—Poetry by Douglas Richardson, Santa Ana, CA
—Visuals Courtesy of Public Domain
WANDERING IN CVS
Wandering in CVS
after our time has passed
a brotherhood of shoppers
friendless and kind
hurtling through space
talking to ourselves
lingering
leafing through magazines
in the permanent light
dozing on the low-pile carpet
dreaming of rivers and fields
Wandering in CVS
after our time has passed
a brotherhood of shoppers
friendless and kind
hurtling through space
talking to ourselves
lingering
leafing through magazines
in the permanent light
dozing on the low-pile carpet
dreaming of rivers and fields
THE ONLY OTHER THING IS NOTHING
After months of desultory van life
I found myself in Palm Springs
parked on Belardo between
the American Legion and Catholic church
and in my deteriorating exile
their lives flashed before me
bygone soldiers and saints
not their good and bad deeds
or other matters for Our Lady of Solitude
but the totality
all and sundry
unreliable and pure
UNOPENED WALL CALENDARS
Unopened wall calendars
faulty smoke detectors
paintings in public storage
people in the home have lost my mind
evenings on the bank
the water so kind
BIKER’S LAMENT
The leather-vested biker
in the devil dog bar
spilled his beer across the pool table
and cried over the forty years of toys
he’s seen scattered on the roadside
OUTSIDE THE LAST BOOKSTORE
The homeless dance like Saint Vitus at
5th and Spring, like
the word “love” spelled backward
signifying everything
The ambulance on the sidewalk
is for the laughing man coughing
The buildings remain stone through it all
MY ARTIST FRIENDS
Oscar behaves like a pouty ballerina
his girlfriend chops kale on Formica
convinced that adulthood has little to impart
he enters his toy room and makes pediatric
art
his glasswork brightens hospitals worldwide
Joanne is a lawyer, has a boa constrictor
called Sawyer who chases mice around a
terrarium;
serpent-eyed and rich
her insomnia’s a bitch
she’ll paint dystopian cityscapes when she’s
retired
Mike is adrift in the auto-part desert
he appreciates the Del Taco aesthetic
he drives alone on Mojave highways
taking photos with his eyes
the purple in his sunsets is astounding
Lorelei loves elephants and monkeys and
France
rococo tapestries put her in a trance
she colors her hair and takes the children
to the zoo
she believes in hair dye
the children believe too
___________________
Today’s LittleNip:
HEARD BUT NOT SEEN
—Douglas Richardson
Distant trains and mission bells
have caused generations of philosophers
to wander off into the hills
to wonder among the buzzing insects
their troubled thoughts producing a scent
like anise
___________________
—Medusa, thanking Douglas Richardson for his return to the Kitchen with his fine poetry!
Medusa’s Kitchen will have its 20th anniversary this May 29, and we will celebrate with poetry, of course. Send a poem that celebrates something—anything—form or free verse—and I’ll post it on May 29. 20 years! Amazing!
Painting the stars…
For info about
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!
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!
