* * *
—Poetry by Nolcha Fox, Claire J. Baker,
Stephen Kingsnorth, Caschwa,
Debyanshi Neupane, and Joe Nolan
—Public Domain Photos Courtesy of
Nolcha Fox, Stephen Kingsnorth,
Devyanshi Neupane, Joe Nolan, and Medusa
PEACE IN PIECES
—Nolcha Fox, Buffalo, WY
I hoped for some serenity
and breeze to cool my nerves.
The sand and water beckoned me.
I found a place to sit.
Although the beach was empty
of the crowds I usually find,
a stranger put his towel down
two-fingers width from mine.
He said that he was hungry,
so I offered him an egg.
Instead, he nibbled at my tongue
and tried to eat my face.
He tangled up his legs with mine.
He must have fancied noodles.
I threw some sand into his face,
and told him he was crude.
While he tried to wipe his eyes,
I grabbed my gear and ran.
I left behind some body parts
dislodged by his rough hands.
I’ll have to do without them,
I won’t go back again.
—Nolcha Fox, Buffalo, WY
I hoped for some serenity
and breeze to cool my nerves.
The sand and water beckoned me.
I found a place to sit.
Although the beach was empty
of the crowds I usually find,
a stranger put his towel down
two-fingers width from mine.
He said that he was hungry,
so I offered him an egg.
Instead, he nibbled at my tongue
and tried to eat my face.
He tangled up his legs with mine.
He must have fancied noodles.
I threw some sand into his face,
and told him he was crude.
While he tried to wipe his eyes,
I grabbed my gear and ran.
I left behind some body parts
dislodged by his rough hands.
I’ll have to do without them,
I won’t go back again.
–Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Medusa
CELEBRATIONS
—Claire J. Baker, Pinole, CA
The golden bridge rises
to let the sun pass under.
A fisherman unhooks
a rainbowed catch, that she
may spawn more rainbows.
On a cliff above the ocean,
one by one poppies open
in time-lapse dawn.
A boy loosens a grasshopper
stuck on stickers. It flickers
away in a hallelujah flash.
In small hills over Sausalito,
a child we know nurses
blue-eyed baby crows.
We’ve grown more
observant, and less aware
of time butterflying by . . .
The golden bridge lowers
to let the moon pass over.
—Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Stephen Kingsnorth
SERENITY
—Stephen Kingsnorth, Coedpoeth, Wrexham, Wales
Serene Highness, she comes to mind,
a title, European courts,
as Lichtenstein, Monaco,
unlike Sālote, Tongan Queen,
who earned the epithet for self.
At coronation, ’53,
smiling through downpour, London rain,
declining hood, carriage parade,
endeared herself, umbrella crowd.
Of eventide, calm sea, clear sky,
the Latin birth, serenity.
We see it in persona too,
in pieces world, a soul at peace,
in yoga or in Tai Chi class,
where mindfulness has taken strain,
as folk are training, wild to mild,
a balanced stance on whirling globe,
the place, a space to find themselves.
For therapy of body, mind,
promoted, groups of thirties world
like AA, YWCA.
what’s prayed in Reinhold Niebuhr’s words—
US public theologian:
‘God grant me the serenity,
accept the things I cannot change, to change
the things I can, courage, and wisdom, difference,
to know.’
For there we find holistic case,
that ‘beyond understanding’ taste,
a harmony, Greenman’s embrace,
both root and branch of grace released.
There mycorrhiza, xylem’s race,
with phloem allows the canopy,
those brollies of Sālote’s crowd!
These trees, serene, highness indeed,
abscission when that auxin calls.
–Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Medusa
ONE FOR THE AGES
—Caschwa, Sacramento, CA
We live in the Age
of Hyper Serenity
Roller coaster mode
–Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Medusa
RECORDS VS. TAPES
—Caschwa
33, 45, 78
revolution speed of vinyl records
holding music we love to hear
33, 45, 78
circumference readings from a tape measure
that we’d hate to see in the mirror
–Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Medusa
DON’T TELL MY DOCTOR
—Caschwa
I had regularly been playing 3-valve
brass wind instruments, and on occasion
I’d play one of the newer versions that
have 4 valves, which facilitates the
production of more key tones.
Didn’t ever know this might be the sign of
a medical problem.
—Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Joe Nolan
GARDEN
—Sayani Mukherjee, Chandannagar, W. Bengal, India
A new life of the season
That haunts the Mayflower gardens
I keep my vigil high
No one is nearer than death
Alaska rides and sky-high buildings
The topmost is nearer to me
My garden is full of sweet marvel
As I gaze upon the peonies high
The merry-go-round of life is at my hand
To know that dream-like state
Where pansies grow upon the hedgehog smile.
The Neupanes: Devyanshi and Shiva
ON THE PLANE
—Devyanshi Neupane, Age 05,
Melbourne, Australia
When I was on the plane
I saw a big Ocean
When I was on the plane
I saw the mountains
When I was on the plane
I saw the clouds
When I was on the plane
I saw the sun.
–Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Medusa
DIAMOND MINES
—Joe Nolan, Stockton, CA
Diamonds might be down there,
But you’ll have to dig for miles.
You might just come up empty
After all your trials.
All the while,
Enduring trials
Of labor
Day-to-day,
Sweating in the searing sunshine
To earn your meager pay
Since diamond-mines are gambles—
A pass-time for the rich,
So they offer
Just a pittance
To those who take the pitch.
If you discover pay-dirt,
They will not share the take:
“That is what we paid you for!”
Then you’ll be replaced
When they hire the new
Replacement crew—
Specialists in extraction.
–Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Medusa
THE LOOTING
—Joe Nolan
Which martyr
Which saint
Which suffering
Which paint
To white-wash
Over
Who will summon
Everyone
To come over
To the light side
Of the day,
Of the night?
Which maelstrom
Which hurricane
Which firestorm
Will be sent to
Devastate and explain
The need of
Global sophistry
To claim
Everything
We have got
And everything
We have not
To loot into
A duffle-bag,
To hold for
All eternity
Against the humbled masses?
–Public Domain Photo Courtesy
of Medusa
IF NOT HERE, THEN ELSEWHERE
—Joe Nolan
What if
What we
Hope for
Never comes?
What if, when
Our bodies die
Our egos
And our energy
Merge into
A sea,
Retaining not
Identity,
But spread
Into a
Sea of Infinity,
Since, after all,
What we were,
Compared to All-That-Is,
Was very small.
What if there
Was nothing there,
Interspersed
Among the atoms
Of your body
That we would call
A soul?
Nothing to rise, therefrom,
Ascending to the sky,
When you’ve died?
What if
What if
What if?
It doesn’t really matter
Since soul lives inside matter
While you live,
Floating in your body
Walking down the street
When your friends
You greet
Or when you’re
Making love
With your lover.
If not here,
Then elsewhere.
Surely this
Is just a piece
Of bliss
In Everywhere.
–Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Joe Nolan
HEAVEN’S FALLINGS
—Joe Nolan
There are no friends
Who mark the cold,
The cold that comes
Each Winter,
As reason to withdraw.
Instead, they help you
Stack the wood
You’ll need to keep
The cold away
As you stay
Inside a cozy cabin
Winds won’t pierce
When Winter comes
To whip its freezing winds
Outside your cabin door.
Winter’s whipping
Freezing winds
Bring to mind a
Host of sins
For which you
Might be punished
By seasons’ angels
Set adrift
Upon the Earth
As snow-drifts sift
Heaven’s fallings,
White with cold.
But friendship and
Its helping hands
Bring to bear
What you will need
To get you
Through the cold,
Cold Winter.
Spring will come
To please.
___________________
Today’s LittleNip(s):
D-DAY
—Caschwa
D-Day do this and
D-Day don’t do that, a war
game that never ends
~ ~ ~
THE CRIES OF GRAVE MARKERS
—Caschwa
(another side of Serenity)
Un 4 get able
bodied citi zen Bhuddists
drink Tang dynasty
___________________
Our thanks to our varied contributors today, some of whom wrote to us about our Seed of the Week, Serenity. Be sure to check each Tuesday for the latest Seed of the Week, and Fridays for poetry-form and Ekphrastic challenges. But don’t be shy about sending poetry of all types, forms or not. There’s always room in the Kitchen for one more…
We’re all happy to announce that Moira Magneson will be El Dorado County’s new Poet Laureate! Moira is a SnakePal from ‘way back, including a chapbook from her in 2008. Congratulations, Moira!
Don’t forget the Swan Scythe chapbook deadline coming up June 15. That’s two days after lucky Friday the 13th! See the details at http://medusaskitchen.blogspot.com/p/wtf.html/.
___________________
—Medusa
Our thanks to our varied contributors today, some of whom wrote to us about our Seed of the Week, Serenity. Be sure to check each Tuesday for the latest Seed of the Week, and Fridays for poetry-form and Ekphrastic challenges. But don’t be shy about sending poetry of all types, forms or not. There’s always room in the Kitchen for one more…
We’re all happy to announce that Moira Magneson will be El Dorado County’s new Poet Laureate! Moira is a SnakePal from ‘way back, including a chapbook from her in 2008. Congratulations, Moira!
Don’t forget the Swan Scythe chapbook deadline coming up June 15. That’s two days after lucky Friday the 13th! See the details at http://medusaskitchen.blogspot.com/p/wtf.html/.
___________________
—Medusa
—Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Joe Nolan
A reminder that
Poetic License meets in
Placerville today, 10:30am;
and tonight, 7:30pm,
Khiry Malik Moore reads at
Sacramento Poetry Center.
For info about these 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!
Poetic License meets in
Placerville today, 10:30am;
and tonight, 7:30pm,
Khiry Malik Moore reads at
Sacramento Poetry Center.
For info about these 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!
