Photo by Stephani Schaefer
WAITING FOR RAIN
—Stephani Schaefer, Los Molinos
It may not rain at all
this year, the high clouds
may keep it to themselves,
maybe let down tantalizing virga
in wispy streaks that
never reach the ground.
Meantime, the high desert waits
on the edge
of the last irrigated field.
_____________________
Thanks, Steph! Stephani Schaefer writes: This monster cactus is not far from my house. We are so DRY my hair stands up from my head with static...
Reading today at noon:
•••TODAY (Thurs., 11/29), 12 noon: River City Writers Series presents Zaid Shlah at Sacramento City College in A-6 [Auditorium 6]. A native Calgarian, Zaid Shlah now resides in Walnut Creek, CA. He obtained his BA in English from the University of Calgary and his MA in English from San Francisco State University, where he received the Distinguished Graduate award from San Francisco State University's Creative Writing department. His poetry has appeared in literary journals and anthologies both in Canada and the U.S. In particular, selections from the long poem, "Taqsim", have appeared on CBC Radio's Alberta Anthology. "Asking Iraq to Comply" appeared in the anthology, Canadian Writers Against the War, The Common Sky, 2003. And "Songs of Departure" and "Asking Iraq to Comply" are forthcoming in the anthology, Arab American and Diaspora Literature (Interlink Publishing, 2005). His first full-length book of poetry is Taqsim (Frontenac 2005).
And tonight:
•••Thurs. (11/29), 7:30 PM: Benefit for the Yuba Watershed Institute: “Peaks, Fires & Spirits of Love and Loss,” an evening with Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gary Snyder. Center for the Arts, 314 W. Main St., Grass Valley. Admission is $35 including dessert buffet and no-host bar. Tickets: 530-271-7000 or thecenterforthearts.org/. Info: Tania Carlone, Yuba Watershed Institute, 530-265-4459 or taniacarlone@sbcglobal.net/.
•••Thursday (11/29), 8 PM: Poetry Unplugged at Luna's Cafe, 1414 16th St., Sac. Featured readers Terry Moore and Khiry Malik Moore, with open mic before and after. Info: 916-441-3931. [For interviews with both readers, see Conversations, Vol. One of B.L. Kennedy's Rattlesnake Interview Series.]
_____________________
More rain poems, with some wishful thinking. We sorely need both.
ON A PAINTING BY WANG THE CLERK OF YEN LING
—Su Yung P'o (11th century)
The slender bamboo is like a hermit.
The simple flower is like a maiden.
The sparrow tilts on the branch.
A gust of rain sprinkles the flowers.
He spreads his wings to fly
And shakes all the leaves.
The bees gathering honey
Are trapped in the nectar.
What a wonderful talent
That can create an entire Spring
With a brush and a sheet of paper.
If he would try poetry
I know he would be a master of words.
(Translated from the Chinese by Kenneth Rexroth)
_______________________
ALONE
—Edgar Allan Poe
From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were—I have not seen
As others saw—I could not bring
My passions from a common spring—
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow—I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone—
And all I lov'd—I lov'd alone—
Then—in my childhood—in the dawn
Of a most stormy life—was drawn
From ev'ry depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me still—
From the torrent, or the fountain—
From the sun that round me roll'd
In its autumn tint of gold—
From the lightning in the sky
As it pass'd me flying by—
From the thunder, and the storm—
And the cloud that took the form
(Where the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view—
____________________
AFTER THIS DELUGE
—Ingebord Bachmann
After this deluge
I would like to see the dove,
and nothing but the dove,
saved once more.
For I'd perish in this sea!
if she didn't fly away,
if she didn't bring back
in the last hour,
the leaf.
_____________________
—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.) Medusa cannot vouch for the moral fiber of other publications, contests, etc. that she lists, however, so submit to them at your own risk. For more info about the Snake Empire, including guidelines for submitting to or obtaining our publications, click on the link to the right of this column: Rattlesnake Press (rattlesnakepress.com).
SnakeWatch: Up-to-the-minute Snake news:
Rattlesnake Review: The latest issue of Rattlesnake Review (#15) is available for free at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, or send $2 to P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726. Issue #16 will be out in mid-December; its deadline of Nov. 15 has passed. Next deadline (for Issue #17, due out in mid-March) is February 15. (Sooner than you think!)
New in November: On November 14, Rattlesnake Press released Among Neighbors, a rattlechap from Taylor Graham; Home is Where You Hang Your Wings, a free littlesnake broadside from frank andrick; and A Poet's Book of Days, a perpetual calendar featuring the poetry and photography of Katy Brown. These are now available at The Book Collector, from kathykieth@hotmail.com, or on rattlesnakepress.com/, as is October's Conversations, Vol. One of B.L. Kennedy's Rattlesnake Interview Series.
Coming December 12: The Snake is proud to announce the release of Metamorphic Intervals From The Insanity Of Time, a SnakeRings SpiralChap from Patricia D'Alessandro; Notes From An Ivory Tower, a littlesnake broadside from Ann Wehrman; and a brand new issue of Rattlesnake Review (#16). Come celebrate all of these on Wednesday, December 12, 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
—Stephani Schaefer, Los Molinos
It may not rain at all
this year, the high clouds
may keep it to themselves,
maybe let down tantalizing virga
in wispy streaks that
never reach the ground.
Meantime, the high desert waits
on the edge
of the last irrigated field.
_____________________
Thanks, Steph! Stephani Schaefer writes: This monster cactus is not far from my house. We are so DRY my hair stands up from my head with static...
Reading today at noon:
•••TODAY (Thurs., 11/29), 12 noon: River City Writers Series presents Zaid Shlah at Sacramento City College in A-6 [Auditorium 6]. A native Calgarian, Zaid Shlah now resides in Walnut Creek, CA. He obtained his BA in English from the University of Calgary and his MA in English from San Francisco State University, where he received the Distinguished Graduate award from San Francisco State University's Creative Writing department. His poetry has appeared in literary journals and anthologies both in Canada and the U.S. In particular, selections from the long poem, "Taqsim", have appeared on CBC Radio's Alberta Anthology. "Asking Iraq to Comply" appeared in the anthology, Canadian Writers Against the War, The Common Sky, 2003. And "Songs of Departure" and "Asking Iraq to Comply" are forthcoming in the anthology, Arab American and Diaspora Literature (Interlink Publishing, 2005). His first full-length book of poetry is Taqsim (Frontenac 2005).
And tonight:
•••Thurs. (11/29), 7:30 PM: Benefit for the Yuba Watershed Institute: “Peaks, Fires & Spirits of Love and Loss,” an evening with Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gary Snyder. Center for the Arts, 314 W. Main St., Grass Valley. Admission is $35 including dessert buffet and no-host bar. Tickets: 530-271-7000 or thecenterforthearts.org/. Info: Tania Carlone, Yuba Watershed Institute, 530-265-4459 or taniacarlone@sbcglobal.net/.
•••Thursday (11/29), 8 PM: Poetry Unplugged at Luna's Cafe, 1414 16th St., Sac. Featured readers Terry Moore and Khiry Malik Moore, with open mic before and after. Info: 916-441-3931. [For interviews with both readers, see Conversations, Vol. One of B.L. Kennedy's Rattlesnake Interview Series.]
_____________________
More rain poems, with some wishful thinking. We sorely need both.
ON A PAINTING BY WANG THE CLERK OF YEN LING
—Su Yung P'o (11th century)
The slender bamboo is like a hermit.
The simple flower is like a maiden.
The sparrow tilts on the branch.
A gust of rain sprinkles the flowers.
He spreads his wings to fly
And shakes all the leaves.
The bees gathering honey
Are trapped in the nectar.
What a wonderful talent
That can create an entire Spring
With a brush and a sheet of paper.
If he would try poetry
I know he would be a master of words.
(Translated from the Chinese by Kenneth Rexroth)
_______________________
ALONE
—Edgar Allan Poe
From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were—I have not seen
As others saw—I could not bring
My passions from a common spring—
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow—I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone—
And all I lov'd—I lov'd alone—
Then—in my childhood—in the dawn
Of a most stormy life—was drawn
From ev'ry depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me still—
From the torrent, or the fountain—
From the sun that round me roll'd
In its autumn tint of gold—
From the lightning in the sky
As it pass'd me flying by—
From the thunder, and the storm—
And the cloud that took the form
(Where the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view—
____________________
AFTER THIS DELUGE
—Ingebord Bachmann
After this deluge
I would like to see the dove,
and nothing but the dove,
saved once more.
For I'd perish in this sea!
if she didn't fly away,
if she didn't bring back
in the last hour,
the leaf.
_____________________
—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.) Medusa cannot vouch for the moral fiber of other publications, contests, etc. that she lists, however, so submit to them at your own risk. For more info about the Snake Empire, including guidelines for submitting to or obtaining our publications, click on the link to the right of this column: Rattlesnake Press (rattlesnakepress.com).
SnakeWatch: Up-to-the-minute Snake news:
Rattlesnake Review: The latest issue of Rattlesnake Review (#15) is available for free at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, or send $2 to P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726. Issue #16 will be out in mid-December; its deadline of Nov. 15 has passed. Next deadline (for Issue #17, due out in mid-March) is February 15. (Sooner than you think!)
New in November: On November 14, Rattlesnake Press released Among Neighbors, a rattlechap from Taylor Graham; Home is Where You Hang Your Wings, a free littlesnake broadside from frank andrick; and A Poet's Book of Days, a perpetual calendar featuring the poetry and photography of Katy Brown. These are now available at The Book Collector, from kathykieth@hotmail.com, or on rattlesnakepress.com/, as is October's Conversations, Vol. One of B.L. Kennedy's Rattlesnake Interview Series.
Coming December 12: The Snake is proud to announce the release of Metamorphic Intervals From The Insanity Of Time, a SnakeRings SpiralChap from Patricia D'Alessandro; Notes From An Ivory Tower, a littlesnake broadside from Ann Wehrman; and a brand new issue of Rattlesnake Review (#16). Come celebrate all of these on Wednesday, December 12, 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