Me, Wag

THE BALL POEM
—John Berryman

What is the boy now, who has lost his ball,
What, what is he to do? I saw it go
Merrily bouncing, down the street, and then
Merrily over—there it is in the water!
No use to say "O there are other balls":
An ultimate shaking grief fixes the boy
As he stands rigid, trembling, staring down
All his young days into the harbour where
His ball went. I would not intrude on him,
A dime, another ball, is worthless. Now
He senses first responsibility
In a world of possessions. People will take balls,
Balls will be lost always, little boy,
And no one buys a ball back. Money is external.
He is learning, well behind his desperate eyes,
The epistemology of loss, how to stand up
Knowing what every man must one day know
And most know many days, how to stand up
And gradually light returns to the street,
A whistle blows, the ball is out of sight,
Soon part of me will explore the deep and dark
Floor of the harbour...I am everywhere,
I suffer and move, my mind and my heart move
With all that move me, under the water
Or whistling, I am not a little boy.

________________________

•••Tonight (4/28) at 5 pm. is the deadline for Sacramento News & Reviews’ Student Poetry Contest. Go to www.newsreview.com to enter online.

•••Another deadline is this Sunday, April 30, when The Sacramento Bee's Second Annual Share a Story Children's Book Drive will end. The goal is to collect 60,000 new and "gently used" books for young readers at 75 sites throught the region and to devote them to nonprofit agencies, which will place them in children's homes. Last year, 48,000 books were collected. Books in Spanish, Russian and Hmong languages are also hoped for, in addition to tax-deductible cash donations, and volunteers are needed to help sort the books. The Borders chain is offering a 15% discount on books bought and donated to the drive. For info on donating or volunteering: 916-556-5667 or www.sacbee.com/bookdrive.

Lots going on this weekend, even if you don't go to the Tango festival, the Scottish festival, etc. etc.:

•••Saturday (4/29): The Central California Art Association & Mistlin Art Gallery announce that April is National Poetry Month, and to celebrate this, the Gallery will be featuring poets William O'Daly, Karen Baker, and debee loyd this Saturday at 4 pm on 1015 J St. in downtown Modesto. (Karen Baker and debee loyd are rattlechappers!)

•••Or on Saturday (4/29) from 12-6 pm, go down to the Berkeley Poetry Festival, featuring readers from the Bay Area poetry community: SF Poet Laureate Jack Hirschman, Jack and Adele Foley, Jennifer Stone, Julia Vinograd, Dorothy Jesse Beagle, Louis Cuneo, Lucy L. Day, Tim Donnelly, Randy Fingland, Gail Ford, Haleh Hatami, Dale Jensen, Debra Khattab, Kirk Lumpkin, Maggi H. Meyer, Phillip Nails, Mark Schwartz, Tsahai Under and Judy Wells. North Berkeley Sr. Center Main Auditorium, 1901 Hearst St. (at Martin Luther King Way), Berkeley. Info: 510-981-5190 or mothershen.com. Free; open mic.

•••Also Saturday (4/29): "The Show" presents Butterscotch, Born 2B Poets, and an LSB band jam session, 7-9 pm, Wo-se Community Center, 2863 35th St., Sac. $5. Info: 916-455-7638.

•••Sunday (4/30) Appel Gallery in Sacramento is hosting a reading by "Tree Stories" poets at 7 pm. Appel Gallery is located at 931 T St. Sac., at the corner of 10th & T Sts. Regional poets reading include Joseph Finkleman, Susan Hennies, Rebecca Morrison, Taylor Graham & Brigit Truex. Please join them for this closing celebration of "Tree Stories", a showing of mixed media photographs by Judith Monroe. If you didn't get a chance to see "Tree Stories" yet, this will be a great opportunity to see the images in person. To learn more about the on-going Tree Stories project, see http://www.tree-stories.blogspot.com.

•••Also Sunday (4/30), the Nevada County Poetry Series will continue to celebrate National Poetry Month by holding the last of its open-mic readings at Booktown Books & Tomes. Open-mic readers are invited to submit their poems for possible inclusion in the NCPS 2006 Anthology. The free reading will be held from noon to 3 pm at Booktown Books and Tomes, 107 Bank St. (corner of South Auburn) in Grass Valley. Info: (530) 432-8196 or (530) 272-4655.

•••Also Sunday (4/30), Sutterwriters and It’s A Grind Coffee House have teamed up to bring a public reading of Blood on the Page: Collected Writings of Sutterwriters to the Natomas area. The free reading will be held at 7 pm at the It’s A Grind Coffee House, 2731 Del Paso Rd., Sac. Sutterwriters, a component of the Literature, Arts and Medicine Program (LAMP) of Sutter Medical Center, was originally established in February 2002 with the mission to give patients, health professionals, caregivers (and just about anyone) a safe place to express themselves. During each two-hour session, participants write and respond to each other's creative work. The group is widely diverse with the only common denominator among members is that they have something to write about. Currently there are six Sutterwriter groups operating Monday through Friday. A Sutterwriters group meets every weekday and is open to everyone. Fees, if any, are are minimal. This is not an exclusive club and it's not just for writers. It's a place to come to express yourself in a meaningful way about things you otherwise might not talk about, explains Chip Spann, director of Sutterwriters.

•••Also Sunday (4/30): the 15th Annual Festival de la Familia, a Celebration of Latino Cultures, will be held at Cal Expo from 9 am to 6:30 pm (1600 Exposition Blvd., Sac.). Admission is $6, or free for those over 60 or under 12. Parking is $7. Plenty of programs from all the arts; check out the Spoken Word Poetry of the Natomas School of Performing Arts at 11:15 a.m. in Bldg. B. Info: www.festivaldelafamilia.com.

•••And there's the SPCA Book Sale to honor its 40th Anniversary: more than 10,000 new and used books at Marketplace at Birdcage, next to Longs Drugs in Citrus Heights. Runs through May 7: 10 am-8 pm weekdays and Saturdays, 11-6 Sundays. Watch out, though—they will also have adoptable pets on display! Prepare to be strong, both about the books and the pets...

_______________________

SONNET 115
—John Berryman

All we were going strong last night this time,
the mots were flying & the frozen daiquiris
were downing, supine on the floor lay Lise
listening to Schubert grievous & sublime,
my head was frantic with a following rime:
it was a good evening, an evening to please,
I kissed her in the kitchen—ecstasies—
among so much good we tamped down the crime.

The weather's changing. This morning was cold,
as I made for the grove, without expectation,
some hundred Sonnets in my pocket, old,
to read her if she came. Presently the sun
yellowed the pines & my lady came not
in blue jeans & a sweater. I sat down & wrote.

________________________

DREAM SONG #14
—John Berryman

Life, friends, is boring. We must not say so.
After all, the sky flashes, the great sea years,
we ourselves flash and yearn,
and moreover my mother told me as a boy
(repeatedly) 'Ever to confess you're bored
means you have no

Inner Resources.' I conclude now I have no
inner resources, because I am heavy bored.
Peoples bore me,
literature bores me, especially great literature,
Henry bores me, with his plights & gripes
as bad as achilles,

who loves people and valiant art, which bores me.
And the tranquil hills, & grin, look like a drag
and somehow a dog
has taken itself & its tail considerably away
into mountains or sea or sky, leaving
behind: me, wag.

_______________________

—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.)