News From The Cat

Out from the darkness
back into the darkness—
affairs of the cat

—Issa

Affairs of The Cat:

The latest issue of Tiger's Eye: A Journal of Poetry is out, and, as usual, it's a joy to look at and a delight to read! Web 'em at tigerseyejournal.com; copies are $5, subscriptions $10/year (two issues).

Also be sure to enter the cat's annual contest, deadline 2/28. Huge prizes of $500, $100, $50, plus publication of winning poems in TE, plus one contest entrant will be awarded a 20-30 page chapbook contract (50 copies). Send three poems, short bio, SASE and $10 entry fee to Tiger's Eye Poetry Contest, P.O. Box 2935, Eugene, OR 97402.

____________________

DELUSION
—Tzu Yeh, Chin Dynasty (265-419)

The brilliant moonlit night
Seems never-ending,
And the blessed, longer-for-sleep
Will never come.

With a start I think
I hear your loved voice calling,
And cry out to you,
My heart beating fast with joy.

But, alas,
The only answer
Is an echo,
A mocking echo
In the silence of the night.

_____________________

WONDER
—Hsiao Yen (Liang Wu Ti, 464-549)

The flowers
In the women's court
Have woven
Their rich brocade,
And on the lattice windows
The dewdrops
Hang like pearls.

The young girl
Longs
To know what love is—
And her sewing
Suffers sadly.

______________________

LONGING
—Ch'en Shu Pao (Hou Chu, 553-604)

Since you have gone,
My love,
The grass grows green and long
Upon the unused terrace steps.
For love of you
I am like yonder lamp,
Which seems to weep
And shed hot tears of longing
As it burns
Through the long and dreary watches
Of the night.

___________________

FIRST STEPS
—Tai P'ing (11th century)

Sixty days must pass
Before my son
Is one year old;
Yet he can stand already
And walk five steps
Alone.

Ah, the road
In this world
Is full of dangers—
High cliffs
And yawning precipices!

He must be taught
To take each step
With care,
That little boy
Of mine.

____________________

—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 (Sweet 16) is available for free at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, or send $2 to P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726 and I'll mail you one. Next deadline (for Issue #17, due out in mid-March) is February 15—sooner than you think!

Coming in February: The Snake is still in winter hibernation for January: no readings, no books, no broadsides. Then, on February 13, Rattlesnake Press will roar to life again with a new SnakeRings SpiralChap from Don and Elsie Feliz (To Berlin With Love), plus a new littlesnake broadside from Carlena Wike (Going the Distance), as well as Volume Two of Conversations, B.L. Kennedy's Rattlesnake Interview Series. Come help us launch all of this on Weds., Feb. 13 at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, 7:30 PM.