RATTLED
—Tom Goff, Carmichael
Tippy the cockapoo’s on a long leash,
taking the point in our nature platoon.
Her fur glows white gold in the afternoon
heat. Bannister Park. Reptile-heat, almost
a Mexico scorpion-heat, wherever there isn’t
American River to wet the grass, gravel, dust.
Tippy pokes out ahead, tongue lolling
out of her mouth sideways; then of a sudden,
her neck straightens out full—something to play
with, in all this dust! She pats, prods
with her glossy forefeet: something seems
to go zizz! And a coil of something glints
in a loose-lasso shape: a rattlesnake. Nora
sees, screams out once, twice, “Tippy!”
But as the little dog sniffs, then shakes
obedience back into her head and comes,
the serpent’s just zithered, insinuate slinky,
right past Tippy’s legs in an s-curve slither of zinc
and whipcord indifference, with a soupçon
of sapience: little big beast won’t hurt me,
I can belly-run faster than rattle and strike.
Our breaths coming back from astral somewhere off
back to body, we bless ourselves, dogs, and one
nonviolent, almost demonstrably sainted snake.
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Thanks, Tom! I've had plenty of encounters of my own with rattlers, first in Fair Oaks (real ones), and then, of course, through our (demonstrably sainted) poetry with fangs.
But the photos today are of the Revolutionary kind, brought to mind by the current HBO series, John Adams, which I definitely recommend you take a look at during this lively election year. Normally I don't talk directly about politics in my publications, but artists are never far from the life and times of their countries, yes? Like it or not... Yesterday's Sacramento Bee, for example, had an article about ballet students in Iraq, how they and other artists have to keep avoiding extremists, how they almost have to practice in secret. We take our freedoms for granted, and the excellent John Adams mini-series movingly portrays, through the life of [to my mind] one of the most interesting Revolutionary figures, the thinking and the struggles of the people who founded this country.
By the way, these photos are courtesy of Gadsden.info. Check them out for their history of how the symbol of the rattlesnake became so integral to our early history.
Lest we forget:
DATES
—Semezdin Mehmedinovic
On 17th January 1994, he was killed.
For every day since,
he's been dead.
He is dead today too—
Friday the 24th February 1995.
And every evening
something uncanny
happens to me.
When I step into the bathroom
I notice in the mirror
how over my left shoulder
a shadow grows.
It's not mine. And if I look back
over that shoulder,
what do I see?
A dream, but my eyes are open:
a raven has flown down to my table
and it speaks,
saying: on the 17th May,
cherries will be ripe in Sarajevo.
I hear it, and I wait.
(translated from the Bosnian by Kathleen Jamie)
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Calendar additions/reminders for this week:
This weekend has an awesome array of poetry activities; check back to Monday's post for details. Here are some updates to add:
•••Tonight (Thurs., 4/3), SpiralChappers Susan and Joe Finkleman will be reading their two-voice poetry at 8 PM at Poetry Unplugged (Luna's Cafe, 1414 16th St., Sacramento). Open mic before and after.
•••Saturday (4/5), 7 PM: The Sugar Shack/The Shuga Shaque/The Suga Shak: A Night of Poetry, Music and Art at its Best at Delta of Venus Café, 122 B St., Davis. Host Mario Ellis Hill writes: As some of you may know, some friends and myself had the opportunity in the early ‘90's to start an artists' performance workshop in Davis that went by the name of the SUGAR SHACK. At these events, running from 1993-1998, we invited all of the artists we personally knew—poets, actors, writers, dancers, artists, musicians, singers, etc.—to perform, as well as bring some grub for the potlucks. It was a chance for all of us hibernating-&- in-the-closet artists in the Davis community to get to know each other, as well as share our gifts with other like-minded folks. Well, after so many years, The Shack is Back! Take advantage of this opportunity to come out to see some fantastic music and poetic grooves! Saturday's featured poets include Traci Gourdine, FuhShang! & The Jalapeno Chocolates (Vincent Kobelt & Mario Ellis Hill), Terry Moore, Bill Carr, Jr., Miss Marianna, Susan & Joseph Finkleman, Samuel Iniguez, Sean King, Terryl Wheat & Rob Lozano. Featured musicians include Gentle Creatures (Sacramento), Pais De Trois (Sacramento), and Samilia (Davis). Info: lee@deltaofvenus.org or Mario at 916-752-7275.
•••Saturday (4/5), 7:30 PM: Cornered: Five Years of Sacramento News & Review's Poet's Corner. Join Poet's Corner Editor Kel Munger, special guest Joe Wenderoth, and some of the Corner's frequent contributors for a reading and celebration of its fifth anniversary. All at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sac. And check out Kel’s new SN&R blog, too, at http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/bibliolatry/Blogs.
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Taylor Graham is the only one so far to sprout results from this week's Seed of the Week (see Tuesday's post), the gnarly tyburn. Here's what she came up with:
APRIL
Elfish
lavish
impish
ticklish—
the garden blooms elfish-lavish—come
hear the bees (so impish-ticklish) hum.
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SECURITY
Gated
crated
grated
straited
how we live here gated, crated tight
in this iron-grated, straited plight.
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YOUR DOG
Funky
monkey
hunky
punky
leaps and dances, funky monkey, clown;
he grins and spins, hunky-punky— “Down!”
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Thanks, TG! And our give-away continues until Friday at midnight. Send in a poem using the word, "agrexophrenia", and I'll send you a free copy of Ann Privateer's new rattlechap, Attracted to Light.
No B.L. Drive-by this week; Bari is still sick. Not too sick to read, though: send him books, etc. for possible review at the address to the right of this column.
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OUR CORNER LIQUOR STORE
burned down—our “snack shop,”
said our niece once, five years old. Gone,
the bright snacks: Gummi Worms, beer,
Bridgeport bacon, Doritos. Shy-complacent,
I never learned the shopkeepers’ names: kind,
Eastern, watchful. The patriarch, soft-voiced,
self-made, lately self-remade pure Sikh,
black turban and long gray beard. Family lives
to remake now, on insurance and nerve.
Altered, all, in one red whoosh: gigantic
fire ladder, too late, clamping a waterfall.
Portent like a female mantis holding
the Reaper’s black sickle between forefeet.
—Tom Goff
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LittleNip of the Day:
This website contributes a few grains of rice for every vocabulary word you select correctly: http://freerice.com/index.php
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—Medusa
Here's Medusa's new weekly menu of features. Contributors are welcome to submit to any and all of these!
Monday: Weekly NorCal poetry calendar
Tuesday: Seed of the Week: Tuesday is Medusa's day to post poetry triggers such as quotes, forms, photos, memories, jokes—whatever might tickle somebody's muse. Pick up the gauntlet and send in your poetic results; and don't be shy about sending in your own triggers, too! All poems will be posted and a few of them will go into Medusa's Corner of each Rattlesnake Review. Send your work to me at kathykieth@hotmail.com or P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726. No deadline for SOW; respond today, tomorrow, or whenever the muse arrives. (Print 'em out, maybe, save 'em for a dry spell?) When you send us work, though, just let us know which "seed" it was that inspired you.
Wednesday: HandyStuff Quickies: Resources for the poet, including whatever helps ease the pain of writing and/or publishing. Favorite journals to read and/or submit to; books, etc., about writing; organizational tools—you know—HandyStuff! Tell us about your favorites.
Thursday: B.L.'s Drive-Bys: Micro-reviews by our irreverent Reviewer-in-Residence, B.L. Kennedy
Friday: NorCal poetry calendar for the weekend
Daily (except Sunday): LittleNips: SnakeFood for the Poetic Soul: Daily food for poetic thought, including short paragraphs, quotes, wonky words, silliness, and other inspiration. Yet another way to feed our ever-hungry poetic souls.
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SnakeWatch: News from Rattlesnake Press
The latest Rattlesnake Review (#17) is now available for free at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento. If you'd like me to mail you one, send two bux to P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726. Next deadline is May 15 for #18, due out in mid-June.
Coming April 9: We will mark the Snake’s fourth birthday by throwing his Fourth Annual Birthday Bash at The Book Collector on Wednesday, April 9, including a buffet at 7 PM, followed by a reading. That night, there will be three history-making releases: Ann Menebroker’s new chapbook (Small Crimes); Ted Finn re-emerges with a new SnakeRings SpiralChap of his poetry and art (Damn the Eternal War); and Katy Brown inaugurates her blank (well, not really) journal series of photos and prompts for our HandyStuff department with her MUSINGS (For Capturing Creative Thought). Please join us to celebrate four years of [your] poetry with fangs!
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). And be sure to sign up for Snakebytes, our monthly e-newsletter that will keep you up-to-date on all our ophidian chicanery.