AUTUMN POEMS
—Nikki Giovanni
the heat
you left with me
last night
still smolders
the wind catches
your scent
and refreshes
my senses
i am a leaf
falling from your tree
upon which i was
impaled
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Addition to this week's calendar:
•••Thursday (9/18), 7:30 PM: The Nevada County Poetry Series features nila northSun and Terryl Wheat in the Off Center Stage (the Black Box theater, enter from Richardson Street) at the Center for the Arts, 314 W. Main St., Grass Valley. Info: (530) 432-8196 or (530) 274-8384. Tickets can be purchased at the door for $5 general, seniors and students, and $1 for those under 18. Refreshments and open-mic included.
nila northSun, of Shoshone-Chippewa descent, is the daughter of renowned Native American activist Adam Fortunate Eagle—one of the more prominent figures in the 1969-1971 Indian takeover of Alcatraz. She is identified with the Native American Renaissance of the 1970s and 1980s; her poem, "moving camp too far", remains a sentinel work of the period. northSun has published four volumes of poetry: love at gunpoint; a snake in her mouth; Small Bones, Little Eyes; and Diet Pepsi and Nacho Cheese; and authored After the Drying Up of the Water: A Tribal History, a history of the Paiute-Shoshone tribe. She lives on the Stillwater Indian Reservation in Fallon, Nevada, where she works as a grant writer. nila recently received the Sierra Arts Foundation Literary Award 2008 for her contributions in poetry. Her poems bridge family history and traditional tribal identity with the challenges of being a contemporary American woman.
Terryl Wheat remembers first writing at age twelve. She says, “At fourteen or fifteen I attended my first open-mic and was hopelessly hooked. There was nothing anyone could have done. No amount of math, science or history could have saved me, the poems had me!” Moving to midtown Sacramento brought Terryl to Luna's Cafe where, as she says, “I met many wise old cats that became priceless mentors. Without them I fear what I would be writing now—the thought is unnerving.” For Terryl, it’s not only the poetry, but the learning experiences and characters met along the way. Outside of poetry, Terryl climbs rocks and, on occasion, after a healthy dose of spirits—maybe a midtown building—she does the trendy yoga thing, plays with kitty cats, likes candle lit dinners, long walks on the beach, is a Leo and open-minded. Terryl says. “I have successfully dropped out of City College three times—with the intentions of doing so again...” [See Volume 2 of Conversations, B.L. Kennedy’s Rattlesnake Interview Series, for an interview of Terryl Wheat.]
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REQUIEM FOR A WAYSIDE DOG
—Allegra Jostad Silberstein, Davis
dies irae, dies illa
that day
had I left a few moments earlier…or later
had I stayed home
had I been driving slower or faster
had the hourglass not emptied
quantus tremor est futurus
the fleet shadow
the brief thud
terror braking when all was lost
except the dreadful knowledge
ingemisco tamquam reus
with guilty moan I make a u-turn
revealing the dog who had crossed over
to open field on the other side
no collar
only a bit of rope around his neck
on his side as if at rest
oro supplex et acclinis
I kneel beside him
pray he might still be alive
his jaw opens and closes
I place my hand on his head
on his shoulders
feel the wracked breath
mors stupebit et natura
I feel death near
as gently I pet him hoping
touch might pass through the pain
to give comfort
moments only—his breathing stops
lacrymosa dies illa
tears blinding I leave
with heart contrite
covered with ashes
cor contritum quasi clinis
libera me, dona me pachem
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Thanks, Allegra, for your response to last week's Seed of the Week: Dogs—and, actually, the SOW the week before: Things You Don't Want to Write About. Be sure to head on over to Davis this Friday, by the way, as Allegra hosts a poetry reading featuring James Lee Jobe in the Unitarian Church of Davis, 27074 Patwin Road, Davis. There will be an open reading following the featured reader. This is a free event. Info: 530-750-3514. [See yesterday's post for a bio of James Lee Jobe.]
This week's Seed of the Week is The Things We Keep/The Things We Leave Behind. Two years ago, the Kieths down-sized to a smaller house, and it has taken us all this time to finally get re-organized. Now Hatch and Taylor Graham are "moving house", leaving the home they built in Somerset and moving to one just below Placerville. Such moves are an exercise in what to keep, what to throw away. What do you need? What can't you do without? What do you think you need? Of course, we're not just talking about things here...
By the way, the Grahams have a Danish modern birchwood oval table with two extension sections for sale, if you need one. Contact me and I'll pass it on.
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MASTER CHARGE: BLUES
—Nikki Giovanni
it's wednesday night baby
and i'm all alone
wednesday night baby
and i'm all alone
sitting with myself
waiting for the telephone
wanted you baby
but you said you had to go
wanted you yeah
but you said you had to go
called your best friend
but he can't come 'cross no more
did you ever go to bed
at the end of a busy day
look over and see the smooth
where your hump usta lay
feminine odor and no reason why
asked the lord to help me
he shook his head "not i"
but i'm a modern woman baby
ain't gonna let this get me down
i'm a modern woman
ain't gonna let this get me down
gonna take my master charge
and get everything in town
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ALONE
—Nikki Giovanni
i can be
alone by myself
i was
lonely alone
now i'm lonely
with you
something is wrong
there are flies
everywhere
i go
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BALANCES
—Nikki Giovanni
in life
one is always
balancing
like we juggle our mothers
against our fathers
or one teacher
against another
(only to blaance our grade average)
3 grains salt
to one ounce truth
our sweet black essence
or the funky honkies down the street
and lately i've begun wondering
if you're trying to tell me something
we used to talk all night
and do things alone together
and i've begun
(as a reaction to a feeling)
to balance
the pleasure of loneliness
against the pain
of loving you
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Today's LittleNip: The Things We Leave Behind
You can fire your secretary, divorce your spouse, abandon your children. But they remain your co-authors forever.
—Ellen Goodman
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Pack-rat
—Medusa
SnakeWatch: What's New from Rattlesnake Press:
Now available at The Book Collector in Sacramento, and (soon) from rattlesnakepress.com/: Thirteen Poems, a new chapbook from Patrick Grizzell; #2 in Katy Brown's series of blank journals (Musings2: Vices, Virtues and Obsessions); a free littlesnake broadside (Wind Physics) from Jordan Reynolds; plus Issue #19 of Rattlesnake Review (also free!). Contributor and subscription copies of RR19 will be going into the mail this week and next. Next deadline for submissions is November 15.
Coming in October: October’s release at The Book Collector on Weds., Oct. 8, will feature a new rattlechap from Moira Magneson (He Drank Because) and a littlesnake broadside from Hatch Graham (Circling of the Pack). That's at the Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, 7:30 PM. Refreshments and a read-around will follow; bring your own poems or somebody else’s.
Then, on Thursday, Oct. 30, 8 PM, Rattlesnake Press will release two SpiralChaps to honor and celebrate Luna’s Café, including a new collection of art and poetry from B.L. Kennedy (Luna’s House of Words) and an anthology of Luna’s poets, artists and photographs (La Luna: Poetry Unplugged at Luna’s Café) edited by Frank Andrick. Come travel with our Away Team as we leave the Home of the Snake for a brief road trip/time travel to Luna’s Café, 1414 16th St., Sacramento to celebrate Art Luna and the 13 years of Luna's long-running poetry series. Who knows what auspicious adventures await us there?
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.