Elsie Whitlow Feliz
THE RINGMASTER EXPLAINS THE END
OF THE CIRCUS
—Elsie Whitlow Feliz, Sacramento
It started with the elephants who were
tired of working for peanuts. They left us
in California. The tigers? Well, something
happened in Las Vegas. Ever since Siegfried
and Roy, tigers have been trouble. Somewhere
in Montana the horses headed for the hills, leaving
our bareback riders to wonder what they did wrong,
and what they might do next. The seal died blowing
those little brass horns. Twinkle, Twinkle, little star…
It just flipped over dead in the middle of the music.
The dogs stayed until the end, but even they had
better offers in television. All those family programs
need a family dog. When we got back to Florida
the clowns retired. They do parties for children. It’s
much easier than the circus life. Although I’ve been
a ringmaster for forty years, moving from town to
town. I didn’t retire completely. I work at the mall
selling jewelry. They still call me, The Ringmaster.
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Thanks, Elsie! Elsie Whitlow Feliz was born and raised in San Francisco, where her mother’s family settled after fleeing Stalinist Russia. Surrounded by the magic of Potrero Hill, views of the Bay Bridge, ships coming and going into the harbor and always the lights of the City, she knew she’d travel, dreamed of Japan and China. Growing up in the 1940s, she learned about war from refugees and soldiers returning from war. War has been a lifelong study for her. She has studied French, German, Russian, and Japanese, looking for clues about war. In 1960, she married and followed Pfc. Don Feliz to West Berlin, where she attended the Goethe Institute and the Free University of Berlin. She saw how the Berlin Wall changed the lives of many. There were still shell marks on some buildings and some were still in ruins. She graduated from San Francisco State University with a major in Economics.
Elsie is a member of Zica Creative Arts and Literary Guild, Chaparral Poets, First Friday Poets, Sacramento Poetry Center and the River Park-Elk Grove Writers Group. Her poetry has been published in Rattlesnake Review, Brevities, Drumvoices, Poetry Depth Quarterly, Chrysanthemum, San Fernando Poetry Journal, The Poet's Guild, Inky Blue, Mediphors, Poetry Now and the anthologies, We Speak for Peace and The Gathering. She has two chapbooks: Cornered and Tea With Bunya, and in 2008 she co-authored a SnakeRings SpiralChap, To Berlin With Love, with her husband, Don. She and Don are the founders and former co-editors of Free-Wheeling, an annual poetry journal published by the Towe Auto Museum.
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Tuesday is Seed of the Week Day. This week, we're entering into the Month of Trappings, the so-called Holiday Season and all the material distractions thereof. So this week's SOW is Beyond the Trappings. After the dishes are done, the over-tired kids put to bed and the wrappings recycled, what's left? Contentment? Gratitude? Relief? Disappointment....? No deadline on this one; send your poems to kathykieth@hotmail.com or P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726.
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SHE ENCIRCLES MEANING
—Elsie Whitlow Feliz
A stick figure in a city
of circular streets round
and round she roams,
always returning to some
known place. She’s seen
every street, has been
to the center, again and
again. This is her life:
running in circles. Still she
reaches out everyday with her
arms open—hoping to
hug the meaning of herself.
___________________
MOTHER KNOWS BEST
—Elsie Whitlow Feliz
Yes, mother is aging, my dear,
right into childhood again. She’s
starting to spill things on herself,
getting her words wrong. We know
you’ve heard her stories before, but
the news of her life—you don’t want
to hear about that: all her friends dying.
You tell her to find new ones, younger
people who will be around longer. Oh,
how wise you are! Give yourself a pat
on the back, and enjoy the coming years
as you assume that children know best.
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RUBBER BANDS
—Elsie Whitlow Feliz
at the bank they bind
stacks and stacks of bills
hold vegetables in neat
little bundles at the market
on the porch they keep the
newspaper pages from flight
stretch to make music for a
White-Owl-cigar-box guitar
help restructure the teeth
in an accidental mouth
fasten the free ballpoint pens
on your father’s tidy desk
make great ammunition for
a homemade rubber gun
mark your place in I, The Jury,
that mystery by Mickey Spillane
remind you how useful it is
to stretch without breaking
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Today's LittleNip:
Your heroes: those who fling themselves uselessly against the dark.
—Stephen Dobyns
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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); that 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 (Blue Sky Flies Out); a littlesnake broadside from Kevin Jones (Low-Rent Dojo), 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.
Coming in January: The Snake will be snoozing during January; no releases or readings. But our October road trips inspired a new Rattlesnake publication, WTF, to be edited by frank andrick. This 30-page, chapbook-style quarterly journal will primarily showcase the talents of readers at Poetry Unplugged at Luna’s Café. Deadline is Jan. 15 for a Feb. 19 premiere at Luna’s. Submission guidelines are the same as for the Snake, but send your poems, photos, smallish art or prose pieces (500 words or less) to fandrickfabpub@hotmail.com (attachments preferred) or, if you’re snailing, to P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726. And be forewarned: this publication will be for adults only!
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.