want to hear more from NorCal poets? Here in our area, Sac. Poetry Center uses Zoom for weekly readings and workshops. For more info, go to www.sacramentopoetrycenter.com/. Online poetry events this week include:

•••Mon. 7:15pm: SPC Monday Night Socially Distant Verse online, this week featuring Marvin Xia. Zoom: us02web.zoom.us/j/7638733462?pwd=YVltWXFFa2Rid2pZQ3pWaVordmZ5UT09;  meeting ID: 763 873 3462 ("P O E T R E E I N C”); password: spcsdv2020

•••SPC Tuesday night workshop hosted by Danyen Powell: Bring a poem for critique. Contact mostoycoff@gmail.com for availability and Zoom info.

•••Wed., 6pm: MarieWriters workshop (prompts), this week hosted by Mystery Host: zoom.us/j/671443996/.

•••Thurs., 7:30pm: Asian Short Forms with Tim Kahl. Reg. in advance required at: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYldOCrrTIsGd3zdcXdxMayV4fVqsEXFc8Y/. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Info about the presentation: www.facebook.com/events/1110020476058791/.

•••Fri., 4pm: Writing from the Inside Out workshop led by Nick LeForce. Reg. in advance at: zoom.us/meeting/register/upwkde-opjkpnyQECAVBKolY4hKCdl61uA/. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. (If you have registered before, use the same link.)

* * *


Also this week:

•••Fri., 7:30pm: Video poetry reading on Facebook by Davis Poet Laureate James Lee Jobe at james-lee-jobe.blogspot.com/ or youtube.com/jamesleejobe/.

•••Sat., 1-3pm: Writing and Poetry Online Workshop by Susan Wooldridge. Registration is required at engagedpatrons.org/EventsExtended.cfm?SiteID=7839&EventID=415708&PK=/. Info about the workshop: www.facebook.com/ElDoradoCountyPoetry (scroll down).

Here’s a Facebook link which will carry you to some Bay Area virtual readings: www.facebook.com/events/859923087865753/. Like I said last Saturday, the quarantine has opened the world of poetry to all of us via online readings, but there are too many for me to keep up with, so that’s up to you. ZOOM around—see the world, virus-free!

For more about El Dorado County poetry events, check Western Slope El Dorado Poetry on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ElDoradoCountyPoetry/.

And if you need to get your outrage on, try this: blog.bestamericanpoetry.com/the_best_american_poetry/2019/12/what-saves-us-poems-of-empathy-and-outrage-in-the-age-of-trump.html/.

___________________

—Medusa

 Studying the Manual

—Public Domain 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.

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the snakes of Medusa are always hungry!

Snake Droodle