Forever

 Curious George Goes to the Library

(Books are Forever!)

—Illustration by H. A. Rey (1898-1977)
* * *
—Poetry by Nolcha Fox, Stephen Kingsnorth,
Claire J. Baker, Devyanshi Neupane, 

Shiva Neupane, Joe Nolan, and 

Caschwa (Carl Schwartz)
—Visuals by Medusa, Stephen Kingsnorth,
and Joe Nolan 

FOREVER
—Nolcha Fox, Buffalo, WY

Forever was all I knew
before I knew better.

The sun only set
so that I could fall asleep.

Everyone I loved
could never age.

Winter was a word between
leaf fall and flowers.

Bandages and kisses
cured what ailed me.

Now I know better,
and I’d rather never know.

 

 

 

 —Photo Courtesy of Stephen Kingsnorth

 

GENTLY
—Stephen Kingsnorth, Coedpoeth, Wrexham, Wales

Before I knew better,
Santa climbed chimleys,
Mums were paid, housewives,
and all had grey hair.
Bert, Madge’s brother,
sweets shared with siblings,
policemen, perfect,
Dads all wore bowties—
all wrote italic;
wrestling above board,
fantastic, my world.

Then slowly I learned,
chimleys were chimneys,
waged jobs, friends’ mothers,
though mine was older.
Madge’ ‘brother’, lover,
most ate whole packet,
corrupt, some coppers,
bowties eccentric,
Dad calligraphic,
staged was the wrestling,
as I met real world.

But when I knew better
our homelife uncommon;
for sport not played Sundays,
nor papers read Sabbath,
all beer was of ginger,
and Christmas not Xmas.
If Kipling not cake time,
as Raffles not raffles,
with grace as the first course,
norm, gollies on jam jars,
loose tea never tea bags.

My mother, known Sister
(for Deacon, not incest);
their first-born died infant.
I not empathetic,
through ignorance, sadly,
their annual mourning
alone and passed lonely.
On Sundays Dad hoovered,
then polished all footwear,
on laid-out newspapers—
their liberal news view.

I little knew suffering—
as wartime, him conchie,
by neighbours, excluded,
for pacifist’s faith views;
with County-bred in-laws
who ill-thought their marriage,
and soldiering cousins,
dismissing his conscience.
Their second, brain damaged,
him turning poetic,
salvation found in verse. 

 

 

 

 —Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Medusa

APOLOGY
—Claire J. Baker, Pinole, CA

You, Robbie,
warm & real as
you were,
end up as a scrap
of address,
found in a catch-all
drawer,
this winter eve
while
looking for matches.

You, Robbie,
warm & real as
you were.


(First printed in Blue Unicorn; and in
Medusa’s Kitchen, 9/7/22)

 

 

 

 —Public Domain Photo 

Courtesy of Medusa

MY SCHOOL UNIFORMS
—Devyanshi Neupane, age 5, Melbourne, Australia

My hat is blue
My shirt is blue
My pant is black
My bag is blue
And my shoes are black.

 

 

 

 —Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Joe Nolan

WHAT IS LOVE?
—Shiva Neupane, Melbourne, Australia

Love is definitively
Infinitive.
This formless pulchritudinous entity
Cannot be measured by any scale of expression.
Nor the words can serve
The meaning for it.
The only vehicle of love is heart
By which the feelings get transported,
And serve the purpose of love
In the heart. 

 

 

 —Public Domain Photo 

Courtesy of Joe Nolan

SEAFOOD SMORGIE
—Joe Nolan, Stockton, CA

Who let all
The lobster-men in
With pink, hard shells
Instead of skin?

Crabs,
Who all walk sideways
Who can’t pair up
To dance,
So, instead of snapping fingers
They pinch and
Slyly glance
From side to side.

Who brought in
The squid to skin
To make his calamari?
So slippery,
Squishy,
Slimy.
So much better
With some butter,
When they’re fried.
If not, they might slide,
Slipping off the table
As any squid
Worth his lemon’s able.

 

 

 

The Future is Reduced

 —Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Joe Nolan

NEW YEAR’S GREETING
—Joe Nolan

Fair to partly cloudy,
The way it was described—
The weather front
That bore the brunt
Of normal, human suffering,
Sweeping in
Across the land,
Invading from the sky.

We can’t expect
Perfection
In a world of hungry-ghosts
Who slaughter
Half their neighbors
To gobble up their land.

Let me make this
New Year’s greeting
In a spirit to convey
My hope for you
To cope with fear
Adversity and tears
And all inclement weather
That seasons do command
And somehow find some sweetness
In love for your fellow man.

 

 

 

European Robins

—Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Medusa

WE CHOSE WELL
—Caschwa, Sacramento,  CA

It was a Thursday, October 19, 1989 when
my wife, Jo Lynn, and I decided to take our
five-year-old son to the Natural History
Museum in Exposition Park, Los Angeles

I already had a pass for free admission to
the county museums that I used daily to
visit the La Brea Tar Pits Museum in
Hancock Park on my lunch breaks

In my own experience of elementary school
field trips, I remember visiting the Natural
History Museum and leaving with the wish
that I could return and spend longer at the
exhibits I liked the most

So we drove over to Exposition Park and all
the parking was taken, except then one car
pulled out and left and we were lucky to get
that spot

We ventured into the building and viewed a
very large, ancient, big-mouth fish that was
known for its predatory practices, went to the
exhibit depicting Los Angeles, where they
dimmed the lights to present the sights and
sounds of what happens after sunset. This
particular exhibit was known for putting me
to sleep, and yes, I did doze off again!

We spent a good part of the day visiting lots
of great, ancient finds and then visited the café
for lunch. My strongest memory from this was
how hard it was to get a sandwich for our son
that didn’t come with onions on it.

After returning home I made contact with my
brother and his wife and they were astonished
that we didn’t know….didn’t know what? Didn’t
know that at the day and time of our visit to the
museum, the Rolling Stones were playing in the
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, located so very
close to the Natural History Museum. Looked it
up and yes, there were a lot of other events we
could have shared with our five-year-old son on
that date:

    · The Tiananmen Square Massacre
    · France’s biggest-ever bank robbery
    · The fall of the Berlin Wall
    · The Romanian Revolution
    · Overturning of the Guilford Four convictions
    · New opening of the Wonders of Life Pavilion
      at Epcot

So all in all we thought we had made a pretty good
choice.

_________________

Today’s LittleNip:

DONE
—Caschwa

wrote
poem
in five words

_________________

Welcome to 2025, with thanks to today’s contributors—some of whom have written about our Seed of the Week, “Before I Knew Better”. Be sure to check each Tuesday for the latest Seed of the Week.

SnakePal Taylor Dibbert of Washington, D.C. has a new book out, Takoma, available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Takoma-Taylor-Dibbert/dp/B0DPJ3JCLZ/ref=sr_1_1?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ldX1g7a8Pht2bzGUbKp0pARQ9oxYMIbn6BfD9Ce4v0INlueSsThSFUvUFAuG3uVMXwU_HR5sPo5YwX5PdE7WDBUjF9I8FVgmD7ag5oX0MJTHnwv6TVKIS2a3fZqhY0xg.y68pfnRJ_6Zxb-n0_NnK_w5HuEis-Zp9rytJdfubVu4&dib_tag=se&qid=1735862700&refinements=p_27%3ATaylor+Dibbert&s=books&sr=1-1&text=Taylor+Dibbert/. Congratulations on your new project, Taylor!

___________________

—Medusa

 

 

 

 —Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Joe Nolan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A reminder that
Sacramento Poetry Center
remains closed this week,
and will return to readings
next Monday (1/13), with
Youth Open Mic, 7:30pm.
For info about this and other
future poetry happenings in
Northern California and otherwheres,
click on
UPCOMING NORCAL EVENTS
(http://medusaskitchen.blogspot.com/p/wtf.html)
in the links at the top of this page—
and keep an eye on this link and on
the daily Kitchen for happenings
that might pop up
—or get changed!—
 during the week.

Photos in this column can be enlarged by
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Would you like to be a SnakePal?
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