THE TREE
—John Haines
Tree of my life,
you have grown slowly
in the shadows of giants.
Through darkness and solitude
you stretch year by year
toward that strange, clear light
in which the sky is hidden.
In the quiet grain of your
thoughts the inner life
of the forest stirs
like a secret still to be named.
____________________
THE SECOND TREE
—John Haines
You have told us your story,
and our faces
have turned away.
Was it only the rustling
of tiny finches, who came,
full of desire, to feed
among your thoughts?
Or was it the sun,
whose yellow hands
moved shadow and light
in the spaces?
The unfolded flags
of your spirit fall,
from the brown lips
of a listening child
comes an exhausted sigh.
__________________
THE STONE HARP
—John Haines
A road deepening in the north,
strung with steel,
resonant in the winter evening,
as though the earth were a harp
soon to be struck.
As if a spade
rang in a rock chamber:
in the subterranean light,
glittering with mica,
a figure like a tree turning to stone
stands on its charred roots
and tries to sing.
Now there is all this blood
flowing into the west,
ragged holes at the waterline of the sun—
that ship is sinking.
And the only poet is the wind,
a drifter
who walked in from the coast
with empty pockets.
He stands on the road
at evening, making a sound
like a stone harp
strummed
by a handful of leaves...
____________________
SLEEP
—John Haines
Whether we fall asleep under the moon
like gypsies, with silver coins
in our pockets, or crawl deep
into a cave through which the warm,
furry bats go grinning and flying,
or put on a great black coat
and simply ride away into the darkness,
we become at last like trees
who stand within themselves, thinking.
And when we awake—if we do—
we come back bringing the images
of a lonely childhood: the hands
we held, the threads we unwound
from the shadows beneath us;
and sounds as of voices in another room
where some part of our life
was being prepared—near which we lay,
waiting for our life to begin.
___________________
—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
•••Wednesday (2/13), 7:30 PM: Rattlesnake Press will roar to life again after winter hibernation, with a new SnakeRings SpiralChap from Don and Elsie Feliz entitled To Berlin With Love, about their adventures in Germany during the building of the Berlin Wall. Also released that evening will be a new littlesnake broadside from Carlena Wike (Going the Distance). In addition, Ann Wehrman, who gave us December’s littlesnake broadside, Notes From The Ivory Tower, but who was unable to read from it at December’s rattle-read, will be there as well.
But that’s not all!! In addition to the above, another of our area’s fun couples will be handing out a free special publication, and a third set of Sacramento’s sweethearts will be bringing wine…
Unfortunately, Volume 2 of Conversations, B.L. Kennedy's Rattlesnake Interview Series, won't be ready in time. Nevertheless, you REALLY don’t want to miss this grand Valentine’s return of the Snake! Join us at The Book Collector, 100 24th St. (between J and K) in Sacramento on Weds., February 13 at 7:30 PM. Refreshments and a read-around will follow; bring your own poems or somebody else's. February is Love Month!
•••Deadline for Issue #17 of Rattlesnake Review (due out in mid-March) is this coming 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. Or pick one up when you're at the reading on Wednesday.