Onna Roll!

GONE
—Dawn M. DiBartolo, Sacramento

My sunglasses
Got up and walked away,
Took the sun along for spite.
I asked the dog about it,
But she maintains her innocence,
Her blameless eyes
Designed to gain my trust.
The kids swear upon
Their school grades
That they played no part
In the disappearance,
And the husband
Has no clue
That the sun has
Even shone recently.
I suppose if the sun
Had any intention
On breaking thru the clouds,
My glasses wouldn't have left me.
They are not misplaced,
But simply gone,
And I'll have to replace them,
Should the sun see fit to return.

________________________

Thanks, Dawn! Dawn DiBartolo is a local gal who sent me her poems, thank ewe thank ewe. Her first book of poems, Love & Other Eternities, is now available at The Book Collector.

Another local—this time B.L. Kennedy, who will be releasing a rattlechap (Setich Manor Poems) in June. Here's a sample:

Someone ripped-up the washing machine
Took the lid right off the damn thing

Kerry who lives in apartment #10
With her daughter

Didn't hear a peep
Crawdad in Apartment #5 agrees

Not a sound
Most of the other residents

Think it may have been this guy Richard
Because Paul gave him a key

To the washer room to crash
When loaded or too fucked-up

To travel anywhere but inside
His own screwed-up psyche

Mrs. Setich says we'll have to wait
For another machine

Maybe two or three months or
Until she hears from Paul who
Has the flu (again)

__________________________

B.L. will be reading for Poetry Unplugged at Luna's Cafe tonight, 1414 16th St., Sac., 8 pm.

Sign up early for the Luis Rodriguez Writing Workshop on the River, to be held Saturday, May 20 from 8:30-4 pm at the Sierra Health Foundation, 1321 Garden Hwy, Sac. Luis J. Rodriguez, a writer with ten nationally published books in memoir, fiction, nonfiction, children’s literature and poetry who has worked for 30 years with youth, prisoners, juvenile offenders, the homeless, men’s groups and artists. He has started a number of prominent organizations, including Chicago’s Guild Complex, one of the largest literary arts organizations in the Midwest, and the publishing house of Tia Chucha Press, and he is a highly sought-after workshop leader. Please sign up early by phone (916-454-6802) or e-mail (spannc@sutterhealth.org); space is limited. $100 includes lunch; your check for the full amount will hold your space. Sponsored by Sutter’s LAMP. More info: www.sutterwriters.com.

Sutter's LAMP is contributing a great deal to the Sac poetry scene these days. Also coming in May is a reading by Jane Hirshfield (May 4) at the Sutter Cancer Center, 2800 L St., Sac, 7 pm, and a joint reading by Jose Montoya and Luis J. Rodriquez on May 19 (same place, same time).

NorCal writers are still thinking about the weather. Well, sort of:


THE GIRLFRIEND
—Todd Cirillo, Grass Valley

Twenty
blonde
small frame
tiny breasts
not much shirt
blue eyes

She sits at the bar
looking beyond the hour hand
paints her toenails
every few days
shows her
flat milky belly
each night.

Fingers tracing
thin
barely noticeable lines
from the top of her
well shaped hipbone
on down
scars of birth and baby.
She cries when it rains.

In 1967
she would be fierce
& free
roaming the country
wearing flowers
perfectly.

She sips her drinks
softly
sometimes
feels good
dates the bartender
and remembers
she is somebody
even when it rains.

_______________________

Thanks, Todd! Todd's new rattlechap, Everybody Knows the Dice are Loaded, will be released on MAY 10.

Keep those pomes a-comin'! We're on a roll!!

—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.)