HOW TO REGAIN YOUR SOUL
—William Stafford
Come down Canyon Creek trail on a summer afternoon
that one place where the valley floor opens out.
You will see
the white butterflies. Because of the way shadows
come off those vertical rocks in the west, there are
shafts of sunlight hitting the river and a deep
long purple gorge straight ahead. Put down your pack.
Above, air sighs the pines. It was this way
when Rome was clanging, when Troy was being built,
when campfires lighted caves. The white butterflies dance
by the thousands in the still sunshine. Suddenly anything
could happen to you. Your soul pulls toward the canyon
and then shines back through the white wings to be you again.
__________________
Can you stand one more love poem? This one is from Wayne Robinson, who was also inspired by the end of Love Month:
FOOLISH IN LOVE
—Wayne Robinson, Lodi
Foolish, I see myself in this fools place again,
making a stand
Chasing the sparking specks like the fools gold in
the sand
At the bottom of the stream, so rich in the look of
gold
Worthless, except for the dream, love before we get
too old.
I carry my pan with me like a heart on a sleeve,
ready to swirl
A promising waterway like dancing with a smiling,
willing girl.
Fairies in the mist, the princess and the pea,
Rapunzel, with hair
To let down, while love sick I, romantic I, await
you there.
Romeo beneath the balcony, or maybe Cyrano, Arise
Fair Sun!
My strength and fate are within your tepee, your man
has come!
Take my hair! Leave me to my enemies, I shall endure
As long you love me, the blind Samson, as long as I’m
sure.
I shall collect the fairy dust that has taken the
shape of iron pyrite
Devour the letters of Valentine, the last he had time
to write,
And watch you dance, I love to have you dance next to
me
You float like a dandelion puff when the meadow is
windy.
___________________
And more Stafford:
IN THE DEEP CHANNEL
—William Stafford
Setting a trotline after sundown
if we went far enough away in the night
sometimes up out of deep water
would come a secret-headed channel cat,
Eyes that were still eyes in the rush of darkness,
flowing feelers noncommittal and black,
and hidden in the fins those rasping bone daggers,
with one spiking upward on its back.
We would come at daylight and find the line sag,
the fishbelly gleam and the rush on the tether:
to feel the swerve and the deep current
which tugged at the tree roots below the river.
__________________
THINGS I LEARNED LAST WEEK
—William Stafford
Ants, when they meet each other,
usually pass on the right.
Sometimes you can open a sticky
door with your elbow.
A man in Boston has dedicated himself
to telling about injustice.
For three thousand dollars he will
come to your town and tell you about it.
Schopenhauer was a pessimist but
he played the flute.
Yeats, Pound, and Eliot saw art as
growing from other art. They studied that.
If I ever die, I'd like it to be
in the evvening. That way, I'll have
all the dark to go with me, and no one
will see how I begin to hobble along.
In the Pentagon one person's job is to
take pins out of towns, hills, and fields,
and then save the pins for later.
___________________
—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.