Faerie Daughter's Wings
SIGNATURE OF ALL THINGS
Part 1
—Kenneth Rexroth
My head and shoulders, and my book
In the cool shade, and my body
Stretched bathing in the sun, I lie
Reading beside the waterfall—
Boehme's "Signature of All Things."
Through the deep July day the leaves
Of the laurel, all the colors
Of gold, spin down through the moving
Deep laurel shade all day. They float
On the mirrored sky and forest
For a while, and then, still slowly
Spinning, sink through the crystal deep
Of the pool to its leaf gold floor.
The saint saw the world as streaming
In the electrolysis of love.
I put him by and gaze through shade
Folded into shade of slender
Laurel trunks and leaves filled with sun.
The wren broods in her moss domed nest,
A newt struggles with a white moth
Drowning in the pool.
The hawks scream,
Playing together on the ceiling
Of heaven. The long hours go by.
I think of those who have loved me,
Of all the mountains I have climbed,
Of all the seas I have swum in.
The evil of the world sinks.
My own sin and trouble fall away
Like Christian's bundle, and I watch
My forty summers fall like falling
Leaves and falling water held
Eternally in summer air.
Part 1
—Kenneth Rexroth
My head and shoulders, and my book
In the cool shade, and my body
Stretched bathing in the sun, I lie
Reading beside the waterfall—
Boehme's "Signature of All Things."
Through the deep July day the leaves
Of the laurel, all the colors
Of gold, spin down through the moving
Deep laurel shade all day. They float
On the mirrored sky and forest
For a while, and then, still slowly
Spinning, sink through the crystal deep
Of the pool to its leaf gold floor.
The saint saw the world as streaming
In the electrolysis of love.
I put him by and gaze through shade
Folded into shade of slender
Laurel trunks and leaves filled with sun.
The wren broods in her moss domed nest,
A newt struggles with a white moth
Drowning in the pool.
The hawks scream,
Playing together on the ceiling
Of heaven. The long hours go by.
I think of those who have loved me,
Of all the mountains I have climbed,
Of all the seas I have swum in.
The evil of the world sinks.
My own sin and trouble fall away
Like Christian's bundle, and I watch
My forty summers fall like falling
Leaves and falling water held
Eternally in summer air.
_____________________
Thanks to Rexroth, of course, and to Rattlechapper Colette Jonopulos for her photo from the faerieworlds festival in Oregon. Her publishing company, Tiger's Eye, is now offering literary assistance for writers, including help with writing, editing, career planning, marketing, and chapbooks. She says: As active writers, we know the disappointment of receiving rejections and the elation of having books, articles, and poems accepted for publication. Our experience and knowledge of the publishing industry will work for you. Instead of putting that manuscript back into your desk drawer, send it to Tiger's Eye Editing. Writing is a solitary profession. Getting your work ready for submission does not have to be. Check them out at
help tigerseyeediting@yahoo.com/ or Tiger's Eye Editing, P.O. Box 2935, Eugene, OR 97402.
Wired:
I don’t normally post Bay Area readings, especially as far away as Santa Cruz, but this one might be worth the trip for those of us who remember Chiron Review. Tomorrow (Friday, 7/27), the Wired Wash Café (135 Laurel St. at Pacific, Santa Cruz) will present Michael Hathaway. Michael Hathaway started Chiron Review literary magazine a year out of high school. He edited and published this magazine until it folded in Dec. 2005, after 24 years and 81 issues. When asked if he will start it back up again, he replies, "Not in Kansas." He's published 10 books of poetry and one book of prose. He's had more than 300 poems appear in literary journals and anthologies including Pearl, Gypsy, Nerve Cowboy, The James White Review, Nothing Sinister, Blank Gun Silencer, New Sins, Raw Bone, Cat Fancy, and many more. He's been a vegerarian since 1981 and is working hard on becoming vegan. He works as Keeper of History for Stafford County, Kansas. He lives in St. John, Kansas with his 30 cats where they are surrounded by Republicans and Christians and Cowboys (oh my!). He patiently awaits rescue. See the flyer on the Wired Poets website: http://www.wiredpoets.com/ or http://groups.myspace.com/wiredpoets/. Open mic sign-up 7 PM, start 7:30 PM.
A Warm Invitation to "Poetry and Pie" this Sunday (7/28), 1 PM:
•••Discover something new about your poem — or a favorite poet.
•••Take a poetry break!
Hosted by the power of the Muse (and Tim Bellows / Sierra College / Liberal Arts)
Call it a Gala or just a healthy time out — an open forum for reading a favorite poem. Or getting supportive feedback on your own creation. Or simply for voicing it for applause only. Tim will provide some poets’ tips and poetry starters for all (briefly!) Upbeat and informal, they meet for coffee or lunch or pie (Mmmm) at Marie Calendar’s on Sunrise (just north of Madison). The room holds 12 max, at one big table. Perfect! But please RSVP to Tim Bellows, so they can reserve their space: tpb45@sbcglobal.net/
Area: Eastern Sacramento
Date: This Sunday
Time: 1 PM to about 3 PM
Admission price: a poem to share. Or a tip for poets in the craft dept.
Attitude: To celebrate greatness in language, to contribute, to enjoy!
Prevailing koan: “Ideas are water soluble.”
Tonight in NorCal poetry:
•••Thursday (7/26), 7 PM: The reading at Colored Horse Studio, 780 Waugh Lane, Ukiah, is all open-mic this month. Six-minute limit per round. Refreshments available. Donation requested. Info: (707)463-6989, (707)462-4557, coloredhorse.com/, poetryflash.org/.
•••Thursday (7/26), 8 PM: Poetry Unplugged at Luna’s Care, 1414 16th St., Sacramento features Tana, Tessa, Kristin Lucas, Linsey King. Info: Art Luna at www.lunascafe.com (916-441-3931). Hosted by B.L. Kennedy.
______________________
THE HEART OF HERAKLES
—Kenneth Rexroth
Lying under the stars,
In the summer night,
Late, while the autumn
Constellations climb the sky,
As the Cluster of Hercules
Falls down the west
I put the telescope by
And watch Deneb
Move towards the zenith.
My body is asleep. Only
My eyes and brain are awake.
The stars stand around me
Like gold eyes. I can no longer
Tell where I begin and leave off.
The faint breeze in the dark pines,
And the invisible grass,
The tipping earth, swarming stars
Have an eye that sees itself.
______________________
A LONG LIFETIME
—Kenneth Rexroth
A long lifetime
Peoples and places
And the crisis of mankind—
What survives is the crystal—
Infinitely small—
Infinitely large—
____________________
—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 Review14 is now available at The Book Collector; contributors and subscribers should have received theirs by now. If you're none of those, and can't get down to The Book Collector, send two bux (for postage) to P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726 and I'll mail you a copy. If you want more than one, please send $2 for the first one and $1 for copies after that. Next deadline, for RR15, is August 15. VYPER6 (for youth 13-19) is in The Book Collector; next deadline is Nov. 1. Snakelets10 (for kids 0-12) is also at The Book Collector; next deadline is Oct. 1.
Books/free broadsides: June's releases include Tom Miner's chapbook, North of Everything; David Humphreys' littlesnake broadside, Cominciare Adagio; and #3 in B.L. Kennedy's Rattlesnake Interview Series, this one featuring Jane Blue.
ZZZZZZZ: Shh! The Snake is sleeping! There will be no Snake readings/releases in July or August. Then we return with a bang on September 12, presenting Susan Kelly-DeWitt's new chapbook, Cassiopeia Above the Banyan Tree. See the online journal, Mudlark, for a hefty sample of poems from her book; that’s http://www.unf.edu/mudlark/. Also coming in the Fall: new issues of the Review, Snakelets and VYPER [see the above deadlines], plus more littlesnake broadsides from NorCal poets near and far, and a continuation of B.L. Kennedy's Rattlesnake Interview Series—including an anthology of interviews to be released for Sacramento Poetry Month (October).