Katy Brown, Once Upon a Time
one hand clapping
—Katy Brown, Davis
sound of a shingle on a fallen roof
color of a gasp in darkness
texture of a widow’s love
scent of loneliness
strand of days without laughter
lock of hair in a browning envelope
dying willow in the side yard
a single candle guttering in the window
the past folds into the present
delays the future
transforms itself into a brighter past
into a kinder reality where
the cedar shingle on the mended roof
protected rooms where people laughed
where people never fought and made-up
where there was enough time to fill forever
_______________________
THE ABBEY REMAINS
—Katy Brown
Prayers simmered in the cauldron of faith,
served with evening soup in the
damp kitchen of an abbey . . .
nuns skimmed the cloisters,
fingers working worn rosary beads
contemplating redemption . . .
winter seeped under the doors,
frosted the grass and killed
duck weed and roses alike . . .
Aves echo even now,
drifting toward heaven
in arches of the vaulted ceiling . . .
as always, the abbey collects
light and shadow,
spirit and dust.
—Katy Brown, Davis
sound of a shingle on a fallen roof
color of a gasp in darkness
texture of a widow’s love
scent of loneliness
strand of days without laughter
lock of hair in a browning envelope
dying willow in the side yard
a single candle guttering in the window
the past folds into the present
delays the future
transforms itself into a brighter past
into a kinder reality where
the cedar shingle on the mended roof
protected rooms where people laughed
where people never fought and made-up
where there was enough time to fill forever
_______________________
THE ABBEY REMAINS
—Katy Brown
Prayers simmered in the cauldron of faith,
served with evening soup in the
damp kitchen of an abbey . . .
nuns skimmed the cloisters,
fingers working worn rosary beads
contemplating redemption . . .
winter seeped under the doors,
frosted the grass and killed
duck weed and roses alike . . .
Aves echo even now,
drifting toward heaven
in arches of the vaulted ceiling . . .
as always, the abbey collects
light and shadow,
spirit and dust.
Katy Brown is a third-generation Californian whose maternal grandmother was born in Trinity County in the 1800’s. Her paternal grandmother was born in Bohemia, also in the 1800s, and landed in New York before Ellis Island was established. Katy spent her childhood around the mountains of the Lassen Forest and knows how to catch a lizard with a blade of grass. Her hearing loss during her childhood interfered with learning to spell. The admonition to “sound it out” was not helpful; and to this day, she remains a most creative spelar.
Katy began taking pictures for the high school newspaper and yearbook and was the chief photographer on the 4-day-a-week college paper. She won an honorable mention in the national Eastman Kodak/Scholastic Magazine contest when she was a senior in high school. Alfred Eisenstaedt, the venerable photographer from Life Magazine, reviewed some of her pictures and told her, "You have a good eye. Very promising."
Katy Brown is now a Supervisor of Social Workers in Adult Protective Services in Sacramento. A SpiralChap of her photography and poetry, The Quality of Light, was published in 2004 by Rattlesnake Press. She has won awards in The Ina Coolbrith Circle, The Berkeley Poets Dinner, and California Federation of Chaparral Poets, Inc. competitions. She has had poems in Brevities, Song of the San Joaquin, Harpstrings, and Rattlesnake Review. Her workbook, Poetry Potions, was used in schools for nearly twenty years and is being re-introduced in a digital format. Her other writing credits include automobile humor, greeting cards, a multiple-ending book, and a series of short mysteries for young readers. She is also a regular columnist and photographer for Rattlesnake Review.
Katy Brown with California Federation of Chapparal PoetsGolden Pegasus Award, 2005
(Photo supplied by Lou Foley. Sorry, Katy, but Lou
sent it to me, so I just HAD to use it!)
Rayne and Rajah
_____________________________
shy tracks
circle closer in the snow.
under mountain lilacs
a fox.
—Katy Brown
_______________________
THE STONE CARVER'S WIFE
—Katy Brown
She loves him still,
with the sweet compassion
he first saw when he met her.
Downward-cast eyes
avoid the praise he
gives her every day.
Her smile,
caught in time,
plays behind her lips.
If the stone were not
so blackened and cold
you could see her blush.
Tender guardian
above the door,
the stone carver’s wife —
Mary.
______________________
Thanks, Katy!
In other news today, Santa Rosa highschooler Karen Hong will represent California next month (Apr. 30-May 1) in the national Poetry Out Loud finals in Washington, D.C., and Sacramento County's Kristi Avila of Elk Grove H.S. was named runner-up. Hong won $200; her school will receive $500 for poetry books. The national champion will win a $20,000 scholarship. Last year's state winner, Ken Huffman, was also from Elk Grove H.S.!
And Kel Munger of Sacramento News & Review announces in this week's issue that a poem originally published in SN&R, "The Home of the Brave" by UC Davis Professor Joe Wenderoth, was chosen by guest editor Heather McHugh to be included in The Best American Poetry 2007, the annual anthology which will be published by Scribner in Sept. of this year. Check out Kel's article about it on page 15 of this SN&R, and send her poems for her weekly Poet's Corner (1015 20th St., Sac., 95814). Newspapers that print poetry on a regular basis are to be heartily applauded, and thanks to Kel (a fine poet herself) for keeping her Corner going.
_______________________
—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 (or snail ‘em to P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726) 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.)