GACELA OF UNFORESEEN LOVE
—Federico Garcia Lorca
No one understood the perfume
of the dark magnolia of your womb.
No one knew that you tormented
a hummingbird of love between your teeth.
A thousand Persian ponies fell asleep
in the moonlit plaza of your forehead,
while through four nights I embraced
your waist, enemy of the snow.
Between plaster and jasmines, your glance
was a pale branch of seeds.
I sought in my heart to give you
the ivory letters that say always,
always, always: garden of my agony,
your body elusive always,
the blood of your veins in my mouth,
your mouth already lightless for my death.
(translated from the Spanish by W.S. Merwin)
_______________________
GACELA OF THE TERRIBLE PRESENCE
—Federico Garcia Lorca
I want the water reft from its bed,
I want the wind left without valleys.
I want the night left without eyes
and my heart without the flower of gold.
And the oxen to speak with great leaves
and the earthworm to perish of shadow.
And the teeth of the skull to glisten
and the yellows to overflow the silk.
I can see the duel of the wounded night
writhing in battle with noon.
I resist a setting of green venom
and the broken arches where time suffers.
But do not illumine your clear nude
like a black cactus open in the reeds.
Leave me in an anguish of dark planets,
but do not show me your cool waist.
(translated by W.S. Merwin)
_______________________
Check out Thursday!
Lots going on this week, most of it on Thursday:
•••Don't forget that the Monday night Sacramento Poetry Center reading has been moved to Tuesday this week! Members of The Great American Pinup web journal (greatamericanpinup.blogspot.com) will be reading at The Sacramento Poetry Center on TUESDAY, Nov. 28 at 7:30 PM, HQ for the Arts, 1719 25th St., Sacramento. Live (!) members reading will include David Koehn, Shawn Pittard, Victor Schnickelfritz, and Geraldine Kim (winner of the 2005 Fence Books Award). Plus recordings of Matthew Schmeer [Kansas City] and Richard Jeffrey Newman [New York].
•••Tonight (Monday, 11/27), 8 PM: The Moody Blues Poetry Series presents Alta Raye at "A Taste of Laguna", 9080 Laguna Main in Laguna. $5, open mic. Hosted by Ms. LaRue, music by DJ Barney B.
•••Weds. (11/29), 10 PM-midnight: Mics and Moods at Capitol Garage, 1500 K St., Sac. Features and open mic, hosted by Khiry Malik. 21 years of age and older; $5 cover. Info: 916-492-9336 or www.malikspeaks.com.
•••Weds. (11/29), 6 PM: The Hidden Passage poetry series in Placerville, which normally meets on the 4th Wednesday, will shift to November 29 because of Thanksgiving. This is an open mic/read-around; bring your poems or somebody else's. Address is 352 Main St., Placerville.
The big night this week, though, is Thursday, with six of our local heavy-hitters reading—but, unfortunately, not in the same place!
•••8 PM: Poetry Unplugged at Luna's Cafe (1414 16th St., Sac) presents Bill Gainer, Ann Menebroker and Neeli Cherkovski.
•••7 PM: Hidden Passage Bookstore, 352 Main St., Placerville, presents Taylor Graham, reading from her award-winning book, The Downstairs Dance Floor.
•••6-8 PM: The Sacramento Poetry Center's Annual Fall fundraiser features a silent auction, raffle, food, music by Mary Zeppa and Bob Stanley, and poetry by Carol and Laverne Frith. That's $25 in advance or at the door; RSVP Sandra at 916-979-9706 or poetrynow@sacramentopoetrycenter.org. The event will be held at the home of Mimi and Burnett Miller, 1224 40th St., Sac.
•••And if that's not enough, Thursday (11/30), 8-11 PM: Vibe Sessions presents Chas from LA Slam at Cobbler Inn, 3520 Stockton Blvd. (next to Colonial Theater), Sac. $5, hosted by Flo-Real. Open Mic for comedians, singers, poets.
•••Then Sunday (12/3), 6 PM: PoemSpirits will present Albert Garcia & Skunk Talk. December may bring mixed feelings of home and family. Our featured poet Albert Garcia—like Merwin, Hall and Williams—writes on ‘ordinary wonders’ of work, family and rural life with, as Gary Short wrote, “love, complexity, sadness and celebration.” Published in many literary journals, and in U.S. Poet Laureate [and UU] Ted Kooser’s American Life in Poetry column, Albert lives in Wilton, has taught English for 17 years and is Dean of the Language and Literature Division, Sacramento City College. We have invited him to bring his books, Rainshadow and Skunk Talk, to sell. Also, Nora Laila Staklis will present a brief overview of poet and essayist Carolyn Forche, famous for her anthology, Against Forgetting: Twentieth-Century Poetry of Witness, on poetic remembering of events of trauma and tragedy. Free. Location: Location: Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento, 2425 Sierra Blvd., 2 blocks north of Fair Oaks Blvd, between Howe and Fulton Avenues; the UUSS Foyer/Lounge. Snacks available. Info: Tom Goff or Nora Staklis, 916-481-3312, or JoAnn Anglin, 916-451-1372. Open mic; All are invited to bring a poem of your own or another’s to read.
________________________
—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.)