William Blake
AH! SUNFLOWER
—William Blake
Ah Sunflower, weary of time,
Who countest the steps of the sun;
Seeking after that sweet golden clime
Where the traveller's journey is done;
Where the Youth pined away with desire,
And the pale virgin shrouded in snow,
Arise from their graves, and aspire
Where my Sunflower wishes to go!
_____________________
Thanks, Bill! Today, William Blake would've been 250 years old!
Tonight in poetry, to celebrate Bill's birthday:
•••Weds. (11/28), 6-7 PM: Upstairs Poetry reading at The Upstairs Art Gallery, 420 Main St (2nd floor), Placerville. It's an open-mike read-around, so bring your own poems or those of a favorite poet to share, or just come to listen. Free.
•••Wednesday (11/28), 6-8 PM: Sacramento Poetry Center will hold its Annual Benefit at the home of Burnett and Mimi Miller, 1224 40th St., Sacramento. Victoria Dalkey and Quinton Duval will share their poetry; music will be provided by The Swing State (aka SPC Board Member Mary Zeppa and SPC President Bob Stanley); plus food, drink and fellowship. $30. Arts funding is always at a premium. If you can’t fit our party into your busy life, please consider helping to support our ongoing (since 1979) programs with a tax-deductible contribution. Send it to Sacramento Poetry Center, 1719 – 25th St., Sacramento, CA 95816.
Calendar addition for Saturday:
Davisite/rattlechapper James Lee Jobe writes: Julia Levine's new book of poems is out, titled Ditchtender. Julia's previous collection, Ash, won the 2003 Tampa Review Prize for Poetry. The local debut for Ditchtender is Saturday, December 1st, at 7:30 pm, at The Avid Reader, 617 Second Street, Davis. Julia gave a reading at the Unitarian Church in Davis a few months ago that was almost Standing Room Only. It was a vibrant, fun, almost electric reading! I encourage you not to miss either this reading or this book.
_____________________
FROM "MILTON"
—William Blake
And every Space that a Man views around his dwelling-place
Standing on his own roof or in his garden on a mount
Of twenty-five cubits in height, such space is his Universe:
And on its verge the Sun rises & sets, the Clouds bow
To meet the flat Earth and the Sea in such an order'd Space:
The Starry heavens reach no further, but here bend and set
On all sides, & the two Poles turn on their valves of gold;
And if he move his dwelling-place, his heavens also move
Where'er he goes, & all his neighbourhood bewail his loss.
Such are the Spaces called Earth & such its dimension.
As to that false appearance which appears to the reasoner
As of a Globe rolling thro' Voidness, it is a delusion of Ulro.
_______________________
A SKETCH FOR A MODERN LOVE POEM
—Tadeusz Rozewicz
And yet whiteness
can be best described by greyness
a bird by a stone
sunflowers
in december
love poems of old
used to be descriptions of flesh
they described this and that
for instance eyelashes
and yet redness
should be described
by greyness the sun by rain
the poppies in november
the lips at night
the most palpable
description of bread
is that of hunger
there is in it
a humid porous core
a warm inside
sunflowers at night
the breasts the belly the thighs of Cybele
a transparent
source-like description
of water is that of thirst
of ash
of desert
it provokes a mirage
clouds and trees enter
a mirror of water
lack hunger
absence
of flesh
is a description of love
in a modern love poem
(Translated from the Polish by Czeslaw Milosz)
___________________
—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.
—William Blake
Ah Sunflower, weary of time,
Who countest the steps of the sun;
Seeking after that sweet golden clime
Where the traveller's journey is done;
Where the Youth pined away with desire,
And the pale virgin shrouded in snow,
Arise from their graves, and aspire
Where my Sunflower wishes to go!
_____________________
Thanks, Bill! Today, William Blake would've been 250 years old!
Tonight in poetry, to celebrate Bill's birthday:
•••Weds. (11/28), 6-7 PM: Upstairs Poetry reading at The Upstairs Art Gallery, 420 Main St (2nd floor), Placerville. It's an open-mike read-around, so bring your own poems or those of a favorite poet to share, or just come to listen. Free.
•••Wednesday (11/28), 6-8 PM: Sacramento Poetry Center will hold its Annual Benefit at the home of Burnett and Mimi Miller, 1224 40th St., Sacramento. Victoria Dalkey and Quinton Duval will share their poetry; music will be provided by The Swing State (aka SPC Board Member Mary Zeppa and SPC President Bob Stanley); plus food, drink and fellowship. $30. Arts funding is always at a premium. If you can’t fit our party into your busy life, please consider helping to support our ongoing (since 1979) programs with a tax-deductible contribution. Send it to Sacramento Poetry Center, 1719 – 25th St., Sacramento, CA 95816.
Calendar addition for Saturday:
Davisite/rattlechapper James Lee Jobe writes: Julia Levine's new book of poems is out, titled Ditchtender. Julia's previous collection, Ash, won the 2003 Tampa Review Prize for Poetry. The local debut for Ditchtender is Saturday, December 1st, at 7:30 pm, at The Avid Reader, 617 Second Street, Davis. Julia gave a reading at the Unitarian Church in Davis a few months ago that was almost Standing Room Only. It was a vibrant, fun, almost electric reading! I encourage you not to miss either this reading or this book.
_____________________
FROM "MILTON"
—William Blake
And every Space that a Man views around his dwelling-place
Standing on his own roof or in his garden on a mount
Of twenty-five cubits in height, such space is his Universe:
And on its verge the Sun rises & sets, the Clouds bow
To meet the flat Earth and the Sea in such an order'd Space:
The Starry heavens reach no further, but here bend and set
On all sides, & the two Poles turn on their valves of gold;
And if he move his dwelling-place, his heavens also move
Where'er he goes, & all his neighbourhood bewail his loss.
Such are the Spaces called Earth & such its dimension.
As to that false appearance which appears to the reasoner
As of a Globe rolling thro' Voidness, it is a delusion of Ulro.
_______________________
A SKETCH FOR A MODERN LOVE POEM
—Tadeusz Rozewicz
And yet whiteness
can be best described by greyness
a bird by a stone
sunflowers
in december
love poems of old
used to be descriptions of flesh
they described this and that
for instance eyelashes
and yet redness
should be described
by greyness the sun by rain
the poppies in november
the lips at night
the most palpable
description of bread
is that of hunger
there is in it
a humid porous core
a warm inside
sunflowers at night
the breasts the belly the thighs of Cybele
a transparent
source-like description
of water is that of thirst
of ash
of desert
it provokes a mirage
clouds and trees enter
a mirror of water
lack hunger
absence
of flesh
is a description of love
in a modern love poem
(Translated from the Polish by Czeslaw Milosz)
___________________
—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.