Photo by Katy Brown
EMERGENT
—Katy Brown, Davis
February warms its hands against
promised sunlight, wintry and pale:
Spring’s illusion has not yet condensed.
Tulip shoots appear like greeny Braille.
Indifferences that we have both pretensed
flee like startled, ginger cottontails;
and it is clear that deeper care prevails,
to leave our hearts—at last—exposed, unfenced.
____________________
Thanks, Katy! Watch for more of Katy Brown's photos and poetry in Snake 17, due out in mid-March—not to mention her column, Snake Eyes! Speaking of Issue 17...
Snake deadline today!
Deadline for Issue 17 of Rattlesnake Review (due out in mid-March) is today, Friday, February 15 (postmarked). Send 3-5 poems plus photos, art, and other poet-phernalia to kathykieth@hotmail.com or P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726. No cover or bio needed, but no simultaneous submissions or previously-published work, please. Issue 16 is still available for free at The Book Collector, or send me two bux and I'll mail you one.
Also this weekend in NorCal poetry:
•••Tonight (Friday, 2/15), 7-8 PM: Our House Poetry Reading at El Dorado Dance Academy. Featured readers are Anthony Perciado and Joaquin Fioresi. An open mike follows. There is no charge. The Academy is located at 3921 Sandstone Dr. Suite 4, El Dorado Hills. From Hwy 50, go south on Latrobe Rd past the signals at White Rock Rd, Golden Foothill Pkwy, and Suncast Ln. The next signal is Golden Foothill Pkwy (yes, again — it's a loop). Turn right, follow Golden Foothill around a curve; make a left on Sandstone and go to the dead-end. Park in the parking lot on the right.
Anthony Perciado grew up in Garden Grove before moving to El Dorado County at age 12. A college graduate, he received an AA and AS from Folsom Lake College. He started writing poetry when he was about 21. He says, “Ever since then I have been writing and becoming.” Yoga and Hip Hop cultures are strong influences on his work. He says he uses “poetry as an art form and powerful practical tool for self-realization and manifestation.”
Joaquin Fioresi is a native South San Franciscan. After focusing on sports, he took great interest in writing poems in high school. Joaquin also became deeply influenced by the healing arts, and in 1998 he studied Zen Shiatsu (Traditional Japanese Massage) in S.F. He also practiced Qi Gong and became acquainted with Traditional Chinese Medicine with his teacher Dr. Yen Wei Choong, at The Yellow Emperor Healing Center in San Anselmo. In 2001, Joaquin moved to Placerville to further his studies in Ayurveda (Traditional Indian Medicine, diet, herbology and lifestyle) with his teacher, Candis Cantin. He also attended the local J.C. to study in depth the techniques of counseling, interpersonal communication and group facilitation with Dr. Sarah Pender. This education helped tremendously in his love for the healing arts, writing and performing. He wrote his first book of poems, Eleven, and donated the proceeds to the El Dorado County Women’s Center. His second book, Anti Hero Poetry from our Hearts, was a collaboration with Brock Booth, a young man with Down Syndrome, that benefited the Northern California Special Olympics. Joaquin then formed The Bridge/Sol Bridge and has been performing his poems with live improv music over the last three years. He has had the opportunity to perform in S.F., Sacramento, Lake Tahoe, Auburn, and many venues in the Placerville area. Joaquin is currently raising his 3-year-old daughter, Angelique Joy, and is enjoying being a loving father watching his child grow. He is a massage therapist and an advocate for adults with developmental disabilities in the Placerville community.
•••Today (2/15) is also the deadline for this year’s Sacramento Poetry Center contest. This year's entry fee is $4 per poem. First, second and third prizes will be awarded [$100, $50, $25]. In addition, 10 honorable mentions will receive $10 gift certificates. Please send two copies of each poem, one with your name and contact info, another without any identifying information on it. No restrictions on length, subject or style. Judging will be done by a suitably notable area poet whom SPC will announce [in other words, a poet to be named later]. Send poems to: Sacramento Poetry Center Poetry Contest, The Sacramento Poetry Center, 1719 25th St., Sacramento, CA 95816.
•••Saturday (2/16), One Human Family: Poems for a Changing World, a reading by Red Fox Underground Poets Taylor Graham, Irene Lipshin, Moira Magneson, Brigit Truex, Kate Wells, and Wendy Patrice Williams (all of whom are current or about-to-be rattlechappers!) at The Cozmic Cafe, 594 Main St., Placerville. Info: 530-642-8481. Sponsored by El Dorado Peace & Justice in the Season for Nonviolence.
Also at The Cozmic Cafe: Vietnam Today: Carrying On, an exhibition of photographs by Irene Lipshin and Janis Arnell. The reception will be held beginning at 5:30 PM on Feb. 16, then the Red Fox reading begins at 8. The photographs will be on display from Feb. 3 to March 31.
•••Also Saturday (2/16), 7 PM: SpiralChappers Joseph and Susan Finkleman read their poetry, along with Jock Smith and vocalist Jessica Teddington at Underground Books, 2814 35th St (at Broadway) in Sacramento. $3.00. Info: 916-208-7638.
•••Monday (2/18), 7:30 PM: Sacramento Poetry Center presents its African American Heritage and History Month Reading, featuring Khiry Malik Moore, Indigo Moor, Dawn DiBartolo, Terry Moore, Mario Ellis Hill, Emmanuel Sigauke and Supanova at Sacramento Poetry Center, HQ for the Arts, 25th & R Sts., Sacramento.
Two calendar additions for this Saturday (tomorrow):
•••Saturday (2/16), 1-4 PM: "Memory and Respect of Our Ancestral Beginnings and Language" with Metzli Aguilar, featuring original and ancient Nahuatl poetry, music and special performances by Semilla and Iris Aguilar. La Raza Galeria Posada, 1022 22nd St., Sacramento. Info: 916-446-5133.
•••Saturday (2/16), 11 AM: African American Poetry, as local poet and writer Sandy Martin reads from the works of well-known African American poets at the Elk Grove Library, 8962 Elk Grove Blvd., Elk Grove. Free. Info: 916-264-2920 or www.saclibrary.org
__________________
RELATIVE ANGER
—Katy Brown
irritated
annoyed, in a huff, piqued,
irked, ired, resentful, exasperated, cross,
antagonized, angered, in a fury,
being incensed, heated
feeling squiffiness,
roiled, riled, enraged,
maddened, peeved,
hot, livid, fuming,
bothered, displeased,
in a temper,
snarky,
provoked, got your wind up,
filled with wrath,
cheesed-off,
grouchy,
sore, cranky, chagrined,
irritable, crabby,
disgruntled, unhappy,
surly, tetchy, grumpy,
growly, snarly, glowering,
seething, teed-off,
outraged, perturbed
murderous . . . .
___________________
WILLYS INTERLAGOS
—Katy Brown
What kind of car is an Interlagos?
A Renault built by Willys in Brazil.
What would possess someone to own one?
Adventure, my friend: thrill of the exotic.
A Renault built by Willys in Brazil:
like a horse designed by a committee.
My friend, adventure and the thrill of exotica:
just to see it run is an experience.
Like a race horse designed by a committee,
these cars were beautiful, but temperamental.
Just to see one running is an experience:
they are stunning in a garage.
They’re spectacular, but temperamental—
rosewood dashboards, leather seats—
they are beautiful in a concourse;
but don’t plan on reliability.
Rosewood dashboards and leather seats—
what kind of car is a Willys Interlagos?
This is not a commuter car, my friend—
it’s a one-of-a kind automotive adventure.
___________________
—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: News from Rattlesnake Press
New in February: The Snake had a massive celebration on February 13 with the release of To Berlin With Love from Elsie Whitlow Feliz and Don Feliz, a new broadside from Carlena Wike (Going The Distance), and a new SnakeRings SpiralChap from Sam and Kathy Kieth (Sex—For Animals...). All of these publications are now at The Book Collector and will soon be available on the rattlesnakepress.com website, as well.
Coming in March: Rattlesnake Press will be releasing a chapbook from Ann Privateer (Attracted to Light), a littlesnake broadside from Jeanine Stevens (Eclipse), and a brand-new issue of Rattlesnake Review (#17). Join us to celebrate all of this at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, on March 12 at 7:30 PM.
