APRIL STORM, RAVEN
—Taylor Graham, Somerset
Outside my window the incense cedar
stands dark against the gray
of almost dawn. The black oak’s
leafing out at last, but it clings
to a few dull-brown autumn leaves,
ideas that outgrew themselves.
Ponderosas lean and bend
and let their needles loose to flay
and tingle in the winds that come
from all directions;
they let their limbs go
the way a wishful sleeper might,
giving up each muscle in turn.
I love this time of morning
when dark gives up to such faint
light — gray silk on which the dark
of a raven dips, wavers, rolls
on the wind’s waves.
How can I learn to live this way?
(A version of this poem originally appeared in Blue Print)
____________________
Thanks, TG! Taylor Graham noticed all the ravens that have been flying through Medusa lately.
This week in NorCal poetry:
•••Finish up National Poetry Month with a look at future writers: Tonight (4/30) at 7:30 PM, Sacramento Poetry Center presents Jeff Knorr's Sacramento City College Creative Writing Class reading at HQ for the Arts, 25th & R Sts., Sacramento. Free; open mic after. Next week will feature David Mercer's American River College writing students. To continue the creative writing theme:
•••Tuesday (5/1), 7 PM: The UC Davis Creative Writing Program Reading Series presents poet Ben Lerner. Lerner's first book, The Lichtenberg Figures, was named one of the best books of poetry published in 2004 by Library Journal. His second book, Angle of Yaw, was a finalist for the National Book Award. Angle of Yaw is described (by Copper Canyon Press) as: “An extended meditation on the commercialization of public space and speech. Combining philosophical insight with poetic experiment, political outrage with personal experience, Lerner’s prose poems and lyrical sequences examine how technologies of viewing—aerial photography in particular—replace God with a camera and feed our spectacular culture an image of itself.” A former Fulbright Scholar in Spain, Lerner co-founded and co-edits No: a Journal of the Arts. The reading will be held at 126 Voorhies Hall, 1st & A Streets, Davis.
•••Thursday (5/3), 8 PM: Poetry Unplugged at Luna's Cafe, 1414 16th St., Sacramento. Open mic before and after.
•••Friday (5/4), 7:30 PM: Los Escritores del Nuevo Sol / Writers of the New Sun presents An Evening of Short Stories: Tellers & Tales. Some people believe that the ability to tell stories is the defining characteristic of humans. Presenting writers will include Juan Carrillo, Dr. Fausto Avendano, Minerva Daniel, Graciela B. Ramirez, and more to be announced later. All are invited. La Raza Galeria Posada, 1022-1024 22nd St., Sac. For more information about Los Escritores, call Graciela Ramirez at (916) 456-5323. Charge: $5 or as you can afford.
•••While you're at the La Raza gallery, check out the postcards! Through the first weekend in May, a display of some of the 400 postcards generated by Sacramento Poet Laureate Julia Connor’s postcard project will be held at La Raza Galeria Posada, 1022-1024 22nd St., Sacramento.
•••Saturday (5/5), 11 AM: Los Escritores del Nuevo Sol Writing Workshop and Potluck Meeting; location to be announced, ore call Graciela Ramirez, 916-456-5323.
•••Saturday (5/5), 7:30 PM: Poems-For-All Second Saturday Series presents Xico Gonzalez at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento.
•••Sat. (5/5), 10AM-3PM: POETRY IN THE PARK FESTIVAL 2007, Fairfield Civic Center Library, 1150 Kentucky St., Fairfield, CA (in the rear park area by the lake). Hosted by BAPC member Juanita J. Martin. Featuring Poet Laureates Cynthia Bryant (Pleasanton) & Geri Digiorno (Petaluma), plus book signings, open mike poetry, light refreshments & more. Info: call Juanita @ (707) 435-1807 or Martha Evans @ (707) 421-6500. Sponsored by Fairfield Library and Valley Writers Group.
•••Sunday (5/6), 6 PM, is the last of the 2006-07 PoemSpirits season, a monthly series presented at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento. The featured guest poet is Rhony Bhopla, a board member of the Sacramento Poetry Center, who has hosted and presented at poetry events throughout the region. A published writer and a volunteer at the Sri Narayan Hindu Temple in Yuba City, Rhony was born in London and educated internationally, studying medicine at St. George University in Grenada, assisting in surgery during medical rotations in London, and earning her degree in Biological Sciences, with a minor in comparative literature, from UC Davis. She founded ShiluS Publications in Elk Grove, editing and publishing the anthology Bliss, A Journal of Erotica. She has said that her poems are inspired by her experiences of people from varied countries, cultures and educational backgrounds, and her belief in the goodness of people. In addition, co-host Tom Goff will present the work of Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913 and who was a close friend of Mahatma Gandhi. His poems were first known in his native Bengal, then translated and found popularity throughout the world. Place: Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento, 2425 Sierra Blvd [North of F.O. Blvd, between Howe and Munroe/Fulton], Main Building. No charge; refreshments provided. Open mic: You are encouraged to bring a favorite poem to share, yours or another's. This monthly event is presented by UUSS members Tom Goff, Nora Staklis, and JoAnn Anglin. For info on reading, contact: Tom or Nora at 916-481-3312 or JoAnn at 916-451-1372. For info on UUSS: www.uuss.org
•••Sunday (5/6), 2:30-4:30 PM: Open Mic at Juice & Java, 7067 Skyway, Paradise. Info: 530-872-9633.
_____________________
PORCUPINE EARRINGS
—Josephine Huntington Fields
Standing at the podium
a sea of faces before her
she looked into their deep brown eyes
and smiled.
Young women in a group
filled rows near the front
Their conversations stopped
They leaned forward in their seats.
She spoke on the merits
of the Native leaders
Such honors she bestowed
on all those men with titles.
She spoke of roles for women
Stand behind the men
slabs of concrete and steel beams
upon which great cities are built.
Like a fish out of water
sounds bubbled in my throat
Lowering my vision, I noticed
my knuckles white as pearls.
A notebook tight to my chest
I slipped through a sea
of black hair and porcupine earrings
in search of better ideas.
(Originally appeared in Raven Tells Stories: An Anthology of Alaskan Native Writing, ed. by Joseph Bruchac for The Greenfield Review Press, 1991.)
_____________________
—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.)
SnakeWatch: Up-to-the-minute Snake news:
Journals: Rattlesnake Review #13 is available at The Book Collector; next deadline is May 15. The new VYPER #6 (for youth 13-19) has gone into the mail; next deadline is Nov. 1. Snakelets 9 (for kids 0-12) is available; next deadline is tomorrow, May 1.
Books/broadsides: April’s releases are SnakeRings SpiralChap #7 from D.R. Wagner: Where The Stars Are Kept, and littlesnake broadside #33: Swallowed By This Whale Of Time by Ann Menebroker. Both are now available at The Book Collector. SpiralChaps are $8; broadsides are free. Or contact kathykieth@hotmail.com for ordering information. Rattlesnake Interview Series #1 with Ann Menebroker and B.L. Kennedy is also available (free) at The Book Collector (or contact Kathy Kieth).
Next rattle-read: May's releases will be Ron Tranquilla’s Playing Favorites: Selected Poems, 1971-2006, plus a broadside by Julie Valin and a Rattlesnake Interview Broadside (#2) featuring Malik and B.L. Kennedy. Come check all these out on May 9 at 7:30 PM at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento. Refreshments and a read-around will follow; bring your own poems or somebody else’s.
