OH LOVE
—Robert Creeley
My love is a boat
floating
on the weather, the water.
She is a stone
at the bottom of the ocean.
She is the wind in the trees.
I hold her
in my hand
and cannot lift her,
can do nothing
without her. Oh love,
like nothing else on earth!
___________________
We're about to finish off Love Month; only one day left after today. What's the legend: that women can propose to men on Leap Year Day?
February 29 is special in the Snake's life, too, since the first issue of Rattlesnake Review, our first-ever publication of any sort, rolled off the presses (well, copy machine) on Leap Year Day, 2004. Traditionally, though, we celebrate "our" birthday in April, since that was the release of the first RattleChap. So be sure to mark your calendars for this year's party on Wednesday, April 9! It'll be another doozy, with a SnakeRings SpiralChap of art and poetry by Ted Finn (Damn the Eternal War), a RattleChap by Ann Menebroker (Small Crimes), and a new HandyStuff journal by Katy Brown (Muse-Ings). Booze and food and great poetry (and love, too)! Be there!
B.L.'s Drive-By:
Weekly Reviews by B.L. Kennedy
LOST VALeNTinEs
BY
Todd Cirillo
Bill Gainer
Chris Olander
Julie Valin
Edited By:
Buck Sexy and Ms. J. Valintine
Chapbook, 28pp
Six Ft. Swells Press
After Hours Poetry
Cheap Shots Poetry Series #4
$2 + postage
Last Thursday night (Feb. 21st, for those of you who are so anal that you need all the details…), last Thursday night, Mike West (get used to the name) & I made a mad trip in the rain up to Grass Valley to catch those After Hour Outlaw Poets screaming into the night & bringing the audience to its fucking feet! I am talking the collective voices of Todd Cirillo, Bill Gainer, Chris Olander & Julie Valin & the celebration & publication of yet another Six Ft. Swells Press collection of some badass poetry that sings & swings into those after-hour dreams when you are either alone with your lover or your right hand.
You know, I really dig what these cats are doing… I mean, they are getting out there & making poetry work for them! These cats at Six Ft. Swells don’t talk the talk, no, that is not their style; those fuckers walk the walk & they walk with a very soft & cool NY/Sinatra attitude. You are going to dig the poems here & wonder why you didn’t get yer lazy butt off the couch & race up the hill to catch the reading! Look: maybe you missed out on one of the best poetry readings since Happy Hour, but, for $2 & postage, you can get your copy of this chapbook & pretend that you are any one of the four poets giving you that special, intimate after-hours yummy… Don’t worry Bill, I won’t tell if you don’t tell...
—B.L. Kennedy, Reviewer-in-Residence
B.L.'s Drive-By is a new Thursday feature on Medusa's Kitchen; thanks, B.L.! Watch for more of B.L. Kennedy's reviews in every issue of Rattlesnake Review. Plus, some of his past reviews are posted on rattlesnakepress.com under the heading "SnakeFaves and Things We Wish We'd Published, But Didn't". While you're on the website, check out B.L.'s page; two of his many publications are available there, as well as at The Book Collector. And if you have something you'd like Bari to look at for possible review, his contact info is in the long blurb to the right of this column.
__________________
BESIDE HER TO LIE
—Robert Creeley
He'd like the edge
of her warmth here
"beside her to lie"
in trusting comfort
no longer contests
he loves and wants her.
___________________
IF HAPPINESS
—Robert Creeley
If happiness were
simple joy, bird,
beast or flower
were the so-called world
here everywhere
about us,
then love were as true
as air, as water—
as sky's light, ground's
solidness, rock's hardness,
for us, in us,
of us.
__________________
STILL DANCERS
—Robert Creeley
Set the theme
with a cadence
of love's old
sweet song—
No harm in
the emotional
nor in remembering all
you can or want to.
Let the faint, faded music
pour forth its wonder
and bewitch whom it will,
still dancers under the moon.
___________________
—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 on rattlesnakepress.com.
Coming in March: Rattlesnake Press will be releasing a chapbook from Ann Privateer (Attracted to Light), a littlesnake broadside from Jeanine Stevens (Eclipse), Conversations Vol. 2 of B.L. Kennedy's Rattlesnake Interview Series, 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.