Actually, it turned out to be a dolphin...
THE SNAKES OF SEPTEMBER
—Stanley Kunitz
All summer I heard them
rustling in the shubbery,
outracing me from tier
to tier in my garden,
a whisper among the viburnums,
a signal flashed from the hedgerow,
a shadow pulsing
in the barberry thicket.
Now that the nights are chill
and the annuals spent,
I should have thought them gone,
in a torpor of blood
slipped to the nether world
before the sickle frost.
Not so. In the deceptive balm
of noon, as if defiant of the curse
that spoiled another garden,
these two appear on show
through a narrow slit
in the dense green brocade
of a north-country spruce,
dangling head-down, entwined
in a brazen love-knot.
I put out my hand and stroke
the fine, dry grit of their skins.
After all,
we are partners in this land,
co-signers of a covenant.
At my touch the wild
braid of creation
trembles.
_________________
The Snakes of September will emerge from Rattlesnake Press on Weds., Sept. 10, when we shall roar back onto the scene after our sleepy summer break 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. Join us at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, at 7:30 PM to hear these three poets read and to pick up your free copy of The Snake for September. Refreshments and a read-around will follow; bring your own poems or somebody else's.
Next deadline for Rattlesnake Review is November 15, by the way.
This week in NorCal poetry:
•••Tonight (Monday, 9/1), 7:30 PM: Sacramento Poetry Center features An Evening of Comedy and Poetry with Carol Louise Moon, Michael Rose, Brad Buchanan, and Tim Kahl. HQ for the Arts, 1719 25th St., Sacramento. The night will feature a discussion of the relationship of comedy and poetry, including examples of comedic poems, improv, and a brief lecture on the cross-fertilization of both. [See Saturday's post for bios.]
Next week on September 8, SPC will feature poet Terry O' Neal.
•••Tuesday (9/2), 9 PM (and again on Thursday, Sept. 4 at 5 AM): Moore Time for Poetry television show airs on Comcast Cable Ch. 17, or view it at www.accesssacramento.org (click on the BIG "Watch Channel 17" button).
•••Thursday (9/4), 8 PM: Poetry Unplugged at Luna’s Café, 1414 16th St., Sac. Info: 441-3931 or www.lunascafe.com. Free. Featured reader(s) with open mic before/after.
•••Saturday (9/6), 10 AM to 4:30 PM: Third Annual Art Book Fair at the Crocker: unique and limited-edition used art books on sale, plus activities for all ages: signings, story time, hands-on art making. Victorian garden near entrance to Crocker Art Museum, 216 O St., Sacramento. Free; museum admission free with purchase. Info: Museum store, 916-808-5531.
__________________
SEPTEMBER
—Raymond Carver
September, and somewhere the last
of the sycamore leaves
have returned to earth.
Wind clears the sky of clouds.
What's left here? Grouse, silver salmon,
and the struck pine not far from the house.
A tree hit by lightning. But even now
beginning to live again. A few shoots
miraculously appearing.
Stephen Foster's "Maggie by My Side"
plays on the radio.
I listen with my eyes far away.
__________________
SONG
—Elizabeth Bishop
Summer is over upon the sea.
The pleasure yacht, the social being,
that danced on the endless polished floor,
stepped and side-stepped like Fred Astaire,
is gone, is gone, docked somewhere ashore.
The friends have left, the sea is bare
that was strewn with floating, fresh green weeds.
Only the rusty-sided freighters
go past the moon's marketless craters
and the stars are the only ships of pleasure.
_________________
SESTINA
—Elizabeth Bishop
September rain falls on the house.
In the failing light the old grandmother
sits in the kitchen with the child
beside the Little Marvel Stove,
reading the jokes from the almanac,
laughing and talking to hide her tears.
She thinks that her equinoctial tears
and the rain that beats on the roof of the house
were both foretold by the almanac,
but only known to a grandmother.
The iron kettle sings on the stove.
She cuts some bread and says to the child,
It's time for tea now; but the child
is watching the teakettle's small hard tears
dance like mad on the hot black stove,
the way the rain must dance on the house.
Tidying up, the old grandmother
hangs up the clever almanac
on its string. Birdlike, the almanac
hovers half open above the child,
hovers above the old grandmother
and her teacup full of dark brown tears.
She shivers and says she thinks the house
feels chilly, and puts more wood in the stove.
It was to be, says the Marvel Stove.
I know what I know, says the almanac.
With crayons the child draws a rigid house
and a winding pathway. Then the child
puts in a man with buttons like tears
and shows it proudly to the grandmother.
But secretly, while the grandmother
busies herself about the stove,
the little moons fall down like tears
from between the pages of the almanac
into the flower bed the child
has carefully placed in the front of the house.
Time to plant tears, says the almanac.
The grandmother sings to the marvellous stove
and the child draws another inscrutable house.
__________________
Today's LittleNip:
Sometimes what seems to be a shark can be a dolphin—and vice versa, yes?
—Kathy Kieth
—Medusa
SnakeWatch: What's Up With Rattlesnake Press
September 10, we shall roar 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 (next deadline, for Issue #20, is November 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.......!
_________________
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.