Placerville, CA
—And then scroll down for
Form Fiddlers’ Friday, with poetry by
Nolcha Fox, Stephen Kingsnorth,
Caschwa, Joyce Odam, and
Mitali Chakravarty
TRAIL OF THE PRIMEVAL FERN
You mentioned ferns. I chose today’s
trail for ferns unfurled on a steep rocky
cutbank above an abrupt ravine.
This trail is no primeval forest—only
runaway backyard ivy cloaking tower oaks
and tree-of-heaven imitating ferns.
This morning, not a trace of fern.
They need water. It’s the wrong season.
I’ll choose another walk,
a deeper dark-greener canyon
where even in July the ferns will fan
their mysteries of light and shadow.
You mentioned ferns. I chose today’s
trail for ferns unfurled on a steep rocky
cutbank above an abrupt ravine.
This trail is no primeval forest—only
runaway backyard ivy cloaking tower oaks
and tree-of-heaven imitating ferns.
This morning, not a trace of fern.
They need water. It’s the wrong season.
I’ll choose another walk,
a deeper dark-greener canyon
where even in July the ferns will fan
their mysteries of light and shadow.
WOODS ART
In the aspen grove
lives a carven woodpecker
with a daylight owl.
The pig-sketch didn’t survive
wildfire—sylvan crash & burn.
Otis
OTIS IN THE WOODPILE
Himself is
a poem leaping
burrowing
unmindful
of the mercury (it’s hot!)
yet mercurial
the black plume
his tail—inverted
pendulum,
metronome
birthing its own breeze, its song
of wondering life
his muzzle
huffing underworld
of woodpile
for something
hiding—more fundamental
than words—pulse and breath.
Himself is
a poem leaping
burrowing
unmindful
of the mercury (it’s hot!)
yet mercurial
the black plume
his tail—inverted
pendulum,
metronome
birthing its own breeze, its song
of wondering life
his muzzle
huffing underworld
of woodpile
for something
hiding—more fundamental
than words—pulse and breath.
UN RAMO DE ROSAS
for S.
Surprise, he’s back! headed for his shady
spot beside the hiking trail. He went north
last year, for better prospects. Now he’s back.
Maestro of bel canto on the stage.
Will he sing Granada for me again?
Song holds a lingering scent of roses
even here along the trail in summer
where the only flower is a tall white
species of carrot. Will he be at his
old station? Surprise! New road construction
just above the trail, all vegetation
cleared, nary a dapple of shade. Life takes
its toll. Granada blooms in memory,
no matter how old and way-worn the voice.
Even if There isn’t There anymore.
MR. THORN
He keeps to his property, his terrain,
its microclimate, piece of sky, and stars.
Does he begrudge his neighbors with a view,
the doe and fawn who visit their domain,
their ridge that rises toward the red of Mars,
the hawk that perches on a branch askew?
He has his own, and isn’t that enough?
His drive is paved while theirs is rocky rough.
He can’t shut out the children’s high refrain
that sounds like joy unsolved and, just by chance,
it changes timbre with the wind and rain,
the wind that moves like truth caught in a dance.
And what’s in all that roughhousing to gain?
He fears the vibes might bind him in a trance.
I WANTED SOME TOO . . .
Who’s
eating wild
cherry plums just
ripe? Must be Little
Elf.
___________________
Today’s LittleNip:
7000 FT ELEVATION
—Taylor Graham
Listen to the wind
shiver aspen leaves—wonder
about everything.
___________________
Taylor Graham has sent fine forms and fotos on this summery day; our thanks to her for today's contributions! Forms she has used this week include a Tanka (“Woods Art”); a Shadorma that is also an Ars Poetica (“Otis in the Woodpile”); a Response Poem to Katy Brown’s "Living with the Prehistoric”( https://medusaskitchen.blogspot.com/search?q=Living+with+the+Prehistoric) (“Trail of the Primeval Fern”); an Elfchen (“I Wanted Some Too…”); some Blank Verse that is also a Response to Medusa’s Tuesday Seed of the Week, The Lingering Scent of Roses (“Un Ramo de Rosas”); a Haiku (“7000 Ft Elevation”); and an Alfred Dorn Sonnet (“Mr. Thorn”). The Elfchen is an old German 'form’: 11 words (not syllables), 5 lines consisting of 1 word, then 2 words, 3, 4, 1. The Alfred Down Sonnet and the do-any-form-you-want prompts were last week’s Triple-F Challenge.
In El Dorado County poetry, Poets and Writers of the Sierra Foothills features our new Poet Laureate, Moira Magneson, in Camino this Sunday, 2pm; and Poets and Writers of El Dorado will present a workshop, Writing Words to Light the Way, with Lara Gularte next Thursday, 5:30pm in El Dorado Hills. Info about these plus El Dorado Country’s regular workshops is listed on Medusa’s calendar (if you scroll down on http://medusaskitchen.blogspot.com/p/wtf.html/). For more news about such events and about EDC poetry—past (photos!) and future—see Taylor Graham’s Western Slope El Dorado Poetry on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ElDoradoCountyPoetry. Or see Lara Gularte’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/382234029968077/. And you can always click on Medusa's UPCOMING NORCAL EVENTS (http://medusaskitchen.blogspot.com/p/wtf.html). Poetry is Gold in El Dorado County!
And now it’s time for…
Who’s
eating wild
cherry plums just
ripe? Must be Little
Elf.
___________________
Today’s LittleNip:
7000 FT ELEVATION
—Taylor Graham
Listen to the wind
shiver aspen leaves—wonder
about everything.
___________________
Taylor Graham has sent fine forms and fotos on this summery day; our thanks to her for today's contributions! Forms she has used this week include a Tanka (“Woods Art”); a Shadorma that is also an Ars Poetica (“Otis in the Woodpile”); a Response Poem to Katy Brown’s "Living with the Prehistoric”( https://medusaskitchen.blogspot.com/search?q=Living+with+the+Prehistoric) (“Trail of the Primeval Fern”); an Elfchen (“I Wanted Some Too…”); some Blank Verse that is also a Response to Medusa’s Tuesday Seed of the Week, The Lingering Scent of Roses (“Un Ramo de Rosas”); a Haiku (“7000 Ft Elevation”); and an Alfred Dorn Sonnet (“Mr. Thorn”). The Elfchen is an old German 'form’: 11 words (not syllables), 5 lines consisting of 1 word, then 2 words, 3, 4, 1. The Alfred Down Sonnet and the do-any-form-you-want prompts were last week’s Triple-F Challenge.
In El Dorado County poetry, Poets and Writers of the Sierra Foothills features our new Poet Laureate, Moira Magneson, in Camino this Sunday, 2pm; and Poets and Writers of El Dorado will present a workshop, Writing Words to Light the Way, with Lara Gularte next Thursday, 5:30pm in El Dorado Hills. Info about these plus El Dorado Country’s regular workshops is listed on Medusa’s calendar (if you scroll down on http://medusaskitchen.blogspot.com/p/wtf.html/). For more news about such events and about EDC poetry—past (photos!) and future—see Taylor Graham’s Western Slope El Dorado Poetry on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ElDoradoCountyPoetry. Or see Lara Gularte’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/382234029968077/. And you can always click on Medusa's UPCOMING NORCAL EVENTS (http://medusaskitchen.blogspot.com/p/wtf.html). Poetry is Gold in El Dorado County!
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.)
Check out our recently-refurbed page at the top of Medusa’s Kitchen called, “FORMS! OMG!!!” which expresses some of my (take ‘em or leave 'em) opinions about the use of forms in poetry writing, as well as listing some more resources to help you navigate through Form Quicksand and other ways of poetry. Got any more resources to add to our list? Send them to kathykieth@hotmail.com for the benefit of all man/woman/poetkind!
* * *
Last Week’s Ekphrastic Photo
Poets who sent responses to last week’s Ekphrastic photo were Nolcha Fox, and Stephen Kingsnorth:
KLIMT-ISH
—Nolcha Fox, Buffalo, WY
Klimt might have walked
this street in dreams,
longing for the perfect woman
he could gold-leaf into art.
The doors were locked,
the windows, closed,
the building, Art Nouveau,
the road was nameless loss.
Yet somehow he
returned each night
to search and search
and search.
* * *
WHET OR DULL?
—Stephen Kingsnorth, Coedpoeth, Wrexham, Wales
So what is this, designer frame,
its lines more vital than content?
The stuff content—contented stuff—
both contents and the satisfied—
for accents change that meaningful,
and emphasis has started wars.
A panel beater circumscribed,
purveyor of the misty side
unless the slide itself has moved —
provided fuzzy photograph
to leave surveyor mystified?
I do learn that eye test is due.
I stare, to better focus there
where mergers may be overlapped,
geometry itself is stayed—
why, what is compartmentalised?
Amongst shape range, tree canopy?
Is that alone free living sight?
I cannot reckon with this work,
nor understand this ‘street_no_name’;
so do I miss the obvious,
this patchy work behind a veil,
deprived of detail to debate?
I would on unseen speculate.
What questions looming in the fog?
What focus, as tired eyes protest?
Do devils lie is those details?
When execution seems precise
can reproduction be device
to whet or dull the appetite?
* * *
Caschwa (Carl Schwartz) writes: “For today’s Ekphrastic Challenge, I submit not a poem, but a caption:”
Ageless AC’s Accomplish Altered Atrium Aesthetic
—Caschwa, Sacramento, CA
* * *
For our Freestyle challenge this week, (do any form you want), Joyce Odam sent a poem in ababcc (etc.) that is also a Response to our Tuesday Seed of the Week, The Lingering Scent of Roses:
For our Freestyle challenge this week, (do any form you want), Joyce Odam sent a poem in ababcc (etc.) that is also a Response to our Tuesday Seed of the Week, The Lingering Scent of Roses:
THE BITTER ROSE
(After Galway Kinnell)
—Joyce Odam, Sacramento, CA
Well, she has kissed the bitter rose
and now her lips have blood on them.
One thorn for love is what her grievance knows.
This blood red rose that once was talisman
she makes symbolic with a kiss
and dried up tears. She’ll not surrender this.
The taste of blood is bittersweet.
She mocks a bitter laugh. Her lip
shines red. She bites it with red teeth.
The rose has died, as now her love is dead.
She peels its petals for her crimson shrine
to all her dead heart vows to keep confined.
* * *
And Mitali Chakravarty has sent us two Limericks, along with her photos:
ANIMAL LIMERICKS
—Mitali Chakravarty, Singapore
(After Galway Kinnell)
—Joyce Odam, Sacramento, CA
Well, she has kissed the bitter rose
and now her lips have blood on them.
One thorn for love is what her grievance knows.
This blood red rose that once was talisman
she makes symbolic with a kiss
and dried up tears. She’ll not surrender this.
The taste of blood is bittersweet.
She mocks a bitter laugh. Her lip
shines red. She bites it with red teeth.
The rose has died, as now her love is dead.
She peels its petals for her crimson shrine
to all her dead heart vows to keep confined.
* * *
And Mitali Chakravarty has sent us two Limericks, along with her photos:
ANIMAL LIMERICKS
—Mitali Chakravarty, Singapore
1
There lived a family of whiskered otters.
One went for a swim in murky waters.
A monitor swam by.
The otter took fright.
It leapt out and joined the walkers.
There lived a family of whiskered otters.
One went for a swim in murky waters.
A monitor swam by.
The otter took fright.
It leapt out and joined the walkers.
2
A seagull flew to Colosseum in Rome.
It had a penchant to tour and roam.
It stood under a tree
And watched tourists in glee
As they queued outside the gated zone.
A seagull flew to Colosseum in Rome.
It had a penchant to tour and roam.
It stood under a tree
And watched tourists in glee
As they queued outside the gated zone.
________________
Many thanks to today’s writers for their lively contributions! Wouldn’t you like to join them? 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!
Many thanks to today’s writers for their lively contributions! Wouldn’t you like to join them? 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!
•••Prosopopoeia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosopopoeia#:~:text=The%20term%20derives%20from%20the,Caecus%2C%20a%20stern%20old%20man
•••AND/OR explore the form TG found for us, the wee Elfchen:
•••Elfchen: https://medium.com/@Stevie.TheWritersRevival/creating-an-elfchen-poem-821eadecb2c7
•••See also the bottom of this post for another challenge, this one an Ekphrastic one.
•••And don’t forget each Tuesday Seed of the Week! This week it’s “Shadows on Our Lives”.
____________________
MEDUSA’S FORM FINDER: Links to poetry terms mentioned today:
•••Ars Poetica: www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/ars-poetica
•••Blank Verse: literarydevices.net/blank-verse AND/OR www.masterclass.com/articles/poetry-101-what-is-the-difference-between-blank-verse-and-free-verse#quiz-0
•••Ekphrastic Poem: notesofoak.com/discover-literature/ekphrastic-poetry
•••Elfchen: https://medium.com/@Stevie.TheWritersRevival/creating-an-elfchen-poem-821eadecb2c7
•••Haiku: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/haiku-or-hokku AND/OR www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/haiku/haiku.html
•••Limerick: poets.org/glossary/limerick
•••Prosopopoeia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosopopoeia#:~:text=The%20term%20derives%20from%20the,Caecus%2C%20a%20stern%20old%20man
•••Response Poem: creativetalentsunleashed.com/2015/11/18/writing-tip-response-poems
•••Shadorma: www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/poetic-asides/poets/shadorma-a-highly-addictive-poetic-form-from-spain
•••Sonnet, Alfred Dorn: https://classicalpoets.org/2022/01/obsession-an-alfred-dorn-sonnet-and-other-poetry-by-tamara-beryl-latham/ AND/OR https://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/topic/1056-the-alfred-dorn-sonnet
•••Tanka: poets.org/glossary/tanka
•••Tuesday Seed of the Week: a prompt listed in Medusa’s Kitchen every Tuesday; poems may be any shape or size, form or no form. No deadlines; past ones are listed at http://medusaskitchen.blogspot.com/p/calliopes-closet.html/. Send results to kathykieth#hotmail.com/.
__________________
—Medusa
Today's Ekphrastic Challenge!
Make what you can of today's
picture, and send your poetic results to
kathykieth@hotmail.com/. (No deadline.)
* * *
—Artwork Courtesy of Public Domain
Make what you can of today's
picture, and send your poetic results to
kathykieth@hotmail.com/. (No deadline.)
* * *
—Artwork Courtesy of Public Domain
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!
