Blue Moon
Photo taken last night by Katy Brown, Davis
THE FORGET-ME-NOT MOON
—Katy Brown
Sifting through branches,
the moon rises — blue
over my dozing neighborhood.
Bright enough to cast shadows
this second full moon
calls up ghosts of second chances,
memories of love
slipped away
as surely, as easily
as this forget-me-not blue
moonlight slips
through the branches.
____________________
Thanks, Katy! Katy Brown took the bait and sent in a blue moon poem and photo of OUR blue moon. Send a poem about Blue Moons into Medusa's Kitchen before midnight tonight (Friday, June 1, as the moon begins to wane) and I'll send you a poetry surprise! That's kathykieth@hotmail.com/ Here's another one, from Patricia Wellingham-Jones:
BLUE MOON IN JULY
—Patricia Wellingham-Jones, Tehama
Leaves stir among treetops,
day's heat shuttered in silence,
voices of birds murmur in torpor,
come alive, briefly,
before the sun falls
into tomorrow.
Blueberries taste tart against melon,
blue lights flicker in the house,
blue moon rises again this month,
shines over the
pale form stretched
on the new-mown grass.
_____________________
Thanks, PWJ!
This weekend in NorCal poetry:
•••Speaking of the top of the Valley: In Ukiah this weekend (Friday, 6/1, 7:30-9 PM and Sat., 6/2, 10 AM-5 PM), Mendocino College presents their literary festival, Mendocino LitFest. Following an evening presentation by author Gary Soto on Friday, two dozen authors will gather on Saturday to share their latest work and discuss ideas. Independent booksellers, regional publishers, and self-published authors will sell books. Activities for children will be offered. Admission to LitFest is free. Saturday workshops will be offered for a modest fee. Call 707-468-3051 or see www.mendolitfest.org/ for information. Mendocino College, 1000 Hensley Creek Rd., Ukiah. (Take 101 Ukiah north to Lake Mendocino Dr., east to North State St, south to Hensley Creek Rd., west to campus.)
•••The Manzanita folks will be reading in Sacramento tonight from 7-9 PM, when Cool Cat Gallery on 24th St. in Sacramento (just down from The Book Collector) hosts Manzanita writers. Come meet Monika Rose and the gang from the San Andreas poetry journal, Manzanita. These writers will also be featured in the next Rattlesnake Review, due out in mid-June, including a wonderful summary of who they are and what they're up to by Monika. [See Medusa's May 8, 2007 post for more about Monika, the Manzanita Rose.]
•••Saturday (6/2), Noon-2 PM: Words of Walt: A Walt Whitman Birthday Celebration and Open Reading will be held once again at the Oddfellows Lawn (Old City Cemetery) on Riverside Blvd and Broadway in Sacramento. The Sacramento Poetry Center first took the poems of Walt Whitman in among the Civil War veterans' graves at Oddfellows Lawn to celebrate the man about 23 years ago. The SPC Oddfellows event was held only a couple of times, but this year, to celebrate Whitman's birthday (May 31), all are invited to return to the scene and participate in an open reading of Whitman's work. Bring your favorite Whitman poems and passages and a sack lunch, if you choose to, for an informal open reading of Whitman in the round among the graves of those who shared in the most significant years of Whitman's life, and whom the old nurse loved so well. Only Walt, please. There are so many great tributes to him, as well as a few notable slams, but this time is just the words of Walt. We will meet at the Civil War Monument on the Riverside edge of the cemetery (between the Riverside gate and Broadway—look for the signs) and begin reading at noon. You might also bring a cushion or folding chair if you wish. Hosted by Patrick Grizzell. Free. Info: 916-979-9706.
•••Saturday (6/2), 11 AM will be the regular monthly potluck & writing meeting of Writers of the New Sun/Los Escritores del Nuevo Sol at La Raza Galeria Posada, 1022-1024 22nd St., Midtown Sacramento, 916-446-5133. No charge. For more information about Los Escritores call Graciela Ramirez, 916-456-5323. Website: http://escritoresdelnuevosol.com/
•••Workshop in Paradise! On Saturday, June 2 (9 AM-1 PM), Bille Park in Paradise, CA will provide the place to reconnect with the earth for healing, and rediscovery of the self in poem-making, including a nature walk, a guided meditation, word-play, poem making, a reading, the work of nature writers such as Wendell Berry and the fellowship of other poets. This workshop, open to the beginning as well as the advanced poet, will be held at Bille Park; meet at the Council Circle. Bring a bag lunch and a lawn chair. Cost: $30. Sign-up at the Paradise Recreation Center, or contact Lara Gularte at 530-873-4275.
•••Sunday (6/3), 1-4 PM: Century House Poetry Series presents San Francisco Poet Laureate Jack Hirschman reading with Latif Harris. This will be Host Cynthia Bryant’s last gig as Pleasanton Poet Laureate. Open mic (one poem, up to 40 lines); refreshments. Free. 2401 Santa Rita Road, Pleasanton.
•••Sunday (6/3), San Francisco: Poets With Trees will have a total open mic in Sutro Heights Park (west end of Geary Street overlooking the ocean) featuring you and all your friends. Info: Clara Hsu at soullesswoman@gmail.com/ or Dan Brady at creative1@creativeideasforyou.com/ or Don Brennan at brennan.don@gmail.com/
•••Monday (6/4), 7:30 PM: Sacramento Poetry Center presents Robbie Grossklaus, Jackie Schaeffer and Bill Carr, with musical accompaniment by Miles Miniaci and his band, Litany. HQ for the Arts, 25th and R Sts., Sacramento. Open mic to follow, plus more music by Litany at 9 PM.
____________________
A PRAIRIE SUNSET
—Walt Whitman
Shot gold, maroon and violet, dazzling silver, emerald, fawn,
The earth's whole amplitude and Nature's multiform power
consign'd for once to colors;
The light, the general air posses'd by them—colors till now unknown,
No limit, confine—not the Western sky alone—the high meridian—
North, South, all,
Pure luminous color fighting the silent shadows to the last.
_____________________
Walt Whitman, an inspiration to all of us who publish our own work, would've been 188 years old yesterday. Head on down to the SPC "Words of Walt" reading tomorrow and celebrate his life and his work [see above].
Whitman was appalled at the Civil War, and did what he could as a poet to try to bring the country back together. I think he would've approved of this poem by Michelle Kunert of Sacramento:
In May 2007,
the deadliest month of all for soldiers in Iraq
(114 killed by counter insurgent attacks),
as I've seen before at job fairs
(this time at the Scottish Rite Center),
the uniformed war recruiters don't stay at their tables
because nobody comes anymore to ask to sign up,
so they go around and harrass men who look less than 40
who have responses such as, "No sir, not again,
I've served my time,
can't pay me enough to come back.
No, stop following me, I'm not interested!
Ain't that desperate, even if I was out on the street,
to go kill the poor,
or be killed invading their country..."
—Michelle Kunert
_____________________
—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 (free publications): Rattlesnake Review #13 is available at The Book Collector; RR #14 will be out in mid-June. (Next deadline, for RR #15, is August 15.) VYPER #6 (for youth 13-19) is in The Book Collector; next deadline is Nov. 1. The new Snakelets, #10 (for kids 0-12), is now available at The Book Collector. Next deadline is 10/1.
Books/broadsides: May's releases are Grass Valley Poet Ron Tranquilla’s Playing Favorites: Selected Poems, 1971-2006, plus a littlesnake broadside by Julie Valin (Still Life With Sun) and a Rattlesnake Interview Broadside (#2) featuring Khiry Malik Moore and B.L. Kennedy. All are now available at The Book Collector. Rattlechaps are $5; broadsides are free. Or contact kathykieth@hotmail.com or rattlesnakepress.com for ordering information.
Next rattle-read: Rattlesnake Press will present Sacramento Poet Tom Miner at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, on Wednesday, June 20 from 7:30-9 PM to celebrate the release of his new chapbook, North of Everything. Also featured that night will be a new littlesnake broadside (Cominciare Adagio) from Stockton Poet/Publisher David Humphreys, plus #3 in the Rattlesnake Interview Series by B.L. Kennedy, this one featuring Sacramento Poet Jane Blue. Refreshments and a read-around will follow; bring your own poems or somebody else's. More info: kathykieth@hotmail.com/ NOTE: For June, and for June only, our monthly Rattlesnake reading will be on the THIRD Weds. instead of the second one. There will be no Snake readings/releases in July or August.