When Rain (Sings the Light)

SONG
—Thomas Merton

When rain, (sings light) rain has devoured my house
And wind wades through my trees,
The cedars fawn upon the storm with their huge paws.
Silence is louder than a cyclone
In the rude door, my shelter.
And there I eat my air alone
With pure and solitary songs

While others sit in conference.
Their windows grieve, and soon frown
And glass begins to wrinkle with a multitude of water
Till I no longer see their speech
And they no longer know my theater.

Rivers clothe their houses
And hide their naked wisdom.
Their conversations
Go down into the deep like submarines:
Submerge them, with their pale expressions, in my storm.

But I drink rain, drink wind
Distinguish poems
Boiling up out of the cold forest:
Lift to the wind my eyes full of water,
My face and mind, to take their free refreshment.

Thus I live on my own land, on my own island
And speak to God, my God, under the doorway
When rain, (sings light) rain has devoured my house
And winds wade through my trees.

__________________

This week in NorCal poetry:

•••Monday (5/26), 7:30 PM: Sacramento Poetry Center presents Chad Sweeney and Joshua McKinney at HQ for the Arts, 1719 25th St., Sacramento. Open mic to follow. [See Friday's post for bios.]

•••Wednesday (5/28) from 6-7 PM: Upstairs Poetry Reading at The Upstairs Art Gallery, 420 Main St. (2nd floor), Placerville. It's a poetry open-mike read-around, so bring your own poems or those of a favorite poet to share, or just come to listen. No charge.

•••Thursday (5/29), 8 PM: Poetry Unplugged at Luna's Cafe, 1414 16th St., Sacramento. Open mic before and after.

•••Saturday (5/31), 7-9 PM: The Show poetry series features national poet & Slam Champ Michael Guinn from Texas, Popular Poet 'He Spit Fire' from Sac Town, Recording Artist Carla Fleming, Musician & Vocalist Calvin Lymos (UC Davis Choir Director) and Larry Ukali Johnson-Redd from the Bay Area. Wo'se Community Center (Off 35th & Broadway), 2863 35th St., Sacramento. Cost is $5, but in May youth under the age of 18 are FREE! Open mic; all talents, all ages. Info: fromtheheart1@hotmail.com/.

•••Sunday (6/1), 11 AM to 3 PM: Annual Poets With Trees Reading in Sutro Heights Park, San Francisco (at the end of Clement Street by the ocean). Bring poems of your own or poems by your favorite poets. Multiple reading stations if you want. Bring your own lunch, and an additional goodie to share. Info: http://www.clarahsu.com/hotel.html

___________________

This week's Seed of the Week:



__________________

This week's LittleNip:

His fear of ridicule kept him from singing.

—Stephen Dobyns

__________________

—Medusa (who has taken a powder for the week; next post will be at the beginning of June)



MEDUSA'S WEEKLY MENU:

(Contributors are welcome to cook something up for 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 favorite tools.

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 ravenous poetic souls.

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

_________________

SNAKEWATCH: NEWS FROM RATTLESNAKE PRESS

New for May: Rattlesnake Press is proud to announce the release of Among Summer Pines by Quinton Duval and a littlesnake broadside, Before Naming, by Stephani Schaefer. Both of these are now available at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, and will soon be available at rattlesnakepress.com/.

Coming June 11: Two Moons in June: Join us at The Book Collector for the premiere of Day Moon, a new chapbook by James DenBoer, and Mindfully Moon, a littlesnake broadside by Carol Louise Moon, as well as Volume Three of Conversations, our third book of interviews by B.L. Kennedy, featuring Art Beck, Olivia Costellano, Quinton Duval, William S. Gainer, Mario Ellis Hill, Kathryn Hohlwein, James Jee Jobe, Andy Jones, Rebecca Morrison, Viola Weinberg and Phillip T. Nails. All this PLUS a brand-new edition of Rattlesnake Review! That's at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, 7:30 PM, June 11. See you there!


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.

Poems for the Parched

Charity Bryson (and her grandson)

OCTOBER RAIN
—Charity Bryson, Grass Valley

gray pine
needles scorched.

baked earth

fog
hanging in the air
cloaking to pine.

mist gathers
falls
leaving
pearled patterns
in the dust.

rain becomes
a russet trail
sucked deep
by parched roots.

__________________

Thanks, Charity! Charity Bryson says: I started writing poetry in high school and college. Drugs, sex and rock & roll got me sidetracked in the '60's, as did child rearing later in my life. Over the past few years I've rediscovered the magic of poetry. I've been published by Rattlesnake Review and the Nevada County Poetry Series (twice), received second and third place at the Nevada County Fair for my poems. I'm active with NCPS, Sierra Writers and Iven Laurie's Cafe Writers. I have two beautiful grandsons (ages 2 and 4) who frequently serve as my muses. Nature (most specifically Rock Creek Nature Trail) often shares her treasures with me and has come to be my primary muse. I've lived in Nevada County for 20-plus years. Raised in Napa. Went to San Francisco State in the '60s but, as I said previously, I got sidetracked by the hippy adventure and never graduated.


METAL & GLASS
—Charity Bryson

crisp blue sky
early Sunday morning
the only sound
my tires treading on blacktop

Hispanic youth
hastens along the sidewalk
alone
he lights a cigarette

for an instant
in the quiet solitude of the street
an unguarded connection
settles between us

glancing up
his brown eyes
meet mine
head nods
flicker of smile

then
he continues on his journey

I coast by in my Prius
separated by metal
and glass

___________________

CANINE MEDITATION
—Charity Bryson

cast iron pot simmers
on my woodstove
steeping the room in
cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg.

Leiben, contented,
snuggles her long nose into my arm.

Sequoia’s great silver head
rests warmly on my foot.

Daisy rests on the couch
her face tucked into her warm belly.

Three canine souls
content with the universe
and
I while away the hours
sipping a spot of tea.

__________________

Thanks, Charity! Watch for more of Charity Bryson's work in Snake 18, due out in mid-June.

David Humphreys sends us this response to last Tuesday's Seed of the Week (keys). Thanks, David!


KEYS TO QUESTIONS
—David Humphreys, Stockton

Learning to see
With ears that listen,
Learning to know
By walking slow.
Shedding confusion,
Clarity dawning,
Wisdom appearing
In revelation
Tranquility’s calm
And epiphany.

_________________

Today's LittleNip:

Walt Whitman didn't sing only as a white man or a gay man. He didn't even sing as a living man, as opposed to a dead man. He made the human race look like a better idea.

—Sharon Olds

_________________

—Medusa


MEDUSA'S WEEKLY MENU:

(Contributors are welcome to cook something up for 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 favorite tools.

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 poetic souls.

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

_________________

SNAKEWATCH: NEWS FROM RATTLESNAKE PRESS

New for May: Rattlesnake Press is proud to announce the release of Among Summer Pines by Quinton Duval and a littlesnake broadside, Before Naming, by Stephani Schaefer. Both of these are now available at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, and will soon be available at rattlesnakepress.com/.

Coming June 11: Two Moons in June: Join us at The Book Collector for the premiere of Day Moon, a new chapbook by James DenBoer, and Mindfully Moon, a littlesnake broadside by Carol Louise Moon, as well as Volume Three of Conversations, our third book of interviews by B.L. Kennedy, featuring Art Beck, Olivia Costellano, Quinton Duval, William S. Gainer, Mario Ellis Hill, Kathryn Hohlwein, James Jee Jobe, Andy Jones, Rebecca Morrison, Viola Weinberg and Phillip T. Nails. All this PLUS a brand-new edition of Rattlesnake Review! That's at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, 7:30 PM, June 11.


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.

Gemini Poets

A NOISELESS, PATIENT SPIDER
—Walt Whitman

A noiseless patient spider,
I mark'd where on a little promontory it stood isolated,
Mark'd how to explore the vacant vast surrounding,
It launched forth filament, filament, filmament, out of itself,
Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them.
And you O my soul where you stand,
Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space,
Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to

connect them,

Till the bridge you will need be form'd, till the ductile anchor hold,
Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul.

__________________

Thanks, Walt! May and June bring a gaggle of Gemini poets: Dante, Creeley, Roethke, Emerson, Carver, Whitman, Hardy, Ginsberg, Lorca, California Poet Laureate Al Young—and the list goes on from there. I'll leave you to check Katy Brown's perpetual calendar, A Poet's Book of Days, from Rattlesnake Press (which is available at rattlesnakepress.com or The Book Collector in Sacramento) for more. But today we celebrate a few of them:

I LOOK INTO MY GLASS
—Thomas Hardy

I look into my glass,
And view my wasting skin,
And say, "Would God it came to pass
My heart had shrunk as thin!"

For then, I, undistrest
By hearts grown cold to me,
Could lonely wait my endless rest
With equanimity.

But Time, to make me grieve,
Part steals, lets part abide;
And shakes this fragile frame at eve
With throbbings of noontide.

__________________

This weekend in NorCal poetry:

•••Monday (5/26), 7:30 PM: Sacramento Poetry Center presents Chad Sweeney and Joshua McKinney at HQ for the Arts, 1719 25th St., Sacramento. Open mic to follow. Chad Sweeney is coeditor of Parthenon West Review and the author of two full-length books of poetry, An Architecture (BlazeVOX, 2007) and Arranging the Blaze (Anhinga, 2009), as well as the chapbook, A Mirror to Shatter the Hammer (Tarpaulin Sky, 2006). He was chosen for Best American Poetry 2008 by Charles Wright, and his work has appeared in journals such as New American Writing, Barrow Street, Verse, Black Warrior, Colorado Review, Tea Party, Runes, Poetry Flash, Crazyhorse, H_ngm_n, GutCult, Indiana Review, Poetry International, American Letters & Commentary, Interim, Denver Qtly, Slope, Coconut, Forklift, Big Bell, Pool, T-Sky, Ping Pong, the tiny, and Electronic Poetry Review. With Iranian writer and scholar, Mojdeh Marashi, Chad has translated the selected works of poet H. E. Sayeh with the support of a grant from the SF Arts Commission. Chad lives in San Francisco with his wife, poet Jennifer K. Sweeney, but will begin a PhD in English/Poetry at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo in the Fall of 2008. Joshua McKinney’s Permutations of the Gallery was the winner of the Pavement Saw Press chapbook contest. Saunter won the University of Georgia Press Contemporary Poetry Series Competition for 2001. The Novice Mourner won the Dorothy Brunsman Prize of Bear Star Press. His work has appeared in American Letters & Commentary, Boulevard, The Kenyon Review, Colorado Review, Denver Quarterly, Ploughshares, International Quarterly, Volt, and many others. He is a black belt in Kendo and in verbal jujitsu. He also occasionally morphs into a meteorologist in South Carolina where he has become passionately immersed in thunderstorm dynamics [http://news14.com/content/about_us/joshua_mckinney/].

___________________

THE MOON SAILS OUT
—Federico García Lorca

When the moon sails out
the church bells die away
and the paths overgrown
with brush appear.

When the moon sails out
the waters cover the earth
and the heart feels it is
a little island in the infinite.

No one eats oranges
under the full moon.
The right things are fruits
green and chilled.

When the moon sails out
with a hundred faces all the same,
the coins made of silver
break out in sobs in the pocket.

__________________

from THE SHAPE OF FIRE
—Theodore Roethke

Morning-fair, follow me further back
Into that minnowy world of weeds and ditches,
When the herons floated high over the white houses,
And the little crabs slipped into silvery craters.
When the sun for me glinted the sides of a sand grain.
And my intent stretched over the buds at their first trembling.

That air and shine: and the flicker's loud summer call:
The bearded boards in the stream and the all of apples;
The glad hen on the hill; and the trellis humming.
Death was not. I lived in a simple drowse:
Hands and hair moved through a dream of wakening blossoms.
Rain sweetened the cave and dove still called;
The flowers leaned on themselves, the flowers in hollows;
And love, love sang toward.

___________________

VIGIL
—Raymond Carver

They waited all day for the sun to appear. Then,
late in the afternoon, like a good prince,
it showed itself for a few minutes.
Blazing high over the benchland that lies at the foot
of the peaks behind their borrowed house.
Then the clouds were drawn once more.

They were happy enough. But all evening
the curtains made melancholy gestures,
swishing in front of the open windows. After dinner
they stepped onto the balcony.
Where they heard the river plunging in the canyon and,
closer, the creak of trees, sigh of boughs.

The tall grasses promised to rustle forever.
She put her hand on his neck. He touched her cheek.
Then bats came from all sides to harry them back.
Inside, they closed the windows. Kept their distance.
Watched a procession of stars. And, once in a awhile,
creatures that flung themselves in front of the moon.

_________________

Today's LittleNip:

A box of cobwebs, the self he protected for so long.

—Stephen Dobyns

__________________

—Medusa


MEDUSA'S WEEKLY MENU:

(Contributors are welcome to cook something up for 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 favorite tools.

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 poetic souls.

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

_________________

SNAKEWATCH: NEWS FROM RATTLESNAKE PRESS

New for May: Rattlesnake Press is proud to announce the release of Among Summer Pines by Quinton Duval and a littlesnake broadside, Before Naming, by Stephani Schaefer. Both of these are now available at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, and will soon be available at rattlesnakepress.com/.

Coming June 11: Two Moons in June: Join us at The Book Collector for the premiere of Day Moon, a new chapbook by James DenBoer, and Mindfully Moon, a littlesnake broadside by Carol Louise Moon, as well as Volume Three of Conversations, our third book of interviews by B.L. Kennedy, featuring Art Beck, Olivia Costellano, Quinton Duval, William S. Gainer, Mario Ellis Hill, Kathryn Hohlwein, James Jee Jobe, Andy Jones, Rebecca Morrison, Viola Weinberg and Phillip T. Nails. All this PLUS a brand-new edition of Rattlesnake Review! That's at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, 7:30 PM, June 11.


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.

When Black Noses Forage

Karen Terrey

BREAKS IN THE FENCE
—Karen Terrey, Truckee

Fences that divide us
are negotiated by bears blacker than the night,
dogs crawling beneath,
dark knots of children’s faces
spying between broken pine slats,
mariachi music everywhere,
tented tops of cowboy hats bobbing along,

and morning greetings at driveway edges
by neighbors cleaning up

laundry lint, broken wine bottles, old notes,
oatmeal, coffee grounds, what
ever we throw out of our lives,
on the street the next morning
between neighbors.

Black noses forage in the night,
garbage lids clatter off porches.

_________________

Thanks, Karen! Great to hear from voices in Truckee! Watch for more of Karen's work in Rattlesnake Review #18, due out in mid-June. Karen Terrey holds an MFA in Creative Writing and is the poetry editor for Quay, a literary arts journal. She balances her time between teaching creative writing and teaching skiing in N. Lake Tahoe. Her poems can be read in Moonshine Ink, Poet’s Espresso, Sierra Nevada Review, Autumn Sky Poetry, Concelebratory Shoehorn Review, and elsewhere. For info on her creative writing workshops in Truckee, go to: www.karenaterrey.blogspot.com.

Next submissions period for Quay, by the way, is July 1-August 31. Check it out at www.quayjournal.org/.

By the way, I must confess that today's LittleNip was lifted from their website...

__________________

B.L.'s Drive-By: This week's micro-review by B.L. Kennedy

A WOMAN ALONE at NIGHT
BY TAMARA FAITH BERGER
197 pages, $13.95
ISBN 13: 978-1-933368—53-5
SOFT SKULL PRESS
55 WASHINGTON STREET, SUITE 804
BROOKLYN, NY 11201

I was really excited when I first read about A Woman Alone at Night by the very talented Tamara Faith Berger who, in a very linear way, reminds me of tame Kathy Acker. But I will throw that thought to the wayside, because A Woman Alone at Night is indeed a very entertaining and surreal read. Loosely based on the story of St. Mary of Egypt, A Woman Alone at Night is insightful without being dull, it is sexually explicit but not shocking, and it is, simply put, a decent novel with a fine storyline and delightful narrative. I recommend the book to any reader who drifts toward the erotic side of art.

___________________

VOYEURISM
—Karen Terry

We did not know each other well enough
to do the things we did to each other. —Sharon Olds

A snowy crowd of pines
against the glass pane
murmur before the show.

I play my role, invite
him in, let his tongue
run down my valley.

A brief strength our bodies braid;
from afar I watch,
squirm beneath his weight.

A bare moon
outside the window
nods her appreciation.

___________________

NANA'S PSALM
—Karen Terrey

Her arms did not flap: she was so thin.
Her cupped palms rose from the bed:
the oxygen mask fell sideways.
She could not feed herself:
her walk-in closet, her emerald rings, nothing
outside the hospital room mattered anymore.
From below the shadow of death she murmured
“my cup runneth over, my cup runneth over”
recording us in her gaze.
I kissed her cheek:
the skin looked dry, felt damp on my lips.
Her prayer book was gold-edged, and if her hands were strong enough,
her fingers could make the pages of worship flutter like waves on a beach.

“I want communion Saturday and the funeral
on Sunday. Call…”
She recited phone numbers to us from memory.
The priest was late:
he dipped his finger in the wine, touched it to her still mouth.
I watched a burgundy drop build on her pale lip:
I did not wipe it away.

__________________

Today's LittleNip:

I am trying to check my habits of seeing, to counter them for the sake of greater freshness. I am trying to be unfamiliar with what I'm doing.

—John Cage

__________________

—Medusa


MEDUSA'S WEEKLY MENU:

(Contributors are welcome to cook something up for 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 favorite tools.

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.......!

_________________

SNAKEWATCH: NEWS FROM RATTLESNAKE PRESS

New for May: Rattlesnake Press is proud to announce the release of Among Summer Pines by Quinton Duval and a littlesnake broadside, Before Naming, by Stephani Schaefer. Both of these are now available at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, and will soon be available at rattlesnakepress.com/.

Coming June 11: Two Moons in June: Join us at The Book Collector for the premiere of Day Moon, a new chapbook by James DenBoer, and Mindfully Moon, a littlesnake broadside by Carol Louise Moon, as well as Volume Three of Conversations, our third book of interviews by B.L. Kennedy, featuring Art Beck, Olivia Costellano, Quinton Duval, William S. Gainer, Mario Ellis Hill, Kathryn Hohlwein, James Jee Jobe, Andy Jones, Rebecca Morrison, Viola Weinberg and Phillip T. Nails. All this PLUS a brand-new edition of Rattlesnake Review! That's at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, 7:30 PM, June 11.


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.

Words Like Silver Raindrops

Photo by Patricia Wellingham-Jones

KEYS
—Patricia Wellingham-Jones, Tehama

In those last months you forgot
where you were
to eat lunch
how to find the bathroom
that you were dressed
or not

You forgot my name
then your own
even the parts of your body

But you never forgot
to put keys in your pocket
patted your pants to check
fretted if they were gone

Those keys
you no longer used
that would not gain
entrance to heaven

Those keys
unlocked the vault
of comfort

________________

Thanks, Patricia! Patricia Wellingham-Jones was inspired by yesterday's Seed of the Week (keys) to not only write her poignant poem, but to take a photo as well. And here's one from Taylor Graham, too; thanks, TG!

CLOCK MASTER

Pocket full of keys, owns nothing.
—Stephen Dobyns

He’s got the key to everybody’s clock
in his pocket. Just look at all the gears,
the springs and falls. Just listen to
the orchestra of chiming, pulsing, ticks
all synchronized to passing seconds.
He can’t afford shirt-sleeves but he’s got
a pocket full of brass steel iron keys,
any kind of metal that outlasts flesh.
He’ll tell you, none of this is his. He
can’t even give you the time.


(inspired by Dobyns and Vladimir Bitkovsky’s “Clock Master”)

___________________

This week's HandyStuff Quickie: Walking on Alligators

Do you know about Walking on Alligators: A Book of Meditations for Writers by Susan Shaughnessy (HarperCollins, 1993)? The opening sentence of this little book is, "The only way to write is to write today", but Susan Shaughnessy knows all about those gremlins that haunt/tease/block some of us whenever we sit down to work. She has put together a series of quotes from famous writers (and you'll see some of these in future LittleNips) and then written a page or so expanding on these in meditation form, applying the essence of each quote to the writing life and concerns of all of us. Quotes like, "A writer should value his blockages. That means he's starting to scale down, to get close" (Robert Pirsig) or "You know, you don't always have a choice of what you're going to write. You're not like a cow that can give cream with one udder and milk with another" (Bruce Duffy). These meditations aren't direct images for particular poems like a poetry trigger would be; instead, they're designed to clear away the cobwebs that block our writing—little (or not-so-little) devils like restlessness and insecurity. There are lots of "encouragement" books out there, but I like this more digestible page-a-day format, something quick and to-a-point that doesn't take a lot of time to read. Some of us don't need encouragement or inspiration to get started, but if you do, even just sometimes, this little book is 'way cool. Gets your head in the right place before you pick up your pencil.

Speaking of inspiration, if this quote from the New York Times doesn't spur you on, I don't know what will: Rejected by 121 houses before its publication in 1974, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance thrust Robert M. Pirsig into stardom, selling more than three million copies in paperback alone. [Yes, that's right—121!! And you think you've been rejected...]

Hey—got any favorite resources? Books, websites, or other tools you can tell us about? Send 'em along! We need all the help we can get!

___________________

LINGUAGGIO
—David Humphreys, Stockton

Language is a fence at which neighbors meet
to discuss the passing day.
Language is a tree branching
from one thing to the next searching for a way
or a field furrowed for a harvest coming in the fall,
bricks stacked high with mortar to build a standing wall.
Language is a river running to the far off distant sea,
words like silver raindrops to grow things perfectly.

___________________

Thanks, David! Here are two more, these from Los Feliz:

NIGHTMARE
—Don Feliz, Sacramento

The crowd shuffles downhill over the
broken pavement, past cracked tunnel walls,
toward a point of light ahead.

Leaders ignore the smooth side passages.
Hunger weakens us. The light grows,
but the tunnel shrinks and the air stagnates.

We wade in putrid pools, finally squeeze
free into stifling heat on an endless beach.

___________________

THE DAY I WAS BORN AND AFTER
—Elsie Whitlow Feliz, Sacramento

The doctor slapped me hard
to get me breathing in this world
of green rooms and ether.

My mother’s dreams ended—
no movie star career for her.

I want to say she forgave me for
intruding, that her life was better
than before my arrival, but it wasn’t.

She didn’t like motherhood much
until my brother was born at the
same hospital two years later.

But even he brought her grief. She
wanted to go back to the time before
marriage, before children. Radio,

movies, and TV took her away from
us, letting her live on air waves,
in her own electric heaven.

___________________

Today's LittleNip:

A burro once, sent by express,
His shipping ticket on his bridle,
Ate up his name and his address,
And in some warehouse, standing idle,
He waited till he like to died.
The moral hardly needs the showing:
Don't keep things locked up deep inside—
Say who you are and where you're going.

—Walker Gibson

__________________

—Medusa


MEDUSA'S WEEKLY MENU:

(Contributors are welcome to cook something up for 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 favorite tools.

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.......!

_________________

SNAKEWATCH: NEWS FROM RATTLESNAKE PRESS

New for May: Rattlesnake Press is proud to announce the release of Among Summer Pines by Quinton Duval and a littlesnake broadside, Before Naming, by Stephani Schaefer. Both of these are now available at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, and will soon be available at rattlesnakepress.com/.

Coming June 11: Two Moons in June: Join us at The Book Collector for the premiere of Day Moon, a new chapbook by James DenBoer, and Mindfully Moon, a littlesnake broadside by Carol Louise Moon, as well as Volume Three of Conversations, our third book of interviews by B.L. Kennedy, featuring Art Beck, Olivia Costellano, Quinton Duval, William S. Gainer, Mario Ellis Hill, Kathryn Hohlwein, James Jee Jobe, Andy Jones, Rebecca Morrison, Viola Weinberg and Phillip T. Nails. All this PLUS a brand-new edition of Rattlesnake Review! That's at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, 7:30 PM, June 11.


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.

Pocket Full of Keys

Shawn Aveningo

ZEITGEIST
—Shawn Aveningo, Rescue

Eyes gawk,
but don't see.
Vision buried
beneath sand.
Dreams peril
by suffocation
in lies,
some not so white.

Armed with
knowledge at our
fingertips,
but lacking wisdom.
The world grows
smaller
but the chasm between
touch
broadens.

Consequences of Truth
breed fear.
What morals are
obeyed when
infidelity to self
is all that
remains?

____________________

Thanks, Shawn! Shawn Aveningo says she is the typical forty-something soccer mom who has always had a passion for writing, but never had the time to indulge in such pleasure. Now that her nest is approaching emptiness, she has spent the last year writing profusely. She finds inspiration from her own life, the lives of friends, lives of strangers, and everyday objects that surround her. She lives in Rescue (near Placerville) with her husband, 3 children and 2 dogs. You can see more of her work in upcoming issues of Rattlesnake Review or PoetryNow, or catch her at Open Mic at Poetry Unplugged at Luna’s Café.


Cache Creek Workshop:

Rae Gouirand writes: I'm happy to announce the final workshop in the 2008 Cache Creek Nature Preserve series: PROSE POETRY, Part II. The current workshop has been received so enthusiastically that I can't bring myself to switch gears and suggest we change directions. We're having too much fun. There will continue to be new author studies and new exercises each week, and there ought to be plenty of fodder for poets and prose writer alike. We'll continue to explore how little we know about the difference between verse and prose, and to cultivate new works that behave with astonishing unpredictability. So join us on Thursday mornings from June 5–July 24, from 9-11 AM. This workshop concludes the CCNP series for the year, and is offered free of charge to the general public thanks to the support of Cache Creek Nature Preserve and the Teichert Foundation. All you need to participate is an interest in writing. Sometimes we are studied by a bobcat. We have a good time. To register, email me ASAP at rgouirand@gmail.com (space is limited) with your name, email address, and a phone number where you can be reached. I'll send confirmation and directions to the Preserve site in the week before the first session.


Lining up your legal ducks:

•••Thursday (6/5), 12-1:30 PM: Join California Lawyers for the Arts for a workshop. San Francisco attorney and publishing expert Robert Pimm will discuss legal and business aspects related to independent self-publishing, including relevant agreements, copyright protection, product distribution, publishing strategies and other concerns. There will be time for Q/A, so you can ask questions pertinent to your specific situations. You are welcome to bring your lunch. The Avid Reader at the Tower 1600 Broadway, Sacramento. Admission: $5 students/seniors, $10 members of CLA, $20 others.

__________________

AMERICAN CANNIBALS
—Shawn Aveningo

Societies that don't eat people
are fascinated by those that do.
—Ronald Wright (one of Medusa's LittleNips last week)

We say,
we're not cannibals,
we're not barbarians,
we're civilized.

So why then do we
let our children starve,
send our sons to war,
ignore the indigent,
let disasters take control,
put citizens in formaldehyde
like seventh-grade science projects,
censor unpopular voices,
post perverts on line
lest they're politicians,
poison our food with pesticides,
encourage obesity in poverty,
deny medical treatment,
look to liars for leadership,
send our daughters to war.

Oh no,
we're not cannibals.
We're too civilized for that.

___________________

CONGO
—Shawn Aveningo

Slithering serpent speaks in tongues.
Understanding not, I comprehend,
follow willingly
in a trace,
my circumstance
forgotten,
in darkness of jumble night.

Screeching baboons I fear not.
Fierce cackles from treetops,
origins unknown,
becken my inner demons,
released.

Garments bartered for pigments
splashed across my body,
naked spirit soars
as I dance
to tribal rhythms.

Under invisible moons
light eclipsed,
beaming within.
Mother Earth smiles
as do I.

__________________

FINGER-PAINTING
—Shawn Aveningo

I could tell you about
the frustration
of finding the nursery,
newly wallpapered,
smeared with fecal finger paintings
from a palette of Pampers,
two little girls standing
proud before their Picassos.

I could tell you about
the hours spent scrubbing
on my knees,
my fingers worn to the bone,
praying to the Lysol god
for complete disinfection
of the scene.

I could tell you about
how their father left the room
in complete disgust
that daddy's little angels
could perform such an atrocity
in our quiet suburban home.

But I'd rather
save the story
for future boyfriends,
who nervously wait on the sofa
on prom night

or perhaps show you
"mommy's secret scrapbook"
over a shared pot of tea
and laughter.

____________________

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—or LittleNip, or....

___________________

Today's LittleNip:

Pocket full of keys, owns nothing.

—Stephen Dobyns

___________________

—Medusa


MEDUSA'S WEEKLY MENU:

(Contributors are welcome to cook something up for any and all of these!)

Monday: Weekly NorCal poetry calendar

Tuesday: Seed of the Week

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 favorite tools.

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.......!

_________________

SNAKEWATCH: NEWS FROM RATTLESNAKE PRESS

New for May: Rattlesnake Press is proud to announce the release of Among Summer Pines by Quinton Duval and a littlesnake broadside, Before Naming, by Stephani Schaefer. Both of these are now available at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, and will soon be available at rattlesnakepress.com/.

Coming June 11: Two Moons in June: Join us at The Book Collector for the premiere of Day Moon, a new chapbook by James DenBoer, and Mindfully Moon, a littlesnake broadside by Carol Louise Moon, as well as Volume Three of Conversations, our third book of interviews by B.L. Kennedy, featuring Art Beck, Olivia Costellano, Quinton Duval, William S. Gainer, Mario Ellis Hill, Kathryn Hohlwein, James Jee Jobe, Andy Jones, Rebecca Morrison, Viola Weinberg and Phillip T. Nails. All this PLUS a brand-new edition of Rattlesnake Review! That's at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, 7:30 PM, June 11.


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.

Raven Wants to Know What's In It For Him...

SO GOES THE LEGEND
—Allegra Silberstein, Davis

As long as there are ravens at the Tower of London
England will survive… so goes the legend.
At the end of WWII only one remained.

Some say raven placed the sun in the sky,
stole light from the old man up there
easy as stealing fish from your line.

Half bird, half clown, raven stirs up trouble.
Nothing and no one escapes his attention.
Companion of wolves and bears:

when they have made their kill
raven needs only patience
for the rich reward of flesh torn open.

Where death is, something is in it for ravens.
The sound of a gun is a summons for them to come.
It matters not to ravens

what corpse the slaughter brings—
rabbit or deer or human,
it’s the same for them as any kill.

Do ravens hover over Wall Street and Washington?
Our guns and munitions sound the summons.
Where death is, something is in it for ravens.


__________________


This week in NorCal poetry:

•••Tonight (Monday, 5/19), 7:30 PM: Sacramento Poetry Center presents Q. R. Hand and Bill Vartnaw at H. Q. For the Arts, 25th & R Sts., Sacramento. Open mic after. Q. R. Hand, Jr. moved to the SF Bay Area from NYC about thirty years ago. Originally published in 1968 classic, Black Fire, an anthology of African American Writing, edited by Amiri Baraka (Leroi Jones) and Larry Neal, which has recently been reproduced by Black Classics Press, he is the author of three poetry books: i speak to the poet in man (jukebox press) how sweet it is (Zeitgeist Press) and the soon to be published, whose really blues, new & selected poems (Taurean Horn Press). He is also an original member of the Wordwind Chorus, a Bay Area quartet that has performed poetry with jazz for over twenty years. Martha Cinader Mims on the website About: Poetry wrote: “In many ways the story of his life is an aspect of the legend of his generation, his personal approach to poetry inextricable from his focus on the civil rights movement and social service.”

Bill Vartnaw was born and raised in Petaluma, graduated from UC Davis, 1971. He moved to San Francisco is 1973 and became a regular at the Coffee Gallery & Minnie's Can-Do open readings. Was an original member of the Bay Area Poets Coalition in 1974 and helped create its first Summer Solstice Festival. He established Taurean Horn Press following the festival in 1974. To date, Taurean Horn Press has published fourteen books, including his own In Concern: for Angels (1984). In the seventies, THP also published 13 issues of OR magazine from various Bay Area Open Readings, six Mini-Taur series, a series of “poemphlets” written and designed by individual poets & 2 issues from Folsom Prison Poetry Workshop. He received an M.A. in Poetics from New College of California, SF in 1991. His work has appeared in various literary magazines over the last 35 years and in the “poemphlet,” If You Should Die a Fool, You Will Be No Less Wiser For It (1975). Suburbs of My Childhood is scheduled to be published in 2008 by Beatitude Press in Berkeley.

•••Wednesday (5/21), 9 PM: Bistro 33 Poetry Series in Davis presents Random Abiladeze (pronounced “Abilities”), a 22-year-old Hip-Hop Artist and Spoken Work Poet from Sacramento. Random won the 2008 Battle of The Bay Poetry Slam at Stanford University, he was voted Youth Speaks Male Poet of the Month for October 2007, he has won several rap competitions on radio stations 102.5 (KSFM) and 103.5 (KBMB), and he is a two-time champion of the Got Spit! Poetry Slam, hosted by the Sacramento chapter of Hip Hop Congress. Random has shared the stage with many great poets and performers, including Nas, Tech N9Ne, Mistah F.A.B., Pigeon John, Little Brother, Planet Asia, Taalam Acey, Butterscotch, Luckyiam and Amir Sulaiman. Random’s 2008 album, Brutally Honest, was recently well-reviewed in The California Aggie and Sacramento News & Review, which opined that “Brutally Honest is a sonically complete album with a message that’s serious, playful and totally aware of its surroundings. Random Abiladeze has just taken Sacramento hip-hop to the next plateau.” An open mic follows the featured performer.

•••Thursday (5/21), 8 PM: Poetry Unplugged at Luna's Cafe presents Terryl Wheat and Sandy Thomas. 1414 16th St., Sacramento. Open mic before and after.

________________

AN ALPHABET TOW TRUCK
—William S. Gainer

Reading the guy who won the Pulitzer:
the poems kept getting
longer and fatter.
I closed the pages
before the words fell out,
crashing to the table—
causing an alphabet wreck,
needing an alphabet tow truck
to untangle the alphabet mess.

___________________

THE GUARDIAN OF THE HOURGLASS
—William S. Gainer

It is his place,
his job,
his justification
for living,
to choke off
everything
going up
and everything
coming down.
He is the guardian
of the hourglass—
the guy in the middle...

__________________

NOT THAT KIND OF CROW
—William S. Gainer, Grass Valley

It’s that time of year,
the crows are up there
doing their sky dance;
he’s high,
she’s low,
he cuts left,
she cuts right.
You can almost
hear him
trying to bust a move—

“That a new shade of black?
It looks sharp
on you, baby.”

And her,
“I didn’t ask you
to touch me.”

But he’s smooth,
“Come on over to my tree,
I got some shiny
stuff:
a little gold spring,
someone’s lost earring,
a chrome button
and a Coors bottle cap.”

She’s weakening,
“Oh yeah,
well maybe,
but you keep that thing
in your feathers.
I’m not that
kind of crow.”

__________________

Thanks, Allegra! Watch for more of rattlechappers Allegra Silberstein and Bill Gainer in Snake 18, due out in mid-June. And if you'd like free copies of their littlesnake broadsides, let me know and I'll send them to you.

By the way, how are your birding skills? Is that a raven or a crow in today's photo?

__________________


Today's LittleNip: Food for Thought on a Monday:

Goatsucker: An evil and ill-omened bird, noctural and therefore allied to the powers of darkness; said to drain milk from cows and goats. Goatsuckers can embody the souls of people unable to rest on account of crimes committed while in human form; their cries are said to be the wailings of the ghosts expiating their sins.

—Dictionary of Symbolic and Mythological Animals, ed. by J.C. Cooper

__________________

—Medusa


MEDUSA'S WEEKLY MENU:

(Contributors are welcome to cook something up for 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 favorite tools.

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.......!

_________________

SNAKEWATCH: NEWS FROM RATTLESNAKE PRESS

New for May: Rattlesnake Press is proud to announce the release of Among Summer Pines by Quinton Duval and a littlesnake broadside, Before Naming, by Stephani Schaefer. Both of these are now available at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, and will soon be available at rattlesnakepress.com/.

Coming June 11: Two Moons in June: Join us at The Book Collector for the premiere of Day Moon, a new chapbook by James DenBoer, and Mindfully Moon, a littlesnake broadside by Carol Louise Moon, as well as Volume Three of Conversations, our third book of interviews by B.L. Kennedy, featuring Art Beck, Olivia Costellano, Quinton Duval, William S. Gainer, Mario Ellis Hill, Kathryn Hohlwein, James Jee Jobe, Andy Jones, Rebecca Morrison, Viola Weinberg and Phillip T. Nails. All this PLUS a brand-new edition of Rattlesnake Review! That's at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, 7:30 PM, June 11.


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.