DAMNED FOOLS
—Kathy Kieth, Fair Oaks
Spring green along the highway already breaking
my heart: then there he is—that damned fool
cropduster: flipping off gravity and fate and all those
furies that stand and shake their fingers at us: looping
his tiny plane over and under deadly power-
lines, nose nearly straight down, belly-running inches
above the ground, stretching courage every which way
like a rubber band, looping and looping back and forth
over tidy rows: then suddenly lifting his ruby throat
straight up into the blue to dip and soar full throttle
like a hummingbird drunk on rosewater. . . But, well,
the world is full of damned fools, like kids who sneak
into the woods, or strangers who make love on a train,
or me here, scribbling in the dark, trying to fly. . .
_______________________
National Poetry Month. Bill Gainer writes: About National Poetry Month, the Academy of American Poets says, "In 1996, with the help of a variety of government agencies, educators, publishers, sponsors, poets, and arts organizations the Academy of American Poets established April as National Poetry Month. The concept was to create a month-long, national celebration of poetry to increase the attention paid—by individuals and the media—to the art of poetry, to living poets, to our poetic heritage, and to poetry books and magazines. In the end, the Academy hoped to achieve an increase in the visibility, presence, and accessibility of poetry in our culture. National Poetry Month has been successful beyond all anticipation and has grown over the years into the largest literary celebration in the world."
National Poetry Month is about celebrating other people's poetry, but it's also about celebrating your own. I look at every poem as a kind of love-letter, even if it's only to ourselves: we write about our thoughts and feelings and experiences in order to make sense of them, or celebrate them—or maybe just record them. From Day One, the whole Snake enterprise has been meant to funnel those love letters out into the world, from you to yourself or your friends or your colleagues or.... With Medusa on the airwaves, the possibilities are endless!
So send us your poems! Good, bad, cranky, silly, hopeless or hopelessly optimistic. Nobody in the world has had the same life you have had, so tell us about it! The Snakes of Medusa need their daily feeding.
And know that, whatever problems you have with your writing, somebody else commiserates:
TOO EASY: TO WRITE OF MIRACLES
—Denise Levertov
Too easy: to write of miracles, dreams where the famous give
mysterious utterance to silent truth;
to confuse snow with the stars,
simulate a star's fantastic wisdom.
Easy like the willow to lament,
rant in trampled roads where pools
are red with sorrowful fires, and sullen rain
drips from the willows' ornamental leaves;
or die in words and angrily turn
to pace like ghosts about the walls of war.
But difficult when, innocent and cold,
day, a bird over a hill, flies in
—resolving anguish to a strange perspective,
a scene within a marble; returning
the brilliant shower of coloured dreams to dust,
a smell of fireworks lingering by canals
on autumn evenings—difficult to write
of the real image, real hand, the heart
of day or autumn beating steadily:
to speak of human gestures, clarify
all the context of a simple phrase
—the hour, the shadow, the fire,
the loaf on a bare table.
Hard, under the honest sun, to weigh
a word until it balances with love—
burden of happiness on fearful shoulders;
in the ease of daylight to discover
what measure has its music, and achieve
the unhaunted country of the final poem.
________________________
The April Snakebytes just went out, that e-mail compendium of Rattlesnake Press events for the coming month.
And if your own writing is stalled, or if you just want a summer injection of courage and/or brushing up:
WRITING AND KNOWING: A Poetry Workshop with Ellen Bass, Dorianne Laux, and Joseph Millar, August 20-25, 2006, at Esalen, Big Sur, CA. Ellen Bass writes: Welcome to the third annual Writing And Knowing Poetry Workshop with Dorianne Laux, Joe Millar, and me (Ellen Bass). Dorianne and Joe are incredible teachers. Dorianne has been my mentor for many years now and Joe is also a terrific poet and teacher. This is the event I look forward to all year! Please join us if:
*You've hit a plateau in your writing and want to break through to the next level.
*You're just beginning and want to get started with supportive teachers.
*You're an experienced writer and just want a chance to learn more from the best.
*You're in a dry spell, due to lack of inspiration or time.
*You love to write and want a gorgeous, inspiring retreat.
We will write poems, share our writing, and hear what our work touches in others. We'll also read model poems by contemporary poets and discuss aspects of the craft. But mainly this will be a writing retreat— time to explore and create in a supportive community. Though we'll focus on poetry, prose writers who want to enrich their language will find it a fertile environment. Rich, textured, evocative language is the province of all writers, so this workshop will be applicable to writers of fiction and memoir as well.
Lastly, there's Esalen itself. If you've been to Esalen before, you already know it's one of the most magnificent places on the planet. If you haven't, don't postpone it. It's breathtakingly beautiful and deeply nourishing. We'll be having our whole groups meetings in the Big House overlooking the Pacific. We'll also be breaking into smaller groups for individual attention. Participants will have an oportunity to work with all three teachers.
Esalen fees cover tuition, food and lodging and vary according to accommodations—ranging from $475 to $1060. The least expensive rate is for sleeping bag space which can be very comfortable, but it's limited, so you need to sign up for it early. Some work-scholarship assistance is available, as well as small prepayment discounts and senior discounts. All arrangements and registration must be made directly with Esalen. If you have questions about the workshop itself, please email me [mailto:ellen@ellenbass.com] or call me at 831-426-8006. But please register directly with Esalen at 831-667-3005 or visit www.esalen.org.
_______________________
JUST WRITE—
about cannibals and headhunters and circus
clowns, about the red spade leaning against
the barn. Write, even though your pen runs
dry/jams up/spits out big blobs of bluey-
purple ink and the cat won't stay off your lap
and it's 'way past breakfast time. . . Write
about that deer staring against old snow, about
the mole over your mother's left eye, about
brave children never born, chances grabbed
and missed, regrets tossed away like worn-
out party hats. . . Write, write! Don't let
there be space between pen and paper, air
after the periods, blank spots on yellow pads.
Just write.
—Kathy Kieth, Fair Oaks
________________________
—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.)