Puffin
(Fratercula arctica)
(Fratercula arctica)
SEAWEED
—Pablo Neruda
I am the seaweed of the storm
dashed by the surf;
the stirrings of shipwrecks
and the storm's hands
moved and instructed me;
here you have my cold flowers,
my simulated submission
to the wind's judgment;
I survive the water,
the salt, the fishermen,
with my elastic latitude
and my vestments of iodine.
__________________
THE SEA URCHIN
—Pablo Neruda
The sea urchin is the sun of the sea,
centrifugal and orange,
full of quills like flames,
made of eggs and iodine.
The sea urchin is like the world:
round, fragile, hidden;
wet, secret, and hostile,
the sea urchin is like love.
___________________
This weekend in NorCal poetry:
•••Tonight (Friday, 2/22), 7:30 PM: The Avid Reader in downtown Davis presents Susan Kelly-DeWitt reading from her new book, The Fortunate Islands. Here is the link to the event: http://avidreader.booksense.com/NASApp/store/IndexJsp;
jsessionid=abcrt33MTdS1ghnfQAdCr?s=storeevents&eventId=366534
•••Saturday (2/23), 7-9 PM: The Caution Tour Comes To Sacramento, featuring poets Ner City (2007 Show Stoppa Slam Champ), Tamara Blue from Pasadena, and Judah 1 from Los Angeles. Plus: Live band LSB and the Super Love Poem Competition winner. Guild Theater (Off 35th & Broadway), Sacramento. $7.00. Open mic for all ages. Info: T-Mo (916)208-POET.
__________________
STARFISH
—Pablo Neruda
When the stars in the sky
ignore the firmament
and go off to sleep by day,
the stars of the water greet
the sky buried in the sea,
inaugurating the duties
of the new undersea heavens.
___________________
OCTOPUS
—Pablo Neruda
Octopus, oh blood-colored monk
the fluttering of your robe
circulates on the salt of the rock
like a satanic slickness.
Oh visceral testimony,
branch of congealed rays,
monarchy's head
of arms and premonitions:
portrait of the chill,
plural cloud of black rain.
__________________
SEAL
—Pablo Neruda
The knot of zoology
is this functional seal
that lives in a sack of rubber
or inside the black light of its skin.
Inside of her,
inherent movements circulate
to the sea's kingdom
and one sees this enclosed being
in the storm's gymnasium,
discovering the world encircled
by staircases of ice,
until she gazes at us
with the planet's most penetrating eyes.
___________________
Today's poetry is from Maremoto (Seaquake) by Pablo Neruda, translated from the Spanish by Maria Jacketti and Dennis Maloney, White Pine Press, 1993.
—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.