Like to the Lark

DEBRIS
—Kenneth Fearing

The windows, faintly blue and gold in the sun's first light;
The mirages of the night suddenly replaced by the familiar room;
There is the empty bottle again, and the shattered glass (do you

remember?);

Once more the light left burning in the lamp, and again the cluttered

table-top (do you remember that?).

Do the faces and the words come back to you;
Do all the things the drinking and the talk once more blotted out

come back to you now,

With bitter cigarettes in the morning air?

It strikes and strikes, insane but true: This life, this life, this life,

this life;

While mist rises from the cool valleys,
And somewhere in fresh green hills there is the singing of a bird.

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ANDY AND JERRY AND JOE
—Kenneth Fearing

We were staring at the bottles in the restaurant window,
We could hear the autos go by,
We were looking at the women on the boulevard,
It was cold,
No one else knew about the things we knew.

We watched the crowd, there was a murder in the papers,

the wind blew hard, it was dark,

We didn't know what to do,
There was no place to go and we had nothing to say,
We listened to the bells, and voices, and whistles, and cars
We moved on,
We weren't dull, or wise, or afraid,
We didn't feel tired, or restless, or happy, or sad.

There were a million stars, a million miles, a million people,

a million words,

A million places and a million years,
We knew a lot of things we could hardly understand.
There were liners at sea, and rows of houses here, and clouds

that floated past us away up in the sky.

We waited on the corner,
The lights were in the stores, there were women on the streets,

Jerry's father was dead,

We didn't know what we wanted and there was nothing to say,
Andy had an auto and Joe had a girl.

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Nominate your favorite state poet!

The California Arts Council is accepting nominations for California Poet Laureate, the officially recognized poet for the state of California, as selected by the Governor. Nominations are due by May 15, so take a look at the application now! Self-nominations are accepted. Go to: http://www.cac.ca.gov/artsnews/whatsnewdetail.php?id=39


This week's HandyStuff Quickie: Tools for the Busy Poet

Check out the e-zine, Long Story Short, a resource for writers of all ilk, including poets. Rattlechapper Patricia Wellingham-Jones is regularly represented there, along with other poetry, articles, contests, stories, and many resources and ideas for the writer. That's longstoryshort.net/.

And please feel free to send in other e-zine addresses that you like!

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A HEART ONCE BROKEN—
—Taylor Graham, Somerset

nocturnal prints you find
at dawn, recalling a dream
you woke up to forget—

an empty pocket
three-way seamed but
gaping for a coin, a key—

an old two-stringed violin,
its sound-box still
reverberating rhapsody

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Thanks, TG! Taylor Graham responded to our Seed of the Week: The heart once broken... Send in your poems about broken hearts to kathykieth@hotmail.com (or P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726) by midnight this Friday (4/25), and I'll mail you your choice of either Ann Menebroker's new chapbook, Small Crimes, or Katy Brown's new journal, Musings. Or some other rattlechap without which you'd be broken-hearted...

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SONNET 29
—William Shakespeare

When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself, and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possessed,
Desiring this man's art and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee—and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.


Today, William Shakespeare would have been 444 years old.

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Today's LittleNip:

The remarkable thing about Shakespeare is that he really is very good, in spite of all the people who say he is very good.

—Robert Graves

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—Medusa


Here's Medusa's 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 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. Send books, CDs, DVDs, etc. to him for possible review (either as a Drive-By or in Rattlesnake Review) at P.O. Box 160664, Sacramento, CA 95816.

Friday: NorCal weekend poetry calendar

Daily (except Sunday): LittleNips: SnakeFood for the Poetic Soul: Daily munchables for poetic thought, including short paragraphs, quotes, wonky words, silliness, little-known poetry/poet facts, and other inspiration—yet another way to feed our ever-hungry poetic souls.

And poetry! Every day, poetry from writers near and far. The Snakes of Medusa are always hungry.......!

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SnakeWatch: News from Rattlesnake Press

New in April: Ann Menebroker’s new chapbook (Small Crimes); Ted Finn's SnakeRings SpiralChap of his poetry and art (Damn the Eternal War); and Katy Brown's blank (well, not really) journal of photos and prompts, MUSINGS (For Capturing Creative Thought). All of these are now available at The Book Collector and will soon be available through rattlesnakepress.com.

Coming in May: Join us on Wednesday, May 14 for the release of Among Summer Pines by Quinton Duval; a littlesnake broadside, Before Naming, by Stephani Schaefer; and Volume Three of Conversations, our third book of interviews by B.L. Kennedy. That's at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, 7:30 PM.

Also in May: Deadline for Issue #18 of Rattlesnake Review is May 15. Free copies of Issue #17 are available at The Book Collector, or send me two bux and I'll mail you one.


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.