(photo by Marie Riepenhoff-Talty, Sacramento)
WHAT DOES MY SHADOW TELL ME
—Marie Riepenhoff-Talty, Sacramento
My shadow is big-bodied with a small head.
That could be my seventy-one years—
if I did not know trillions of strands
of messenger RNA had been produced
by that brain in that head and seventy-one
years is insufficient to degrade it all:
the children; the husbands; the worry, the jokes;
the digestion; all that food and the diets;
the beauty; the dancing; breast cancer;
the colds; the healing; the fights and the poems.
It should be larger; huge; gigantic.
So what is my shadow trying to tell me?
Carry on.
_______________________
Thanks, Marie! Marie Riepenhoff-Talty's poem has given me the idea for a new give-away: send me your poetry about shadows before midnight on Monday, Feb. 13, and I'll send you a surprise poetry present. E-mail to kathykieth@hotmail.com, or snail to P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726. Winter is the season of long shadows, after all. Here—I'll throw my own hat into the ring:
LONG SHADOWS OF A WINTER'S DAY
reach across a country road: slim
fingers of a dead oak point south
toward warmer days. The storm
has left skeletons of paper and plastic
crucified on fences: ghosts of many
colors splayed on the wire: loose ends
struggling to break free. Fallen branches
force our car away from straight as we
weave around them toward the low
globe in the sky. Still, December sun
turns a cold shoulder even at mid-day:
flat and brassy, she conjures clouds
of many colors around her feet, sly
prestidigitation for her passing
show. But she has no staying power,
and before our car can make it home,
dark fingers of shadow have reached
clear across the road, stretching
for signs of spring . . .
—Kathy Kieth, Pollock Pines
_______________________
This week's calendar:
•••Tonight (Monday, 2/5), 7:30 PM: The Other Voice in Davis presents Tim Bellows and rattlechapper Shawn Pittard reading their poetry at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis, 27074 Patwin Road, Davis. There will be an open reading following the poets. This is a free event. James Lee Jobe will host. Call 530-750-3514 for details. Please check out http://uupoetry.blogspot.com for bios, sample poems, directions, and a map. [See Medusa's post last Weds. for more about Shawn.]
•••Also tonight, 7:30 PM: Sacramento Poetry Center presents Judy Halebsky and Theresa McCourt at HQ for the Arts, 25th & R Sts., Sacramento. Open mic; free. [See last Saturday's post for poems from these two poets.] Next Monday (2/13), attend the SPC Board meeting at 5:45 PM, then go to the Valentine’s Day reading (An Evening of Poetry Lovers) at 7:30 PM, hosted by Indigo Moor. Hear readings by notable poetic couples: Nora Staklis & Tom Goff; Christina & Art Mantecon; Erik & Terryl; Laverne & Carol Frith and more! Come and read with (or to) your poetic soulmate!
•••Thursday (2/8), 8pm: Poetry Unplugged at Luna’s Cafe, 1414 16th St. Sac. Hosted by Geoffrey Neill. Open mic before/after. Free. Info: 916-441-3931 or www.lunascafe.com.
•••Also Thurs. (2/8), 8-11 PM: Vibe Sessions at the Cobbler Inn, 3520 Stockton Blvd, Sac. (next to Colonial Theater). Hosted by Flo Real. All ages. $5. Open Mic.
•••Fri. (2/9), 7:30 PM: All are invited to warm up to Valentine’s Day! Writers of the New Sun/Escritores del Nuevo Sol are sponsoring “Even Educated Fleas Do It!” An annual evening of Poetry, Fun and Chocolate featuring Art Mantecon & Christina Hayes Mantecon at La Raza Galeria Posada, 1024 22nd St, Midtown Sac. Cost: $5 or as you can afford. Visual Arts Exhibit: “What is This Thing called Amor?” Info contact: Graciela Ramirez 916-456-5323 or www.escritoresdelnuevosol.com
•••Sat. (2/10), 2 PM: Song of the San Joaquin, a Modesto-based poetry quarterly, will hold the reading of the Winter Issue at the McHenry Museum, 1302 "I" Street, Modesto. Admittance is free and light refreshments will be served. Poets will read their own works from the publication. More information: Cleo Griffith cleor36@yahoo.com or 209-543-1776.
•••Sat. (2/10), 3-5 PM: Patricity’s “In Spirit & Truth Series” at 61 Yuence Smoked BBQ & Grill, 9657 Folsom Blvd. Sac. (off Bradshaw). Features plus Open Mic. Free. Info: 916-361-2014.
Wow! Look at next Sunday!!! All this for you to choose from:
•••5 PM: Poetry Reading for Peace, featuring Jose Montoya and Julia Connor. The Book Collector, 1008 24th St. Sac. Hosted by James Lee Jobe. Open mic Follows. Free. Info: Richard@poems-for-all.com
•••7:00 PM: Poets Corner Presents Roger Naylor & Steven Wilson @ Barnes & Noble, Stockton Weberstown Mall, Stockton. Free; open mic. David Humphreys hosts.
•••2:30-4:30 PM: Poets on the Ridge Poetry Reading (Open mic) at Juice & Java, 7067 Skyway, Paradise. Info: 530-872-9633.
•••2-5 PM: Billed as "Between the Sheets," a romantic poetry and prose reading at the Leger Hotel in Mokelumne Hill on Sunday, Feb. 11, poets, authors, and the public will entertain us and those special someones for the Valentine week coming up in February. Included will be featured poets and writers involved with Manzanita who have prepared some sensual and romantic poetry and prose for a delicious, sizzling afternoon. Generous open mic time will be provided for the public to read and share favorite love poems, love notes, and nuptial poems—original fare or those by favorite authors. Humorous, sexy, rollicking, serious, heartfelt, sensual poetry and prose will be solicited and shared. David Sackman will accompany writers on stand-up bass for sultry rhythms. Benefit entrance: $5.00 per person. Additional: $15.00-25.00 range for a special Valentine menu from 5:00 on following the event, prepared by the talented Leger Hotel chef. Bonus highlights: creative and fun sensations available from a chocolate confectioner, winery samplings, samples from other vendors, and an afternoon love fest of words. There will be author book signings and chat time during the break. Event hosted by Writers Unlimited (publishers of Manzanita), an affiliate of the Calaveras County Arts Council, and the Leger Hotel. For inquiries and reading reservations, e-mail mrosemanza@jps.net or phone: (209) 754-0577. Open mic signups via e-mail or phone are best to guarantee optimum mic time. Antoinette May will be reading some pleasureable excerpts from her new book, Pilate's Wife.
•••4 PM: Joyce Odam and Kathy Kieth will be reading in Crockett at the Valona Deli Second Sunday Poetry Reading, 1323 Pomona St., Crockett. Open mic follows; come for poetry, stay for jazz from the Terry Henry Trio. Info: David Alpaugh, 925-682-0457. [See yesterday's post for a lovely picture of Joyce!]
________________________
RED SKY AT NIGHT
—David Anderson, Lincoln
A red aurora borealis
hung over Whitney's hill
above the fruiting orange trees.
Strange to see it fill
the north sky at this mid-latitude
in an unseasonal chill.
The radiance did not pulse.
It entwined the night, stock-still,
an insubstantial phosphorescence
strung among the sails
of row after row of bent light,
the lower edges of tall red veils.
It stopped the scudding waves
across low atmospheres,
drenched the air with unheard music
and filled the sky's weirs.
Our eyes were confounded with ruddy light.
Our bare arms and legs, chilled.
Orange blossoms suffused the air,
left us light and glory-filled.
________________________
—Medusa
Medusa encourages poets of all ilk and ages to send their POETRY, PHOTOS and ART, as well as 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.)