THE DANGERS OF THE NIGHT
—Miroslav Holub
Bedroom; a double bed; ceiling; bedside table; radio.
And outside darkness propped up by the trees
beneath which a dark blue jaguar is prowling.
The walls part and the double helix
of oneness
pervades the shadowy breathing of the roof.
Perhaps a galaxy. But more probably
the whites of eyes giving a hint of wind.
The enemy is approaching: the black image,
the image of oneself
in the mirror, sleep. His hands
are growing and his fingertips are
touching.
Resist. For in the morning,
in the naive light of songbirds' brains,
he that wakes will be
someone else.
(translated from the Czech by Ewald Osers)
_______________________
THE GARDEN OF OLD PEOPLE
—Miroslav Holub
Malignant growth of ivy.
And unkempt grass,
it makes no difference now.
Under the trees, the invasion
of the fruit-bearing Gothic.
Darkness set in, mythological
and toothless.
But Minotaurus beat it
through a hole in the fence.
Somewhere, Icaruses
got stuck in webs.
On a bright early morning
the bushes reveal
the unabashedly gray, impudent
front bone of fact.
Gaping without a word.
(translated from the Czech by Stuart Friebert and Dana Habova)
________________________
Bin Ramke at CSUS:
The Sac State Creative Writing Program in conjunction with the Sac State Visiting Scholars Program and Poets & Writers, Inc. presents a lecture & poetry reading by Bin Ramke on Wednesday, October 18 at 7 PM in the CSUS Library Gallery (first floor). Professor Ramke will deliver a talk and then give a poetry reading. The subject for his talk is Poetry and Proof: The Problem of the Practical. “Poetry shares with mathematics—not so much computing, or engineering, or science as such, but so-called "pure" mathematics —a troublesome relationship to ‘practicality.’ At various times poetry has been defined as the impractical, the concern for language as other than utilitarian. The same can be said for some aspects of mathematics. And both deal with a certain irony—that in pursuing purity, both poets and mathematicians have found their work being put to use, sometimes to crucial and immensely practical uses.” This event is supported by Poets & Writers, Inc. through a grant it has received from the James Irvine Foundation. Free and open to the public.
Bin Ramke, Phipps Chair in English at the University of Denver and editor of the Denver Quarterly since 1994, got his Ph.D. from Ohio University in 1975. Ramke received the Yale Younger Poets Award in 1978 and the Iowa Poetry Award in 1994 and 1998. He’s been a visiting writer at institutions including the Chicago Art Institute, Wichita State University, and the University of Georgia. As poetry editor for University of Georgia Press, he’s edited twenty-one volumes by such poets as Jonathan Holden, Paul Hoover, Claudia Keelan, Donald Revell, Terese Svoboda, and C. D. Wright, and published nine volumes of his own poetry, including the upcoming Birds Fly Through Us, due in 2007. Counting only recent appearances, he has lectured and read, as well as conducted workshops, at Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Iowa, University of Georgia, Naropa Institute, Georgetown University, Harvard, the Bucknell Seminar for Younger Poets, and the Associated Writing Programs, among many others.
Writer Advice:
Lynn Good writes: Here's a special writing opportunity: You are invited to submit your answer to a writing question found on the Home Page of Writer Advice, www.writeradvice.com. Look for the red box towards the top. Share your experience and earn another credit for your writing resume. Please send your writing to Lgood67334@comcast.net.
Announcement: The October-November issue is up. Melanie Gideon talks about craft, process, and YA novels in this month’s interview. In addition, you’ll find something new under almost every button. Read new reviews and advice. Read additional short prose from the Flash Fiction Contest winners as well as new poetry from Poet’s Lane subscribers. Check out new submissions opportunities.
If you are a professional writer, you’ll find an additional opportunity for listed on the Writing Advice page. Visit www.writeradvice.com (cut and paste), for this issue’s look into the world of writing.
Chico Artoberfest:
For the first time in its 12-year history, the Window Art Project of Chico incorporates poetry. Downtown businesses invite artists in all genres to display their work in windows available to the public for the full month of October. Skyway Poets, a critique group which also holds occasional readings, has mounted poems at the Chamber of Commerce, 300 Salem Street (opposite the parking garage); phone 530-891-5556. Participating poets are Ann Doro, Renee Goularte, Lara Gularte, Joy Harold Helsing, Sally Allen McNall, Sylvia Rosen, Audrey C. Small and Patricia Wellingham-Jones. Check out other artistic activities during the month-long Artoberfest celebration at http://www.artoberfest.org, including the Skyway Poets’ public reading to launch their new anthology, Skyways, (PWJ Publishing, www.wellinghamjones.com) at noon on Saturday, October 14 in Diamond Alley between 3rd and 4th Streets downtown. Everybody is welcome!
_______________________
THE SUFFERING OF SPIDERS
—Rhony Bhopla, Sacramento
They waddle into our homes
grown to black and tangly proportions
delicately treading over
linoleum
and the tidied carpet
creeping into little valleys
Little boy cries out
kill it! kill it!
watch with decrepid pain
the anguish of the spider
unharmed, yet daunted by
innocence
waiting in
its path
suffering continues
the spider is surveyed, legs
lame from walking instinctually
waiting for webbed insects
and the
escape from the reverberating
sounds of the screeching boy
the boy shouts it, we do it
kill it! kill it!
dead is the spider,
something less than what it was before
we wash our hands
think that the innocent cheering
was something we liked, but
didn’t quite understand
until the boy becomes dull and silent.
________________________
THE MOTH
—Miroslav Holub
The moth
having left its pupa
in the galaxy of flour grains
and pots of rancid
drippings,
the moth
discovers in this
topical darkness
that it's a kind of butterfly
but
it can't believe it,
it can't believe it,
it can't believe that it's a tiny,
flying, relatively
free moth
and it wants to go back,
but there's no way.
Freedom makes
the moth tremble
forever, that is,
twenty-two hours.
(translated from the Czech by David Young and Dana Habova)
_______________________
—Medusa
Medusa encourages poets of all ilk and ages to send their poetry, photos and art, 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.)