* * *
—Poetry and Cool Visuals by Smith and Lady Smith,
Cleveland, OH (next to the Zoo)
Dog's talking to me
Watching talk box
up stairs he's too old to climb
he barks to go out
I comply
coming back in
I grab a candy bar
he gives me his where's mine look
I ignore it
go up
10 minutes later bark
come down
he's standing by the pantry door
where treats are
demanding
I laugh
give him his treat
back upstairs
15 minutes later another bark
down
he's by his bed
in which cat's sprawled
I remove cat
dog gets in
I'm glad we had this talk
he sighs
I go upstairs
again
happy I understood
Watching talk box
up stairs he's too old to climb
he barks to go out
I comply
coming back in
I grab a candy bar
he gives me his where's mine look
I ignore it
go up
10 minutes later bark
come down
he's standing by the pantry door
where treats are
demanding
I laugh
give him his treat
back upstairs
15 minutes later another bark
down
he's by his bed
in which cat's sprawled
I remove cat
dog gets in
I'm glad we had this talk
he sighs
I go upstairs
again
happy I understood
Lotus by Lady
Blood of love
in dirt of rebirth
I move in small arcs
with large pains
must be using muscle memory
cuz I'm still moving
Said you're on or off the bus
Taint true
you can be over, under
front, back, both sides
and dimensions in between
and believe me
I been all
be some now
going down this unknown road
with unknown load
pointy sticks stuck in back
as goad
And as for bus go
I don't know
but I'm a-hangin' on
Duality
I look
I watch
I don't understand
Or maybe do
ole lizard brain and you
took hunger
need
danger
greed
to crawl sea bottom
to land top and not stop
And looks like lizard brain
gonna crawl us right back down
to slime and crowd
of life biting life to survive
in unstrive
Sorta like it never stopped
just got lipstick put on the slop
and called smart
(but not, sings the lark)
O well
buy and sell bye-bye cell
here we a-go-go to lower down woes
stuffin' our pockets
with glop
Hug my body
hug my spirit
hug my whole
Sorry soul
Fallen Monks
An old guy
white beard
wrinkled grin
long educated in things above me
said it's sad
that after decades of learning
all he had to offer
was "be kinder to each other"
Feral kitten adopted us
never been hit
expects love
gives love
(and loveclaw)
pretty basic stuff
folk around the world
hating millennia
kill still
I for eye
lid for lid
no matter lie
STUPID
6 feet
The gripes of wrath
social aftermaths
bite my ass
pay a pig a day
and capitalism still
won't go away
but hey
what can I say
it's the way
I have spoken
ofttimes token
ain't jokin'
jive 'n strivin'
for the livin'
not the dyin'
keep on tryin'
not to lie
as I pry
tug at why
in magic try
of sun
and moon
and sky
no one home
but hope alone
Function/Junction
The city seeps
juices
uses
cries cross hill
for creatures of will
and won't
but I don't answer
All you got
is you
your honor
your corner
your cancer
Outside horror
normal
day one
to day done
eat must eat
cheat must cheat
got us out of the ocean
into the trees
down to the penthouse
Their rent rends
they tent trends
to bad ends
All we got
is our corner spot
to soothe the knot of never
Grab a chair
glad you're here
well come to my corner
We'll raise our thumbs
to the dumb someones
humping money fever
Walkline
Hey U S of A
slick sick list here
not one you want to be
number one on
nine times world wide
#Total Crimes
*Rape
*CO2 Emissions
*Divorce Rate
*Teen Birth Rate
*Heart Attack
*McDonald's Restaurants
*Plastic Surgery
*Prisoners
Lotta sad seeping down
cuzza bad wearing crowns
Steal enough
they make you a king
guess it's always been a thing
the strong in force
but weak in heart and mind
are usually unkind
history finds
No mystery here
good with bad cannot cohere
cuz paths diverge
in different woulds
that end in flesh
or cinder
Which will will we
I wonder
Was maybe
Aaahhh the easing of the pressure
of holding myself together
in this hellish whether
take another toke
ain't no joke
weed eases bleed of bad
but baby bad abounds
in hounds
of Capitalistic Hell
nothing new
the many used by few
never told true
killing you
and me
for free
they cheat their mothers
screw their brothers
as for the others
they're meat
to beat
eat
but as bad gets badder
thoughts of maybe better
perk
perhaps early work
in getting jerks jailed
for forbiddances
and fails
evil's empowered
bad guys in the tower
no other way to put it
didn't have to happen
doesn't have to be
depends
as always
on you and me
what's it gonna be?
Shangri-la
Today’s LittleNip:
"I've got to go downstairs
and take the laundry upstairs"
said Sisyphus to his wife.
"Don't drop it" she cackled.
—Smith
__________________
As our Seed of the Week says, I hear the Winds of Warning—this time from Smith (Steven B. Smith)—with today’s “gripes of wrath” as we start out the new year with, not sour grapes, but cogent ones. May the year of 2025 see cracks of light in this dark wall looming over, under, around and between us. As Smith says, “depends/as always/on you and me”.
And our condolences to Steven and Kathy on the passing of their pooch. Helluva way to start a year…
—Medusa
—Medusa
2 by Lady
—Photo by Smith of
Paintings by Kathy (Lady) Smith
A reminder that
Amanda Hawkins & Mischa Kuczynski
will read in Davis tonight, 7pm.
For more 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
clicking on them once, then clicking on the x
in the top right corner to come back to Medusa.
Poets’ bios appear on their first MK visit.
To find previous posts, type the name
of the poet (or poem) into the little
beige box at the top left-hand side
of this column. See also
Medusa’s Rapsheet at the bottom
of the blue column on the right
side of this column to find
any date you want.
Miss a post?
You can find our most recent ones by
scrolling down under this daily one.
Or there's an "Older Posts" button
at the bottom of this column.
(Please excuse typos in older posts!
Blogspot has been through a lot of
incarnations in 20 years!)
Would you like to be a SnakePal?
Guidelines are at the top of this page
at the Placating the Gorgon link;
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—
and collaborations are welcome.
Just remember:
the snakes of Medusa are always hungry—
for poetry, of course!
Amanda Hawkins & Mischa Kuczynski
will read in Davis tonight, 7pm.
For more 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
clicking on them once, then clicking on the x
in the top right corner to come back to Medusa.
Poets’ bios appear on their first MK visit.
To find previous posts, type the name
of the poet (or poem) into the little
beige box at the top left-hand side
of this column. See also
Medusa’s Rapsheet at the bottom
of the blue column on the right
side of this column to find
any date you want.
Miss a post?
You can find our most recent ones by
scrolling down under this daily one.
Or there's an "Older Posts" button
at the bottom of this column.
(Please excuse typos in older posts!
Blogspot has been through a lot of
incarnations in 20 years!)
Would you like to be a SnakePal?
Guidelines are at the top of this page
at the Placating the Gorgon link;
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—
and collaborations are welcome.
Just remember:
the snakes of Medusa are always hungry—
for poetry, of course!
