Laying Hens Are Happy Hens

POULTRY PLAN
—Jeanine Stevens, Sacramento

Laying hens are happy
hens, scratch with grain

twice daily, heavy layers
are big eaters, don’t

waste feed on slackers
remove quitters quickly

watch for roundworms
drafts and droppings

laying hens are happy
hens—no roosters allowed.

(Food For Victory pamphlet, 1943)

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Thanks, Jeanine! Look for Jeanine Steven's rattlechap, The Keeping Room, at The Book Collector.

A free copy of Pearl Stein Selinsky's new rattlechap, Vic & Me, will be coming to Jeanine and to all those other poets who are brave enough to send in "found" poems before Tuesday (1/16)—that's tonight!—at midnight. Found poems are usually a kind of list poem that's generated from unlikely sources such as newspaper articles, catalogs, junk mail—any collection of words that seems to have elements that strike you as somehow poetic, either re-arranged or just as they are. Or it might be something less commercial: a note you found on the ground, or the juxtaposition of two graphitti, or some inadvertant slip of the tongue. Send it/them to kathykieth@hotmail.com or POBx 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726, and see some of last week's posts for more examples.


Los Escritores correction:

•••Saturday, January 20, 7:30 PM: "Raíces Latinas" (Latin Roots): Los Escritores del Nuevo Sol presents Adrián Arias, a Spanish-language poet from San Francisco’s Mission Cultural Center, who is also a graphic artist. More on him at: http://adrian-arias.blogspot.com. Joining Adrián as MC and co-reader will be our member Jim Michael. Cost is $5 or as can be afforded; no one turned away for lack of $. Info: Graciela at 916-456-5323; more info at the website: www.escritoresdelnuevosol.com. [NOTE: Sacramento Poetry Center's Poetry Now listed this reading for Friday, Jan. 19; then the reader called to say he would have to shift it to Saturday. Hence the confusion.]


New Poet's Lane page:

Cynthia Bryant, doyenne of Poet's Lane, writes: I plan on adding a new page, called "That Would Be Telling", where I ask a question and post the answers I receive. First question, How has poetry changed your life? Check it out at www.poetslane.com; write to Cynthia at PoetsLane@comcast.net.


Tonight:

•••Tuesday (1/16), 8:30 PM: Bistro 33 series in Historic City Hall, 226 F St. (3rd & F), Davis. Open mic after.


This just in from Stockton:

David Humphreys writes: Michael Fitzgerald, columnist at the Stockton Record, is taking entries in his tidbit contest, which is what he's calling a prose poem. Count 55 words in the body of the text; don't count your title. Deadline is Weds (1/17), 5:30 PM. Send submissions to michaelf@recordnet.com; best way is to paste into body of message or attach a Word document. Be sure to give your day phone # so he can give the winner an interview and the brass ring; there's a $60 prize!

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WINTER WONDERLAND
—Jeanine Stevens, Sacramento

Sun seeping
piano keys glistening
red skaters spinning on an icy pond

fir trees dancing, their tips cutting
silhouettes in a steel blue sky

a crystal white meadow gleaming
and, snow falling—all, on its own.


(Sheet music, published 1934)

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—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.)