Pink Mantis
—Poetry by Caschwa (Carl Schwartz), Joseph Nolan,
Michelle Kunert
—Public Domain Photos of Spring Courtesy of
Joseph Nolan, Stockton, CA
POETRY PUZZLE
—Caschwa, Sacramento, CA
I sit at home at my desk
atop which is a computer
ready to process whatever
data I give it and spew out
rough drafts that need to be
sternly mulled over to check
facts, flaws, forms, rhymes,
meters, meanings, grammar,
propaganda, alliteration, sub-
meanings, innuendos, flow,
fitness for venue, ability to
hold a reader’s interest
Oh, lookie here! I contrived
a new expression, I can check
the box “Original” since I did
think of it myself....then I look
it up on the Internet and find
multiple occurrences of my
original expression: a rock
band, a book, a movie, some
product sold by the millions
so I, the artist, go back to my
computer, check the cable
connections to my All-In-One
easel, canvas, oils, and give
more thought about what ideas
can embellish that whole, big
collection of frames I have
—Caschwa, Sacramento, CA
I sit at home at my desk
atop which is a computer
ready to process whatever
data I give it and spew out
rough drafts that need to be
sternly mulled over to check
facts, flaws, forms, rhymes,
meters, meanings, grammar,
propaganda, alliteration, sub-
meanings, innuendos, flow,
fitness for venue, ability to
hold a reader’s interest
Oh, lookie here! I contrived
a new expression, I can check
the box “Original” since I did
think of it myself....then I look
it up on the Internet and find
multiple occurrences of my
original expression: a rock
band, a book, a movie, some
product sold by the millions
so I, the artist, go back to my
computer, check the cable
connections to my All-In-One
easel, canvas, oils, and give
more thought about what ideas
can embellish that whole, big
collection of frames I have
NORMATIVITY SCENE
—Caschwa
each year around the “holidays”
Wall Street’s best and brightest writers
lose their originality
and share the same presentations
like they’re rote lessons for children
are they starving for new ideas?
can we next expect to see some
tortured images of guys in
black suits tossing paper after
paper into the waste basket?
as sad and neglected as kids
with no food, or desks, or parents
somehow, their ticker tape parades
just aren’t that fulfilling for hordes
of poor and destitute people
will things be different this year?
don’t rush out to bet your lavish
yacht or your palatial estate
on it; and keep your hands in your
deep pockets, change will take some time
—Caschwa
each year around the “holidays”
Wall Street’s best and brightest writers
lose their originality
and share the same presentations
like they’re rote lessons for children
are they starving for new ideas?
can we next expect to see some
tortured images of guys in
black suits tossing paper after
paper into the waste basket?
as sad and neglected as kids
with no food, or desks, or parents
somehow, their ticker tape parades
just aren’t that fulfilling for hordes
of poor and destitute people
will things be different this year?
don’t rush out to bet your lavish
yacht or your palatial estate
on it; and keep your hands in your
deep pockets, change will take some time
SENTRY
—Caschwa
the situation
much too far out of control
who you gonna call?
if they send police
you get exclamation marks!!!!
no questions allowed
they exude power
taking full control of you
just for seeking help
their training not a
model of your time or place
suspect dead, Code Four
—Caschwa
the situation
much too far out of control
who you gonna call?
if they send police
you get exclamation marks!!!!
no questions allowed
they exude power
taking full control of you
just for seeking help
their training not a
model of your time or place
suspect dead, Code Four
LOVE IN THE NEXT ROOM
—Joseph Nolan
In another room,
There was
A love
Was true.
You could smell
Its sweet perfume
Wafting through
The doorway.
Laughter,
Sweet and thin,
Filtered through
The walls.
I wondered
How to
Get a pass
So I
Could be
Let in.
A love was pure,
But failed to match,
Despite its
Several pairings
And partings.
Was it blindness
Of the mates
Or folly,
Brought together
Mismatched fates
That finally
Rang hollow,
Bringing only sorrow
To such light
As love
Was bright,
But somehow
Failed to
Fully partner?
—Joseph Nolan
In another room,
There was
A love
Was true.
You could smell
Its sweet perfume
Wafting through
The doorway.
Laughter,
Sweet and thin,
Filtered through
The walls.
I wondered
How to
Get a pass
So I
Could be
Let in.
A love was pure,
But failed to match,
Despite its
Several pairings
And partings.
Was it blindness
Of the mates
Or folly,
Brought together
Mismatched fates
That finally
Rang hollow,
Bringing only sorrow
To such light
As love
Was bright,
But somehow
Failed to
Fully partner?
EXECUTIVE DETAILS
—Joseph Nolan
Generals
Must not forget
Incidental details
Or else
Face regret.
Little things,
Like flowing springs,
The strength of
Rivers’ crossings,
The horrid things
That hunger brings,
When supplies
Cannot
Cross over.
—Joseph Nolan
Generals
Must not forget
Incidental details
Or else
Face regret.
Little things,
Like flowing springs,
The strength of
Rivers’ crossings,
The horrid things
That hunger brings,
When supplies
Cannot
Cross over.
Pussywillow
TAPESTRY OF THE LOTUS-THRONE
—Joseph Nolan
From Saturday,
Through fog,
Came Sunday.
Every day
Was foggy,
Back then,
In the Winter,
Before
The climate changed.
We used to read ads
In the realty-section
About parcels and homes
Above the fog
And below the snow,
And wondered what a marvel,
Perfect location
Could be!
A tapestry
Of beauty,
Surrounded by
Chrysanthemums,
Beneath a lotus-throne,
When kings were all
Enlightened,
And suffering, a bone,
We threw to dogs
To gnaw on.
THE MERGER OF THE TWO SUNS
—Joseph Nolan
Happenstance
Brought merger
Of two suns,
Burning brightly,
In their
Separate orbits,
Until the wave
—Had come!—
Gravity,
That seized them both,
And brought them
Close together,
Until they merged into
One-coupled-star,
That burned
More brightly,
For having
Become one,
After dancing
Spiral dances
Of separation,
When secretly,
They longed
To lie together
And “be one!”
—Joseph Nolan
Happenstance
Brought merger
Of two suns,
Burning brightly,
In their
Separate orbits,
Until the wave
—Had come!—
Gravity,
That seized them both,
And brought them
Close together,
Until they merged into
One-coupled-star,
That burned
More brightly,
For having
Become one,
After dancing
Spiral dances
Of separation,
When secretly,
They longed
To lie together
And “be one!”
Cloud
—Public Domain Photo Courtesy of The Cloud Foundation
Cloud is a wild white Colorado stallion who captured hearts worldwide since being featured on a PBS Nature special episode in 2008
The stallion has been documented since his birth in 1995
Along with his family group and females, he has mated and created offspring
He even has a foundation and a Facebook page to help other wild horses like him to survive
The Cloud Foundation believes that wild horses and burros are not a “nuisance” animal, like those in our government have considered them
Founder Ginger Kathren says "I began to realize that we were losing America’s wild horses. They are rounded up by the thousand, losing in an instant what they value most—freedom and family.”
I say, indeed, the cause of all animals should not be forgotten about during this pandemic.
The stallion has been documented since his birth in 1995
Along with his family group and females, he has mated and created offspring
He even has a foundation and a Facebook page to help other wild horses like him to survive
The Cloud Foundation believes that wild horses and burros are not a “nuisance” animal, like those in our government have considered them
Founder Ginger Kathren says "I began to realize that we were losing America’s wild horses. They are rounded up by the thousand, losing in an instant what they value most—freedom and family.”
I say, indeed, the cause of all animals should not be forgotten about during this pandemic.
—Michelle Kunert, Sacramento
For more about The Cloud Foundation, go to www.thecloudfoundation.org/.
___________________
Today’s LittleNip:
IN TOUCH
—Caschwa
never let go of the
free thoughts coming from the still
quill before committing to parchment’s sad
glad bittersweet music
too sick to join the harmony of
love for all humanity
____________________
Good Monday morning and our thanks to Joseph Nolan, Michelle Kunert and Caschwa for a lovely poetry buffet today. Caschwa’s LittleNip “combines a Golden Shovel quote from Wordsworth’s ‘Tintern Abbey’, with the Link Rhyme structure”. What he means is, you can make a sentence by joining together the last words of each line (Golden Shovel), and the last word of each sentence rhymes with the first word of the next sentence (Link Rhyme). His “Sentry” is a Senryu chain, and his "Normativity Scene" is a Normative Syllabic poem; hence the title. If you have the guts for it, join us on Form Fiddlers’ Friday for more about such things.
This is a wild and wonderful week we have coming up in terms of readings, even if most of them are online. Two of them are LIVE though, as “normal” creeps back into our lives. Unfortunately, both readings are at the same time on Saturday…
•••Thurs. (4/22), 7pm: Celebrating Earth Day With US Poet Laureate Joy Harjo: An American Sunrise, a virtual talk and free online program featuring her new book of poetry, An American Sunrise. Must reg: www.skirball.org/programs/words-and-ideas/celebrating-earth-day-us-poet-laureate-joy-harjo?fbclid=IwAR0X5Y9qsbOKlTSMVi9y_vX_H9SgA_Z0xJo5Tf2O4uJore9vf8O9muDNYEg/.
•••Thurs. (4/22), 7:30pm: Frank Dixon Graham and Literary Lectures present Maxine Chernoff: Managing Family Life & a Literary Career at us02web.zoom.us/.
•••Fri. (4/23), 5pm: The Blue Collar Gospel Hour presents Poetry Hour featuring Catfish McDaris online. Facebook info: www.facebook.com/events/609852629971075/?acontext={"event_action_history"%3A[{"mechanism"%3A"your_upcoming_events_unit"%2C"surface"%3A"bookmark"}]%2C"ref_notif_type"%3A"event_calendar_create"%2C"source"%3A"29"}
•••Sat. (4/24), 1-4pm: Cold River Press presents D.R. Wagner’s Distant Lights Book Release and Reading LIVE in Locke! Poetry, Music, BBQ to celebrate the release of D.R.’s quartet, Distant Lights. Hosts: Dave Boles, Stuart Walthall, D.R. Wagner. Facebook info: www.facebook.com/events/195925308651536/?acontext={"event_action_history"%3A[{"mechanism"%3A"search_results"%2C"surface"%3A"bookmark"}]}
•••Sat. (4/24), 2pm: Poetry of the Sierra Foothills presents an open mike reading LIVE at Love Birds Coffee & Tea Co., 411 Hwy 49, Ste. 100, Diamond Springs, CA (where Hwy. 49 meets Pleasant Valley Rd.). Social distancing and masks required. Host: Lara Gularte.
And here are some tips for more online poetry-partying:
•••July 15: Deadline for Rattle Poetry Prize. The winner receives $15,000. The $5,000 runner-up is chosen by subscribers as a Readers' Choice Award. The entry fee is only a one-year subscription or renewal at the regular $25 rate. See www.rattle.com/prize/about/.
•••Join the Vallejo Poetry Society google group for ongoing notifications of anthologies calling for poetry on cats, the events of 2020, and ‘most anything in between. Log in to Google and click "Join Group" at groups.google.com/g/vallejopoetrysociety/about/.
____________________
—Medusa
Medusa lets herself go during the pandemic
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.
Would you like to be a SnakePal?
All you have to do is send poetry and/or
photos and artwork to
kathykieth@hotmail.com. We post
work from all over the world, including
that which was previously-published.
Just remember:
the snakes of Medusa are always hungry—
for poetry, of course!
clicking on them once, then clicking on the x
in the top right corner to come back to Medusa.
Would you like to be a SnakePal?
All you have to do is send poetry and/or
photos and artwork to
kathykieth@hotmail.com. We post
work from all over the world, including
that which was previously-published.
Just remember:
the snakes of Medusa are always hungry—
for poetry, of course!
