Kevin Jones
BIKING IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, JANUARY
—Kevin Jones, Fair Oaks
It’s
The sort of
Place
Where
You can
Get bugs
In your mouth
Year round.
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BIKING IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, FEBRUARY
—Kevin Jones
Only out
Twenty minutes
And already
Been rained on
Hailed on
Startled by lightning
Stared at by two
Coyotes, and
Cut off by deer.
It will
Have been
A good day
If I don’t
Drown,
Catch pneumonia,
Get eaten,
Or otherwise
Struck down
By various
Acts of
God.
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Thanks, Kevin! A refugee from a small Illinois town that closely resembled either Winesburg, Ohio, or perhaps Masters’ Spoon River, Kevin Jones currently resides in Fair Oaks, California, and teaches at the Sacramento Center of Union Institute & University. When not teaching or poeting, he enjoys grubbing through thrift shops for obscure books, spending time with family, and performing what he insists is comedy magic as Poppo the Not Too Bad. Watch for a littlesnake broadside from Kevin, Low-Rent Dojo, coming in December from Rattlesnake Press.
This week in NorCal poetry:
•••Monday (8/25), 7:30 PM: Sacramento Poetry Center presents Ann Keniston and June Saraceno at HQ for the Arts, 25th & R Sts., Sacramento. Refreshments; free; open mic to follow. [See last Friday's post for bios.]
•••Wednesday (8/27), 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 (8/28), 8 PM: Poetry Unplugged at Luna's Cafe, 1414 16th St., Sacramento. Featured reader(s) with open mic before and after.
Three publishing opportunities:
•••Red Ink Magazine is currently accepting submissions for the Fall 2008 issue: Native American Women. Please submit original essays, reviews, poetry, fiction, nonficition, art, and photography by August 31. For submission guidelines, please visit www.redinkmagazine.com or call 520-626-0691 for more information.
•••Keary Street Books is accepting submissions for Tribute to Orpheus 2, an anthology of prose and poetry by or about music or musicians. Previously published OK. Send to PO Box 2021, Bellingham, WA 98227. See Tribute to Orpheus on Amazon to get a sense of the previous anthology.
•••Caesura, the journal of Poetry Center San Jose, seeks poems with a focus on the cultural aspects of food, as well as book reviews, black and white photography, and art. Submit between Aug. 15 and Oct. 5. Send up to 3 poems to caesura@pcsj.org. Full guidelines at www.pcsj.org/caesura.html
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“All things must pass”
—George Harrison
Balloon-tired bike
Finally passes someone.
The look on the face
Of the passed—
Such surprise—
There is no gloating.
Well, almost none.
—Kevin Jones
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THE QUICK, THE DEAD, AND THE BIKE
—Kevin Jones
I.
That too
Too solid thump
Under both
Wheels:
Another
Squirrel suicide
By biker.
II.
Happens a lot:
They just dart out
Of the bushes.
Darwin’s theory
At work.
Or maybe Schwinn’s.
III.
Could put the
Tail on
My fender guard
As a decoration
If I had
A fender
Guard.
_________________
STORING THE BICYCLE
—Kevin Jones
I keep
The bikes
In the wine
Cellar.
Too hot,
Too cold,
Too wet
To ride?
Catch a flat?
There are still
Ways of
Being entertained.
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BLOOMIN ONION
—Jeanine Stevens, Sacramento
Walking along blistering cement,
our crusty, deep-fried onion in hand,
daughter, granddaughter and I rush
toward a small table in scarce shade.
We cannot resist fair food. I’ve just
finished a large order of fried zucchini.
Now, our onion has exploded into a sweet,
crunchy, greasy blossom. We dig in,
thinking one will not be enough
for three of us. Each slender piece
is swirled in the ranch dressing,
white as its Styrofoam cup.
The first few bites fulfill their promise,
but saturation catches up, we slow down,
leave half our lunch for the birds.
I remember another State Fair,
pregnant, sitting in filtered shade
on a worn cement curb, eating melon
in scorching 104 degrees, feet swollen,
shoulders sunburned, chocolates
melting. We all thought
it was permanent: the brick buildings,
one for each —Swine, Equine, Poultry,
and the family barns for sulky racing—
all uniform, white wood with green trim.
You could sit near the bandstand
under trees, leaves big as dinner plates,
spend the day lounging with lemonade
and local musicians. Or, wait till evening,
when Curly the clown would lasso
the bull riders at the rodeo, and your son
was thrilled to get his autograph. But,
we traded shade, classic buildings, and
grass, for progress, concrete, and indigestion.
(Previously published in Art With Words, 2005)
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Thanks, Jeanine, for your response to last Saturday's post about the old State Fair vs. the new one. Gosh—she already had a poem about it!
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Today's LittleNip:
What you call the world are twinkling lights between you and the mystery.
—Stephen Dobyns
__________________
—Medusa
SnakeWatch: What's Up With Rattlesnake Press
The Snake will be snoozing through July and August, leaving Medusa to carry on alone. Then on September 10, we shall burst back onto the scene with Thirteen Poems, a new chapbook from Patrick Grizzell; #2 in Katy Brown's series of blank journals (Musings2: Vices, Virtues and Obsessions); a littlesnake broadside (Wind Physics) from Jordan Reynolds; plus Issue #19 of Rattlesnake Review (deadline is August 15). Meanwhile, look in on Medusa every day, and, for heaven's sake, keep sending stuff! The snakes of Medusa are always hungry...
Medusa's Weekly Menu:
(Contributors are welcome to cook up something 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 (sometimes): 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 future issues of 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 and in-between! The Snakes of Medusa are always hungry.......!
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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.
