What do shopping carts dream of during their busy season?
ALTER EGOS OF THE SHOPPING CART
—Don Feliz, Sacramento
Baby limousine and condiment cart.
Harvest hauler and biscuit basket.
Food collector and purchase aid.
Sidewalk delivery and moving van.
Garden cart and workbench.
Trash collector and personal SUV.
Wardrobe and outdoor storage.
Walker and wheelchair.
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Thanks, Don, for the poems today. For more about Don Feliz, open Medusa's August, 2008 archives at the right and scroll down to August 20. Or go to rattlesnakepress.com and click on SpiralChaps for info about To Berlin With Love, the book he co-wrote with his wife, Elsie.
This week's Seed of the Week is Thanksgiving: Send me a Thanksgiving poem and I'll post it. But send me a Thanksgiving etheree, and I'll mail you Katy Brown's new 2009 calendar, Beyond the Hill. What's an etheree? See today's poems from Mitz Sackman and Taylor Graham as fine examples, and I think you can figure out the form from them. (Hint: count the syllables in each line.) This Seed of the Week has a deadline, though: to get your free calendar, your etheree(s) must be sent by midnight (e-mailed or postmarked) Monday, November 24. Addresses are below.
ANOTHER THURSDAY IN NOVEMBER
—Taylor Graham, Placerville
What
to be
thankful for
in this year of
market crash and war,
of news each morning worse
than yesterday? Just look out
the window—see the birds hunched cold
and hungry, waiting for the handful
of thanks-giving seeds you hold in your hand.
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I AM THANKFUL
—Mitz Sackman, Murphys
Fall
Is here
Smells find me
Remembering
Long ago fall days
Fallen leaves, cooking turkey
Family gatherings full
Of laughter spilling into food
Thanking life for the blessings, health, joy
Wondering now if I was grateful enough
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THE HAIRDO
—Don Feliz
Sunburned and wrinkled,
she sat on the park bench
in a faded floral dress
combing her long blond hair.
Ribbons and pins, ready to use,
on two plastic shopping bags.
When she stood up, her thick hair
draped like a robe to her knees.
She pulled at the tangles,
brushed to the ends, twisted
the hair in a bun held with combs,
ready to cope with city streets.
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HOT POEM
—Don Feliz
Meager rain.
Forests, fields,
and brush
scorch in spring sun.
Ready tinder
for lightning fires
by the hundreds
week after week
over a thousand miles—
California burning.
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HILLSIDE WILDFLOWERS
—Don Feliz
Garden ghosts from a ruined house
invite me to pick the pink survivors
of pampered plants long gone to seed.
Valerians grow in sidewalk cracks.
I add white ones to the pink bouquet
for my love waiting at the hilltop.
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Today's LittleNip:
Writing free verse is like playing tennis with the net down.
—Robert Frost
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—Medusa
SnakeWatch: What's New from Rattlesnake Press:
Rattlesnake Review: Deadline for the current issue (#20) has passed (it was Nov. 15); the issue is currently rattling around in the SnakePit and will be released at The Book Collector reading on December 10, then mailed to contributors and subscribers in mid-December. Next deadline is February 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. Meanwhile, the snakes of Medusa are always hungry!
New for November: Now available at The Book Collector, or from the authors, or through rattlesnakepress.com, or—heck—just write to me and I'll send 'em to you: 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, featuring conversations with Luke Breit, Gail Rudd Entrekin, Traci Gourdine, Taylor Graham, Noel Kroeplin, Rob Lozano, Crawdad Nelson, Monika Rose, Will Staple, Mary Zeppa and nila northSun. And don't forget to pick up your copies of B.L. Kennedy's new SpiralChap of his poetry and art, Luna's House of Words, as well as the anthology of poets, art and photos, La Luna: Poetry Unplugged from Luna's Cafe, edited by frank andrick.
Also available (free): littlesnake broadside #46: Snake Secrets: Getting Your Poetry Published in Rattlesnake Press (and lots of other places, besides!): A compendium of ideas for brushing up on your submissions process so as to make editors everywhere more happy, thereby increasing the likelihood of getting your poetry published. Write to me and I'll send you one. Free!
Coming in December: Join us at The Book Collector on Wednesday, December 10, for the release of a new chapbook from Danyen Powell, a littlesnake broadside from Kevin Jones, and a brand-new issue of Rattlesnake Review (#20)! That's at 7:30, 1008 24th St., Sacramento. Refreshments and a read-around will follow; bring your own poems or somebody else's.
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.