WHAT A TEACHER KNOWS
—Joyce Koff, Los Angeles
I can see who is loved
by the walk
the way a mouth moves
the way the hands pick the paper up
the way the eyes gleam when new ideas come
the way the legs dance across the floor
I can tell when a mother is not there
the way a mouth yawns
the way the paper lays on the desk
the way the eyes hide when I come near
the way the legs trudge to the pencil sharpener
the way the pencil never gets sharpened enough
__________________
Thanks, Joyce! Joyce is a poet and teacher of poetry who regularly sends big stacks of poems from her elementary school students, which can be seen in most issues of Snakelets. Look for more of them in the upcoming issue, due out later this month. And watch for more of Joyce's own poetry in Snake 9—deadline for which is February 15 (that's one week from tomorrow!).
There's a lot to be said for getting out of town to concentrate on your writing, even for just a couple of days. The current Poetry Workshop With Ellen Bass in Santa Cruz has a new date: February 25-26. Ms. Bass writes: In this workshop we will allow ourselves to extend our roots deeply into the mud of our experience in order to give voice to our poems. This is an opportunity to meet the poems that gestate within us and to engage our greatest resources—attention, courage, precision—in bringing them into being. We will strive for language that is accurate, fresh, and interesting in itself and we will work to create poems whose form, rhythm, language, and meaning work as an effective whole. This is a workshop for poets who are ready to work to find the exact word, the right line, the exciting and memorable image. It's for poets who want to discover their truths and are willing to strive to convey their impact. Participants will write three new poems during the weekend. The workshop is sponsored by University of California Extension and will be held at Pacific Garden Mall, Santa Cruz. You may register directly with UCSC Extension by calling 800-660-8639 or enroll on-line: www.ucsc-extension.edu. Call Ellen at 831-426-8006 with any questions or email ellen@ellenbass.com. If you're coming from out of town and need housing while in Santa Cruz, there are a number of students willing to house a visiting writer for a very reasonable fee. Ms. Bass’s assistant, Shalom, can help you with this if you email her at victors75@rattlebrain.com.
Closer to home, the Fifth Annual Poetry, Prose & Arts Festival will be held in Pleasanton on April 1. They also sponsor a poetry contest for attendees (deadline March 4, which is also the end of early registration—$75, vs. $90 after that). The day features many workshops for youth and adults, and Billy Collins will hold a "one-hour conversation" with attendees during the afternoon. He will also speak at the banquet (from 5-7 pm), tickets for which are available to the public (as I understand it) for $25. There are some brochures available at The Book Collector or from me, and the sponsors have also arranged for discounted ($54, including tax!) hotel reservations. Further info: www.PleasantonArts.org, or contact Pleasanton Poet Laureate Cynthia Bryant (you know, the Poet's Lane Literary List lady): www.poetslane.com.
PLAYING WITH MY FOUR-YEAR-OLD FRIEND
—Joyce Koff, Los Angeles
Chris and I play
and I become four
and he says "never ever"
to eveything
and I repeat "never ever"
"stop copying me" he says
"never ever"
and the game continues
he kicks his foot up in the air
like a karate champ
and looks in the mirror to see
his tough image
he's ready to control the world
with his small fists
and scare the dark monsters
and scare me when he talks about them
his eyes get big
and his voice gets loud
and I keep repeating "never ever"
to his "never ever"
and he continues "stop copying me"
and then it's time to leave
and with a voice smooth
and soft as a baby's
he says pointing to my husband
"are you going to kiss him when you get home"
______________________
—Medusa
Medusa encourages poets of all ilk and ages to send their poetry and announcements of Northern California poetry events to kathykieth@hotmail.com for posting on this daily Snake blog. Rights remain with the poets. Previously-published poems are okay for Medusa’s Kitchen, as long as you own the rights. (Please cite publication.)