The Towe of Poetry (& Po-events 8/28-9/3)

RUNNING AWAY
—Margaret Ellis Hill, Wilton

One time driving home from
the hospital to visit an ill husband,
grocery shopping squeezed between
pumping gasoline, picking up medications,
listening to the imaginary ills of a father,
telephone solicitations, sorting clothes,
arguing with landscapers, backtracking
to pick up a missed paycheck, mail
the first-of-the-month raft of bills,
I thought about running away—
to keep going west until I hit water.
When I realized the water I sought
was 3,000 miles away in California
and no stash of fresh underwear in the car,
I decided that the back yard pool
would probably suffice, and made
a U-turn at the I-80 Texaco Station
after 30 miles. Sometimes,
I wish I hadn't chickened out.

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Coming Up This Week:

•••Tonight (Monday, 8/28), 7:30 PM: Sacramento Poetry Center presents Tupeloetics with Bob Stanley, Edythe Haendel Schwartz, Jim Moose, Connie Gutowsky and William Ludington. SPC/HQ for the Arts, 25th & R Sts., Sac. Info: 451-5569. Free. Open Mic.

•••Want a real job in poetry? Tuesday (8/29), Hallmark writer Jim Howard and artist Eric Brace will share their stories about memorable greeting cards. 6:39 PM (yes, 6:39—that's what it says in yesterday's Sacramento Bee), Java City, 2537 Fair Oaks, Blvd., Sac. Free. Info: 800-565-6617.

•••Wed. (8/30), 10-midnight: Mahogany Poets presents Mics and Moods at Capitol Garage, 1500 K St., Sac. Features and Open Mic; 21 and older. $5. Info: 916-492-9336 or www.malikspeaks.com.

•••If you miss the Hallmark guys, they'll repeat their presentation twice on Weds. (8/30): at 10 AM, they'll be at Bella Bru, 5038 Fair Oaks Blvd., Carmichael, and at 6:30 PM they'll be at the Folsom Public Library, 300 Persifer St., Folsom. See Tues. (above) for info number.

•••Thursday (8/31), 8 PM: Poetry Unplugged presents Michael Gorman and Merlen Tofer, with medieval music by Kira. Open mic before/after. Luna’s Café, 1414 16th St., Sac. Info: 441-3931 or www.lunascafe.com. Free.

•••Also Thurs. (8/31) is the Poets & Writers Calif. Writers Exchange Contest deadline. For complete guidelines and an application, please contact (310) 481-7195 or cainfo@pw.org.

•••Thurs., 8/31, 7 PM: Colored Horse Studio, 780 Waugh Lane in Ukiah, will resume its featured reader series. Featured poet will be Armand Brint, former Ukiah Poet Laureate and author of Schools of Light and The League of Slow Cities. Armand was one of the first featured readers when we began this series at the Emerald Cafe in 1998. For more info: 463-6989, 275-9010, 468-9488 or poetry@coloredhorse.com (all phone numbers are Area Code 707.) Refreshments will be available. Donations are always welcome. They help us keep this series going. We are also grateful to Poets & Writers, Tenacity Press and Colored Horse Studio for helping to keep us afloat.

•••Friday (9/1) is the deadline for Clive Matson's Crazy Child Scribbler. The theme for the autumn edition is Beverages. You may submit pieces that focus on a beverage of your choice. Prose or poems that merely make an interesting reference to a beverage will also be accepted. Please submit each poem (40 lines or less) or prose (500 words or less) as plain text in the body of separate e-mail messages (no attachments) to oceana@oceanasphere.com. Please type "Submission" and the title of the piece in the subject heading of your email message to minimize the chance of your email becoming lost among the spam. Simultaneous submissions are fine. Info: www.oceanasphere.com.

•••And Friday, Sept. 1 will be the last day to see the retrospective of Vic Selinsky's art at the 20th St. Art Gallery, 911 20th St., Sacramento. Gallery hours are Tues. through Sat., 12-5 PM, and by appointment. Info: 916-930-0500.

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Workshop Opportunities:

Maxima Kahn from Grass Valley writes: Labor Day is coming and with it September. Children return to school, and as the dog days of summer begin to wane, we start feeling that urge to get up off the lawn chair or out of the pool and start being creative, productive individuals again. We remember those long deferred dreams we had. What about that idea of getting into a painting show, taking up photography, writing a novel, or just being more inspired and alive? I am offering three classes this Fall to help people realize their creative dreams:

1) The Artist’s Way: Tuesdays 6:30-9 PM, or Wednesdays, 3-5:30 PM (two groups) Sept. 5 or 6 through Dec. 12 or 13. Grass Valley (in a private home) with Maxima Kahn (Grass Valley); $275. Class size is limited. Please pre-register by contacting: Maxima 273-3566 or maxima@infostations.com.

2) Keeping a Journal: Thursdays 10 AM-12 noon, Sept. 14-Oct. 19 at Jason’s Studio Café, Grass Valley, $120. You must pre-register: Maxima 273-3566 or maxima@infostations.com

3) Riding the Dragon: A Poetry Workshop: Mondays 4-6 PM, Sept. 11-Oct. 16 (6 weeks) at Jason's Studio Café, Grass Valley, $90-120 sliding scale. You must pre-register: Maxima 273-3566 or maxima@infostations.com.

Transitions: Conversations Through Poetry:

Alexa Mergen writes: Join us for readings from poets near and far, guided writing of poems, and sharing of thoughts and ideas. 6-Week Series from Sept. 17 to October 22, Sun. mornings, 11 AM-12:30 PM. $45 for the series, or drop-in $10. Pre-register to secure a spot. Brand-new & long-time poets welcome. It’s All Yoga, 2106 11th Ave., Sac., www.itsallyoga.com or 916-444-8488.
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SUZHOU: THE CITY OF SILK
—Don Feliz, Sacramento

Marco Polo called it The Venice of Asia.
Some canals are now paved streets,

others teem with tourist boats.
Children wave at us from balconies—

women on stone steps will wash
clothes in the gray-green water

where boatmen once embarked taking
fine silks to the Emperor in Beijing.

_______________________

IN THE LAND OF GIANTS
—Elsie Feliz, Sacramento

They try to be nice, rattle things in your face,
open their giant jaws, make sounds—and always

those red anxious eyes, staring at you, looking
for signs. Slowly, you begin to make sense of them.

They want things, small trinkets of your life. You
smile or burp and they lapse into long discussion.

When they make noises at you, you grow parrot
feathers, a beak. From your perch you repeat

everything they say. Oh, how it pleases them.
They stomp through the castle, let you play

in the gardens where you grow happy riding
the air with butterflies, but one day, the castle

gates are open. The bridge is lowered over
the moat, and the giants push you across it,

tell you to follow the gray stones for the next
twelve years. You ask, What’s a year? They

snort and laugh, close the gates. We can’t
tell you. Just follow the stones.

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Thanks for the poems, Peggy Hill and Don and Elsie Feliz! Check out Rattlesnake Review #11, coming in September, for more poetry from these Nor-Cal poets.

This Just In From Elsie And Don Feliz:

We have finished editing Free Wheeling #2, the second antholology of the Towe Auto Museum, featuring poetry about cars and other forms of personal transportation. Local poets in this issue include: Beatrice Hogg, Pat Canterbury, Erma Chitty, Margaret E. Hill, Joyce Odam, Dorothy Wake, Linda Rupe, Patricia Wellingham-Jones, Robert Neeley, Mabel Mello, Molly Eichler, and Alexa Mergen. Both Free Wheeling #1 and #2 are available from the museum for $7 a copy, postage and handling included, or you can buy them at the Museum Gift Shop, Towe Auto Museum, 2200 Front St., Sac., CA 95818-1107. For hours, call 916-442-6802. Third Annual Contest deadline is November 10, 2006. Rules available in anthologies and on website: www.toweautomuseum.org.

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—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.)