—Poetry and Photos by Taylor Graham,
Placerville, CA
—And then scroll down to
Form Fiddlers’ Friday!!
WATER RESCUE
All day long
2 men with shovels
dig for gold.
Gold is water imprisoned
by dirt
swept down-
creek to clog
culverts
in New Year
storm that created
a flood-lake.
2 men working into dark
release
water held
prisoner too long,
now set free.
All day long
2 men with shovels
dig for gold.
Gold is water imprisoned
by dirt
swept down-
creek to clog
culverts
in New Year
storm that created
a flood-lake.
2 men working into dark
release
water held
prisoner too long,
now set free.
SWAPS
Gritty old lady culling her herd—couldn’t do justice
to so many sheep. This ewe, perfect conformation
but too small to meet the standard, let her go cheap
to a good home. But first, a tour of the slapdash
barn and not quite 4-square cabin she
jerry-built with her own hands.
Soon our ewe was rubbing off wool against
oak bark; didn’t need shearing, turned out to be
mastitis but we loved her anyway. Gone now.
Driving to town, I see a new house
on what was sheep-lady’s homestead.
Falling-down board fences replaced with
white plastic. Never thought I’d miss Swaps.
Gritty old lady culling her herd—couldn’t do justice
to so many sheep. This ewe, perfect conformation
but too small to meet the standard, let her go cheap
to a good home. But first, a tour of the slapdash
barn and not quite 4-square cabin she
jerry-built with her own hands.
Soon our ewe was rubbing off wool against
oak bark; didn’t need shearing, turned out to be
mastitis but we loved her anyway. Gone now.
Driving to town, I see a new house
on what was sheep-lady’s homestead.
Falling-down board fences replaced with
white plastic. Never thought I’d miss Swaps.
FEBRUARY DANCE
Turkey vulture and red-tailed hawk
go circling on lazy updrafts
just the two of them high in blue,
a graceful mix-match pair.
BUT WE LOVED IT
Tangles of coyotebush and ceanothus almost
impenetrable— just a vacant lot overlooking freeway,
along a road we drove almost every day. Chaparral
in bloom—buckbrush with lilac-white sprays
in spring; and coyote brush in winter so hibernating
bees woke to pollinate snowy blossoms. A place
you might not notice, speeding by; no POSTED sign,
accessed by a rutted hardpan track. We’d stop there
to run our dogs. You’d hide in mazes of rabbit trail
among the brush, like a lost old man searching
for his boyhood home. Our dogs would find you—
training for the real thing. That was back-when.
Now it’s supermarket and strip-mall. I don’t shop
there. It would feel like wheeling my cart
over a graveyard. I drive past, remembering
a vacant lot that doesn’t exist anymore.
CORVID LOVE
Quick escape from Walmart—
race back to my car
rumble-clack of empty cart—
and there, like a black star….
Race back to where I parked
far out. Atop the cart corral,
Raven obsidian-sparked.
I call him Corvid pal.
Far out atop cart corral, he
glances my way
then flies; no heeding me
tho I beg him stay—
glances my way and gone;
quick escape, his tail
shiny black as night-dawn,
an arrow, wedge, a sail.
ETCHED IN ASPEN BARK
Is it an owl or an old man? 2
drooping eyes, beak or nostril between,
hunched with clenched fists or wings to unfurl,
under a date—1915? And
the space where should be a mouth—is that
a blanked-out heart? Who carved it in bark
more than a hundred years ago? Who
is the old man, or Hoo is the owl?
Whose is the heart, now cold under snow?
Today’s LittleNip:
VALENTINE’S DAY
—Taylor Graham
Such a racket
when the wild geese fly in pairs—
it’s mating season.
______________________
Taylor Graham sends us glimpses of spring today, with her raven and her wild geese, and thanks to her for that, as we Californians recover from an intense winter. Forms TG has used include a Ryūka (“February Dance”); a Lilt [more or less, she says] (“Corvid Love”); a mixed Miku (Abbreviated Haiku) chain (“Water Rescue”); a Haiku (“Valentine's Day”); and some Normative Syllabics (“Etched in Aspen Bark”). The Lilt and the Miku were last week’s Triple-F Challenges.
And now it’s time for…
FORM FIDDLERS’ FRIDAY!
It’s time for more contributions from Form Fiddlers, in addition to those sent to us by Taylor Graham! Each Friday, there will be poems posted here from our readers using forms—either ones which were sent to Medusa during the previous week, or whatever else floats through the Kitchen and the perpetually stoned mind of Medusa. If these instructions are vague, it's because they're meant to be. Just fiddle around with some challenges— Whaddaya got to lose… ? If you send ‘em, I’ll post ‘em! (See Medusa’s Form Finder at the end of this post for resources and for links to poetry terms used in today’s post.) 
Last Week’s Ekphrastic Photo
Here are responses to last week's photo by Stephen Kingsnorth and Nolcha Fox:
SIGNS OF THE TIME
—Stephen Kingsnorth, Coedpoeth, Wrexham, Wales
Patina, blotching stains of time—
as birthmark many take for shame;
alike the human face we cream,
or paint with oils, our frame maintain.
Here, value for their past remains—
will we be named when buried shell—
though pilgrim scallop. worthwhile claim,
on wooden planks, paid on the nail?
But are they real or distressed fakes?
As test the provenance of art,
this is the age of repro work,
for folk seek Attic, antique parts,
the dialect of classical,
and e-bay sale untested break,
which stays the hand, brake should apply.
Were white enamel of our teeth
in such condition, under roof,
we might less smile or laugh awhile
as sign of poor hygiene, our take,
so not an advert we display.
Set molar in that cola drink,
its bite transferred, near overnight,
like vampire blood that seeps through gums,
bright canine sight to sweet calcite,
dentures dissolved in bedside glass.
Why do folk clamour for those lines,
the hoardings once, gas station fence,
or hedging bets to fill the gap,
once thrown out, horde now, treasure trove?
We want no tears, but yet show years?
* * *
I am not
my x-rays.
My frame is not
the worn-down,
dented, thickened,
broken bones
that carried me
through simpler times
of younger years.
Close your eyes
and you can see
my bright red
chassis rumble
down a summer
dusty road past
signs you now find
in an antique store.
—Nolcha Fox, Buffalo, WY
* * *
Stephen was moved to respond ekphrastically (is that a word?) to this topsy-turvy snowman which was posted last Sunday along with Kimberly Bolton’s poems (http://medusaskitchen.blogspot.com/2023/02/by-kimberly-bolton-jefferson-city-mo.html/):
TURVY
—Stephen Kingsnorth
How is the blizzard downside up,
that flaky, fickle, flighty view,
when whiteout is the hinterland,
perspective gone, world upside down,
our facelift crowned by fall from boots?
Those soles are uppermost in sight—
the guardians watching as we played—
but rare our hours to model man;
we had not wit to drift beyond
that pose, our norm, as stand alone.
Coal chips before it scuttled us,
some scarf, before it signed our brand,
old gloves through which we turned our hand
as from cat’s cradle, berth of wool,
and carrot, long, spared from the rack.
The snowstorm, leaving, space enchants,
this virgin ground, till we come by,
then Eden soil has passed this way;
sleet, coke dust, hail blow, gravel grit,
small evidence of snow man craft.
* * *
Speaking of Ekphrasticism, Norman Olson has sent us some Ekphrastic poems based on his own photos, as follows. They would also qualify as Ars Poeticae, I’m thinking:
—Stephen Kingsnorth
How is the blizzard downside up,
that flaky, fickle, flighty view,
when whiteout is the hinterland,
perspective gone, world upside down,
our facelift crowned by fall from boots?
Those soles are uppermost in sight—
the guardians watching as we played—
but rare our hours to model man;
we had not wit to drift beyond
that pose, our norm, as stand alone.
Coal chips before it scuttled us,
some scarf, before it signed our brand,
old gloves through which we turned our hand
as from cat’s cradle, berth of wool,
and carrot, long, spared from the rack.
The snowstorm, leaving, space enchants,
this virgin ground, till we come by,
then Eden soil has passed this way;
sleet, coke dust, hail blow, gravel grit,
small evidence of snow man craft.
* * *
Speaking of Ekphrasticism, Norman Olson has sent us some Ekphrastic poems based on his own photos, as follows. They would also qualify as Ars Poeticae, I’m thinking:
image poem about an image drawing
or, this must mean something
—Norman J. Olson, Maplewood, MN
the woman with the half
shaven head glances
around the room… a black
tree dances
with arms coyly raised…
in the corner, a profile echos
itself in an image
that screams, “old,
white, man…” elegant shapes
shift into shadow…
or, this must mean something
—Norman J. Olson, Maplewood, MN
the woman with the half
shaven head glances
around the room… a black
tree dances
with arms coyly raised…
in the corner, a profile echos
itself in an image
that screams, “old,
white, man…” elegant shapes
shift into shadow…
poem about a watercolor and ink drawing
—Norman J. Olson
the image could
be, in fact, probably
is that of
a woman, melting in
a tangle of blue
watercolor and
lines… did those
lines come from Mondrian
or up out of darkness???
the other image is a fat man
looking at something, a cell
phone? a roughly drawn square?
a crack in the fabric of time
and space???
oh yes… there is also a decorative
element, vaguely organic,
vaguely green… plus
a scribble that looks
like a signature… in
an oblong
box
—Norman J. Olson
the image could
be, in fact, probably
is that of
a woman, melting in
a tangle of blue
watercolor and
lines… did those
lines come from Mondrian
or up out of darkness???
the other image is a fat man
looking at something, a cell
phone? a roughly drawn square?
a crack in the fabric of time
and space???
oh yes… there is also a decorative
element, vaguely organic,
vaguely green… plus
a scribble that looks
like a signature… in
an oblong
box
what does it mean??
—Norman J. Olson
what does this drawing mean, they ask…
I tell them it is a work of
art and they must
figure out
for themselves what it means,
if anything…
—Norman J. Olson
what does this drawing mean, they ask…
I tell them it is a work of
art and they must
figure out
for themselves what it means,
if anything…
an artist’s statement of a sort
—Norman J. Olson
for me, a vacation is sitting in the shade on a warm afternoon, with my drawing board, a pen of some kind and maybe my little watercolor kit… in Minnesota, it is pretty hard to do this from October to April, so, I love travel to warm spots where I can sit outside and draw… something about being outside where people are makes the drawings come better and helps me to get my scattered brain together enough to make these drawings… I don’t know if they have any value as art or not… I seem to get some satisfaction from making them and I enjoy when people come up and talk to me while I am drawing… the first thing they always ask is, am I a professional, do I make a living making drawings… I tell them that I do drawings for reasons other than to earn money… the second thing they ask is what does it mean… I tell them it is a work of art and they, the audience must figure out what it means, if anything… I cannot tell them what it means because I don’t know… a trope, perhaps, but one that makes sense to me…
I tell people I am a noncommercial artist which is true… I do not sell art and so, since I am in my mid seventies, and have been doing this for a long time, I have hundreds of artworks stored in my house in Minnesota… people see the images of the artworks published, but seldom does anyone see the originals… I am not reluctant to show the originals, but probably will not, unless someone asks me to…
—Norman J. Olson
for me, a vacation is sitting in the shade on a warm afternoon, with my drawing board, a pen of some kind and maybe my little watercolor kit… in Minnesota, it is pretty hard to do this from October to April, so, I love travel to warm spots where I can sit outside and draw… something about being outside where people are makes the drawings come better and helps me to get my scattered brain together enough to make these drawings… I don’t know if they have any value as art or not… I seem to get some satisfaction from making them and I enjoy when people come up and talk to me while I am drawing… the first thing they always ask is, am I a professional, do I make a living making drawings… I tell them that I do drawings for reasons other than to earn money… the second thing they ask is what does it mean… I tell them it is a work of art and they, the audience must figure out what it means, if anything… I cannot tell them what it means because I don’t know… a trope, perhaps, but one that makes sense to me…
I tell people I am a noncommercial artist which is true… I do not sell art and so, since I am in my mid seventies, and have been doing this for a long time, I have hundreds of artworks stored in my house in Minnesota… people see the images of the artworks published, but seldom does anyone see the originals… I am not reluctant to show the originals, but probably will not, unless someone asks me to…
Norm Draws at Sea
* * *
Caschwa (Carl Schwartz) writes: “Here is a List poem regarding all the political-economic finagling going on lately”:
SUNSET LAWS
—Caschwa, Sacramento, CA
(There have been recent proposals
to review and put up for a new vote
every five years such programs as
Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
There is no guarantee they won’t add
others to the list.)
Renew birth certificates every 5 years
Renew marriage certificates every 5 years
Repeat boot camp every 5 years
Rename your pets every 5 years
Close Escrow on your house every 5 years
Change 911 to other numbers every 5 years
Resit for high school yearbook senior photos every 5 years
Put a new hairdo on the Statue of Liberty every 5 years
Change which hand is your dominant hand every 5 years
Replay all Super Bowl and World Series games every 5
years (not a tape replay, get all the athletes and officials
back in person)
* * *
And here is an Ars Poetica for Spring from Stephen Kingsnorth:
—Caschwa, Sacramento, CA
(There have been recent proposals
to review and put up for a new vote
every five years such programs as
Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
There is no guarantee they won’t add
others to the list.)
Renew birth certificates every 5 years
Renew marriage certificates every 5 years
Repeat boot camp every 5 years
Rename your pets every 5 years
Close Escrow on your house every 5 years
Change 911 to other numbers every 5 years
Resit for high school yearbook senior photos every 5 years
Put a new hairdo on the Statue of Liberty every 5 years
Change which hand is your dominant hand every 5 years
Replay all Super Bowl and World Series games every 5
years (not a tape replay, get all the athletes and officials
back in person)
* * *
And here is an Ars Poetica for Spring from Stephen Kingsnorth:
DRAWN
—Stephen Kingsnorth
Freshwashed and fair the day there, here,
narcissus air, smell tulip, pair,
dawn scent down drown yesterday’s smell.
Shine pouring sun bores window bare,
through bathsud water, light to spare
for lathes, in planes of green but white,
cold brine ocean or bathtub drawn?
It cleaves the flow, flaws into jewel,
so cracks it to a brighter sight.
And spotlights, little, surface sun—
they dance, when gone, dance back again;
mirror wobble, ceiling height—
delicious bath, all round the room.
Loaned, alone, moment for me,
so bathing, I find poetry.
—Stephen Kingsnorth
Freshwashed and fair the day there, here,
narcissus air, smell tulip, pair,
dawn scent down drown yesterday’s smell.
Shine pouring sun bores window bare,
through bathsud water, light to spare
for lathes, in planes of green but white,
cold brine ocean or bathtub drawn?
It cleaves the flow, flaws into jewel,
so cracks it to a brighter sight.
And spotlights, little, surface sun—
they dance, when gone, dance back again;
mirror wobble, ceiling height—
delicious bath, all round the room.
Loaned, alone, moment for me,
so bathing, I find poetry.
___________________
Many thanks to our SnakePals for their brave fiddling! Would you like to be a SnakePal? All you have to do is send poetry—forms or not—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!
___________________
___________________
TRIPLE-F CHALLENGES!
See what you can make of this week’s poetry forms, and send them to kathykieth@hotmail.com! (No deadline.)
•••Chanso: https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/chanso-poetic-form
AND/OR
•••Verso-Rhyme: https://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/topic/1882-syllabic-forms-found-in-pathways-for-the-poet
•••See also the bottom of this post for another challenge, this one an Ekphrastic photo.
•••And don’t forget each Tuesday’s Seed of the Week! This week it’s “Fury”.
____________________
MEDUSA’S FORM FINDER: Links to poetry terms mentioned today:
•••Abbreviated Haiku (Miku): https://poetscollective.org/poetryforms/example-index
•••Ars Poetica: www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/ars-poetica
•••Chanso: https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/chanso-poetic-form
•••Ekphrastic Poem: notesofoak.com/discover-literature/ekphrastic-poetry
•••Haiku: www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/haiku/haiku.html
•••Lilt: https://poetscollective.org/poetryforms/tag/abab-cdcd-efef-ghgh
•••List Poem: clpe.org.uk/poetryline/poeticforms/list-poem
•••Normative Syllabics: hellopoetry.com/collection/108/normative-syllabic-free-verse AND/OR lewisturco.typepad.com/poetics/normative-syllabic-verse
•••Ryūka: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryūka
•••Verso-Rhyme: https://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/topic/1882-syllabic-forms-found-in-pathways-for-the-poet
For more about meter, see:
•••www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-iambic-pentameter-definition-literature
•••www.pandorapost.com/2021/05/examples-of-iambic-pentameter-tetrameter-and-trimeter-in-poetry.html
•••nosweatshakespeare.com/sonnets/iambic-pentameter
•••www.thoughtco.com/introducing-iambic-pentameter-2985082
•••www.nfi.edu/iambic-pentameter
____________________
—Medusa
See what you can make of the above
photo, and send your poetic results to
kathykieth@hotmail.com/. (No deadline.)
***
—Photo Courtesy of Public Domain
For upcoming poetry happenings in
Northern California and otherwheres,
click on
UPCOMING NORCAL EVENTS
in the links at the top of this page.
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.
Northern California and otherwheres,
click on
UPCOMING NORCAL EVENTS
in the links at the top of this page.
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.
