Photo by Ann Privateer
CAT WITHOUT CLOTHES
—Ann Privateer, Davis
Some say he lived with them too long
that he took on their ways, their clothing.
Some say he betrayed his own for them
sleeping all day, prowling at night,
they noticed his lower jaw freed up,
that his tongue hung out to taste air.
Those who knew him wondered
if he really could see small things,
hear what they could not hear,
fear before the earth trembled.
Some say he disappear into shadows.
One day when dust blew into a cyclone
years later, someone saw him upstream
with strangers, no one spoke of him then.
—Ann Privateer, Davis
Some say he lived with them too long
that he took on their ways, their clothing.
Some say he betrayed his own for them
sleeping all day, prowling at night,
they noticed his lower jaw freed up,
that his tongue hung out to taste air.
Those who knew him wondered
if he really could see small things,
hear what they could not hear,
fear before the earth trembled.
Some say he disappear into shadows.
One day when dust blew into a cyclone
years later, someone saw him upstream
with strangers, no one spoke of him then.
Thanks, Ann! Rattlechapper Ann Privateer (Attracted to Light) will be reading for Sacramento Poetry Center this coming Monday (11/17) at HQ for the Arts, 15th & R Sts., Sacramento, 7:30 PM. Read more about Ann by going to Medusa's Archives (at the left) and finding her feature on March 10, 2008. And watch for her work in Rattlesnake Review, too. Did we mention that the deadline for the next issue of that is
THIS COMING SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15???
See SnakeWatch below for how to submit. While you're there, remind yourself about tomorrow night's Rattle-read at The Book Collector, featuring Wendy Patrice Williams, Ray Hadley, Katy Brown's 2009 calendar, and a new volume of B.L. Kennedy's Rattlesnake Interview Series, Conversations.
Speaking of Conversations, this new volume is another dandy, with more of B.L. Kennedy's wonderful interviews. Volume Four includes luminaries Luke Breit, Gail Rudd Entrekin, Traci Gourdine, Taylor Graham, Noel Kroeplin, Rob Lozano, Crawdad Nelson, nila northSun, Monika Rose, Will Staple, and Mary Zeppa. What area poet do you know who was a football star in high school? Tended bar? Spent a childhood on horseback? Read the new Conversations and find out! (And thank you, Traci Gourdine, for today's cogent LittleNip which was taken from her interview! Out of the mouths of poets...)
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Speaking of Conversations, this new volume is another dandy, with more of B.L. Kennedy's wonderful interviews. Volume Four includes luminaries Luke Breit, Gail Rudd Entrekin, Traci Gourdine, Taylor Graham, Noel Kroeplin, Rob Lozano, Crawdad Nelson, nila northSun, Monika Rose, Will Staple, and Mary Zeppa. What area poet do you know who was a football star in high school? Tended bar? Spent a childhood on horseback? Read the new Conversations and find out! (And thank you, Traci Gourdine, for today's cogent LittleNip which was taken from her interview! Out of the mouths of poets...)
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THE LONG GARDEN
—Patrick Kavanagh
It was the garden of the golden apples,
A long garden between a railway and a road,
In the sow's rooting where the hen scratches
We dipped our fingers in the pockets of God.
In the thistly hedge old boots were flying sandals
By which we travelled through the childhood skies,
Old buckets rusty-holed with half-hung handles
Were drums to play when old men married wives.
The pole that lifted the clothes-line in the middle
Was the flag-pole on a prince's palace when
We looked at it through fingers crossed to riddle
In evening sunlight miracles for men.
It was the garden of the golden apples,
And when the Carrick train went by we knew
That we could never die till something happened
Like wishing for a fruit that never grew,
Or wanting to be up on Candle-Fort
Above the village with its shops and mill.
The racing cyclists' gasp-gapped reports
Hinted of pubs where life can drink his fill.
And when the sun went down into Drumcatton
And the New Moon by its little finger swung
From the telegraph wires, we knew how God had happened
And what the blackbird in the whitethorn sang.
It was the garden of the golden apples,
The half-way house where we had stopped a day
Before we took the west road to Drumcatton
Where the sun was always setting on the play.
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This week, have a go at our Seed of the Week: Secret Gardens and other Enchanted Places. Send it/them to kathykieth@hotmail.com/. No deadline; just let the muse have a crack at it whenever...
More goodies from NorCal poets, as well as a coy photo from Carol Louise Moon's brother, Christopher:
____________________
PENNSYLVANIA STATION
—Michael Cluff, Highlands, CA
The red and white pindot tie
so elegant
came off
pulled through the buttoned-down
collar of his white dress shirt
when unfastened
exposing a throat underneath
peppered with pricks
purple scars
remnants of shots
smack to make him high.
The black pinstripe suit
and well-shined shoes
may hide some facts
but the necklace
of needle holes
cannot cover
what he used to do
before stockbrokering
became his new way of life.
He strides away
towards another end of the train terminal;
I return to my green tea
poppyseed cake with white frosting
and settle in
to a newer dream.
___________________
Photo by Christopher Kildow Moon
QUINTILLA KITTY
—Carol Louise Moon, Sacramento
Our golden kitty's at our feet
with Grandma's pink quilt on his head.
In bed is where he's like to eat
and lie around. He's all but said
he'd rather starve than leave our bed.
___________________
KITTY GUILT
—Carol Louise Moon
When all you see with you in bed
a peeking kitty, Grandma's quilt,
and there beneath—a fuzzy head,
you sigh with resolute and guilt
and put him out the house, instead.
—Carol Louise Moon, Sacramento
Our golden kitty's at our feet
with Grandma's pink quilt on his head.
In bed is where he's like to eat
and lie around. He's all but said
he'd rather starve than leave our bed.
___________________
KITTY GUILT
—Carol Louise Moon
When all you see with you in bed
a peeking kitty, Grandma's quilt,
and there beneath—a fuzzy head,
you sigh with resolute and guilt
and put him out the house, instead.
__________________
Today's LittleNip:
You never know how much a blind man can see.
—Traci Gourdine
__________________
—Medusa
SnakeWatch: What's New from Rattlesnake Press:
Next deadline for Rattlesnake Review is November 15!!! Send 3-5 poems, smallish art pieces and/or photos (no bio, no cover letter, no simultaneous submissions or previously-published poems) to kathykieth@hotmail.com or P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726. E-mail attachments are preferred, but be sure to include all contact info, including snail address.
Also coming in November: On November 12, Rattlesnake Press will release a new rattlechap from Red Fox Underground Poet Wendy Patrice Williams (Some New Forgetting); a littlesnake broadside from South Lake Tahoe Poet Ray Hadley (Children's Games); our 2009 calendar from Katy Brown (Beyond the Hill: A Poet’s Calendar) as well as Conversations, Vol. 4 of B.L. Kennedy’s Rattlesnake Interview Series. That’s Weds., November 12, 7:30 PM at The Book Collector.
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 SOWs; 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.