ON THE STAIRS
—C.P. Cavafy
As I was going down the infamous stairway,
you were coming through the door, and for a moment
I saw your unfamiliar face and you saw me.
Then I hid so you would not see me again, and you
passed by quickly hiding your face,
and you dove into the infamous house
where you couldn't have found pleasure, as I didn't find it.
And yet, the love you wanted, I had it to give you;
the love I wanted—your eyes told it to me
your tired and distrustful eyes—you had it to give me.
Our bodies sensed and sought each other;
our blood and our skin understood.
But the two of us hid disturbed.
_______________________
AT THE THEATER
—C.P. Cavafy
I was bored looking at the stage,
and I lifted my eyes to the loges
and I saw you in a loge
with your strange beauty, your dissolute youth.
And at once there came back to my mind
all they had told me about you in the afternoon,
and my mind and body were moved.
And while fascinated I gazed
at your tired beauty, your tired youth,
your tastefully selected clothes,
I imagined you and depicted you,
the way they spoke to me of you that afternoon.
_______________________
News from Poet's Lane:
Cynthia Bryant, Pleasanton Poet Laureate, writes: Poet’s Lane needs your poems for December! Anyone, any age, anywhere may submit poetry to PoetsLane@comcast.net to be posted on www.poetslane.com. The four themes are: Pagans, Zealots, Dark Times and Gifts. If you don’t have a poem with those themes and just need to get something off your chest with a poem, send that as well, but state that it is for the Get if Off Your Chest page at www.poetslane.com. And check out Poet’s Lane (www.poetslane.com) Radio Show page and listen to the new interview with Calgarian poet with Iraqi ancestry, Zaid Shlah.
Pleasanton will host its sixth annual Prose, Arts and Poetry Festival again this year, this time on March 31. More about that later.
Tonight:
•••Weds. (12/6), 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. (12/6), 7 PM: I Began To Speak, a movie of the history of poetry in the City of Sacramento c. 1960 to 2006, features some 41 area poets who tell the story of the evolution of a single poetry community in their own voices. Produced, written and directed by Sacramento's B.L. Kennedy, with Linda Thorell as Director of Photography, Editing and Design, and funded in part by an ArtScapes Grant from the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission, this unique film will premier at the legendary Crest Theatre in the heart of downtown Sacramento. Advance tickets now on sale at the Crest, 1013 K St., Sac., 916-442-5189 or sid@thecrest.com. Tickets are $10, and can also be purchased via ticket agencies like www.tickets.com—though you save on fees if you buy them directly from the Crest.
_______________________
JANUARY 1904
—C.P. Cavafy
Ah, the nights of this January,
when I sit and recreate those moments
in my mind and I meet you,
and I hear our last words and I also hear the first.
Despairing nights of this January,
when the vision vanishes and leaves me bereft.
How it vanishes and quickly dissolves—
gone are the trees, gone the streets, gone the houses, gone the lights;
your amorous face fades and is lost.
________________________
BOUQUETS
—C.P. Cavafy
Absinthe, datura and bean plant,
aconite, hellebore anhd hemlock—
all the bitters and the poisons—
will donate their leaves and horrible flowers
to make up the large bouquets
that will be placed upon the bright altar—
ah, the splendid altar of Malachite stone—
of the horrible and very lovely Passion.
_______________________
FROM THE DRAWER
—C.P. Cavafy
I was planning to place it on a wall in my room
But the dampness of the drawer damaged it.
I will not frame this photograph.
I should have guarded it more carefully.
Those lips, that face—
ah, if only their past would return
for one day, for one hour.
I will not frame this photograph.
I will endure looking at it damaged as it is.
On the other hand, even if it were not damaged
it would annoy me to be careful lest some word,
some accent in the voice betray—
should anyone ever ask me about it.
(Today's poetry was translated from the Greek by Rae Dalven.)
_______________________
—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.)