Accuse me not, beseech thee, that I wear
Too calm and sad a face in front of thine,
For we two look two ways, and cannot shine
With the same sunlight on our brow & hair.
Thou lookest, sweet, on me, without a care,
As on a bee shut in a crystalline...
For sorrow hath shut me safe in love's divine,
And to spread wing & fly in the outer air
Were most impossible failure, if I strove
to fail so—But I look on thee...on thee...
Beholding besides love, the end of love,
Hearing oblivion beyond memory...
As one who sits and gazes, from above,
Over the rivers to the bitter sea.
—Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Sonnets from the Portuguese, XV
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200! EBBrowning would've been 200 years old today! Did you know her Sonnets from the Portuguese were originally called Sonnets Translated from the Bosnian?
It's another madcap poetry week in our area; let me know if there's anything else:
•••Tonight, SutterWriters will be reading at Sacramento Poetry Center, Headquarters for the Arts, 25th & R Sts., Sacramento, 7:30 pm. See the last issue of Rattlesnake Review for a conversation between JoAnn Anglin and Chip Spann about his LAMP project at Sutter Cancer Center, where patients have an opportunity to write about their experiences. LAMP will be releasing a book of such writings, called Blood on the Page, this Saturday, March 11 from 5:30-10 pm in the Buhler Building of the Cancer Center, 2800 L St. (First Floor). The evening will feature readings by the authors, as well as the Custom Neon Band. Info: sutterwriters.com. Here is a sample poem from the book (and from the upcoming Snake 9):
BLESSING FOR MY BROTHER
—Jaymee Kjelland, Sacramento
May you always have the love of kind women
And may their arms hold and comfort
The sweet boy in your heart.
May your son and grandson grow in grace
And inherit the wonder that you are.
May you stride into old age
Listening to your different drummer
And let no one shame you from that music,
May you understand your dead parents' remorse
And always remember that they also gave you
Betty, Dorothy, Dan, and me
Who love you without condition.
May the unbearable burden of guilt
That lowers your shoulders and bends your smile
Be released into hell where it belongs.
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•••Frank Taber's new rattlechap, Northwind on I-5, will be premiered at a reading this Wednesday, March 8, at The Book Collector (1008 24th St., Sac.), 7:30 pm. Frank has been involved in Sacramento poetry for years 'n years 'n years; it's time his work be sent out into the larger world in the form of a collection. Also released that night will be the newest Snakelets, the journal of poetry from kids 0-12; and Sacramento poet Judy Halebsky will read from her new littlesnake broadside, Almost Turning Over.
•••Thursday (3/9), you get your choice of Cowboy Poet/Radio Personality/Humorist/Raconteur Baxter Black, presented by California Lecture Series at the Crest Theater, 1013 K St., Sacramento, 7:30 pm (tickets $23). Info: 916-442-7378 or...
•••Poetry Unplugged presents frank andrick, Luna's Cafe, 1414 16th St., Sacramento, 8 pm, free. Info: 916-441-3931. Frank will be handing out his free littlesnake broadside, Aurelia Occultica Lamantia—AOL.
•••Saturday (3/11), Terry Moore reads, signs and celebrates the publication of "SagitTERRYus" and his CD. Underground Books, 2815 35th St., Sacramento, 6 pm, free. With Ray Odon. Info: 916-737-3333. Before that, though, head over to...
•••Patricity's "In Spirit & Truth Poetry Series" features Mario Ellis Hill and Lateka at Queen Sheba's Fine Dining, 1537 Howe Av., Suite 116, Sacramento, 3-5 pm, free. Info: 916-920-1020.
•••Then, that evening at 8 pm (Saturday 3/11), there will be a Special Edition of the Second Saturday Poems-for-All Series, presenting Douglas Blazek, Icon of the 60's mimeo revolution, Poet, Publisher of OLE and Open Skull, and one of the inspirations for the creation of the PFA Series. This reading will be at HQ (25th & R Sts., Sac.) instead of at The Book Collector; go on down and see the display of Poems-For-All chapbooks from the last five years. Info: 916-442-9295.
•••And don't forget the LAMP release party on Saturday; see above for details.
•••Sunday, 3/12, Margaret Ellis Hill (not to be confused with Mario Ellis Hill, above) will be reading with Kathy Kieth at the Poets Corner series in Stockton, Barnes & Noble at Weberstown Mall, Pacific Avenue, 7 pm. Margaret (Peggy) will be handing out her littlesnake broadside from 2005, Exegis of Love, and copies of her book, Close Company, will be on sale as well.
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Unlike are we, unlike, O princely Heart!
Unlike our uses and our destinies.
Our ministering two angels look surprise
On one another, as they strike athwart
Their wings in passing. Thou, bethink thee, art
A quest for queens to social pageantries,
With gages from a hundered brighter eyes
Than tears even can make mine, to play thy part
Of chief musician. What hast thou to do
With looking from the lattice-lights at me,
A poor, tired, wandering singer, singing through
The dark, and leaning up a cypress tree?
The chrism is on thine head,—on mine, the dew,—
And Death must dig the level where these agree.
—Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Sonnets from the Portuguese, III
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Happy Birthday, Ba!
—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.)