CREEKSIDE LOVERS
—Mitz Sackman, Murphys
Love
Dancing
Yellow in
Buttercup dreams
Waving heads golden
Along the creekside banks
Bringing back my memories
Long ago hand-holding lovers
Sat watching wind blow through buttercup dreams
Tomorrow's truths yet to be seen ahead
__________________
This weekend in NorCal poetry:
•••Sat. (1/24), 8 PM: Luna’s Café, 1414 16th St., Sacramento, presents Jack Hirschman, Sharon Doubiago, John Bennett and Jane Crown. $10 at the door; no open mic. Hosted by B.L. Kennedy.
•••Sat. (1/24) and every 4th Sat., 1-3 PM: The Poets' Circle meets at Tillie’s in Lodi. Info: 209-366-1546 (ask for Roger).
•••Sunday (1/25), 6 PM: Poems-For-All presents its annual Burns Night: Burns 250, this year, featuring Kevin Jones and presenting “Haggis: A Rebuttal” by Rachel and Richard Hansen. This year's featured reader, Kevin Jones (producer of Low-Rent Dojo, a recent littlesnake broadside for Rattlesnake Press), is a scholar and poet who has proven his mettle when it comes to getting tongue and tooth around the challenging dialect of Burns' poetry. You'll enjoy his reading of poems by the National Bard of Scotland.
This year marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Scottish poet Robert Burns. Burns Night is traditionally an opportunity to heap praise upon the Scottish foodstuff, the Haggis. And Mr. Jones will, of course, read Burns' famous poem “To a Haggis”. In reply, Rachel and Richard Hansen will offer up their “Haggis: A Rebuttal”. Please join them for an evening of food, drink and poetry. There will be an open-mic, an opportunity to read poems that pay tribute to Burns or his native Scotland. Anyone who braves a go at reading a Burns poem earns themselves a dram! The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, between J and K Sts. Free! Info: 916-442-9295.
•••Sun. (1/25), 11 AM-1 PM: El Camino Poets invites any interested poets to attend its regular monthly workshop and tea at the Ethel Hart Sr. Center, 27th & J Sts., Sacramento. Please bring 8 copies of your poem for critique.
•••Mon. (1/26), 7:30 PM: Sacramento Poetry Center presents Flatman Crooked with Chris “Whitey” Erickson and Joe Wenderoth. HQ for the Arts, 1719 25th St., Sacramento. Open mic after. Flatman Crooked is a new literary anthology-cum-internet production company out of Sacramento whose first publication, First Winter, featured writers such as Ha Jin, a piece by Jorge Luis Borges translated from Spanish, James Bartels, Bessie Nadine Sweet, James Kaelan, Emma Straub, Thomas McCafferty, Crystal Anne Cheney, Chris Robinson, David Dumitru, and Jim O’Loughlin. Their growing web presence can be found at http://www.flatmancrooked.com/. Chris “Whitey” Erickson is an up-and-coming performance poet/fiction writer whose work tends to focus on the arcane speech and mannerisms of the rural American male whose lack of sophistication belies a certain quaintness. Those in attendance with hearing aids are advised to turn them down. Joe Wenderoth is a UC Davis professor who has published two books of poems from Wesleyan University Press: Disfortune (1995) and It is If I Speak (2000). Verse Press published the uncategorizable collection, Letters to Wendy’s (2000) and The Holy Spirit Of Life: Essays Written For John Ashcroft’s Secret Self (2005). Joe’s most recent book of poems is No Real Light (2007) from Wave Books. He is the creator of many short films and the pruveyor of many other kinds of performance.
Coming Up at SPC:
February 2: Miles Miniaci and Bo Lopez and Crawdad Nelson with music by Chéne Watson and Bob Wilson of Litany
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AN INSURMOUNTABLE TRAVELER
—Donald R. Anderson, Stockton
An insurmountable traveler
on his way home in a rush.
Must hurry to do the yellow!
After dark, after the rain,
walking through residences near college.
A noise heard from a house.
Thought 'Hey it's only me!
Don't worry about me I'm just trying
to get home in a rush!'
Must hurry to do the yellow.
The noise again, like a scratch.
I look up, a white-bellied, grey-backed cat
on the roof, having a sneezing fit,
head turned my way.
I wish I had a camera... but I
must hurry to do the yellow!
Construction cones, some stacked.
Traffic several cars in a row,
all turning right in front of me at a gate.
They're having an event at the college.
I wave to them thinking,
'Don't mind me, I'm not here for the event.'
Must hurry to do the yellow!
Mud slick across the sidewalk pavement.
Steps hurry across cement.
Must hurry to do the yellow!
Light green, but red hand intent.
Signal will be my way, so cross
hoping it will not soon turn yellow.
Must hurry to do the yellow!
In the door, urgency suddenly a theatrical
impossible urgency, as if by location.
Must hurry to do the yellow!
__________________
GOLDEN DAYS COMING
—Mitz Sackman
Light
Yellow
Calls to me
Sunshine days come
More often this time
Brightening winter morns
Yellow lifts the gray mind mood
Opens heart hope bright with spring thoughts
Rain brings promise of vernal flowers
Daffodils brighten our mental horizons
__________________
YELLOW FLOWERS
—Donald R. Anderson and Marie J. Ross, Stockton
In a Victorian home that stood out like the sun amongst
red-brick antique architectures in a quiet neighborhood,
she keeps mostly to herself and her collection of saffron prints
and singing daffodil dolls, filling rooms where her daughter once was.
She used to shop for floral prints in the brightest yellows she could find,
make dresses and bonnets, or maybe an apron. Her daughter loved flowers,
yellow being her favorite color and she loved the shapely bonnet, especially
in the springtime, when the sun's yellow arms warm the garden.
The poppies resisted the frosts pretty well, and she filled her garden with
sunny daffodils, golden roses; in the cracks of the sidewalk yellow dandelions
peeped up and struggled to survive. An old oak gnarled its way upward in a
stretching, arm-like branch, yellow ribbon curling.
She had glass vases trimmed in golden roses with scalloped green vines down
the side, pottery in buttery yellow creams and pictures of flowers on all the walls,
especially in the dining room which was painted amber. Eating in this room made
her feel one with nature with all the calming colors.
On one wall was a painting of sunflowers, eight times life-size.
Everyone knew what to get her for special occasions, it would be yellow
flower prints. But all this served merely to hide the loneliness for that one
yellow bloom—her daughter.
__________________
Today's LittleNip(s):
SPRING SPIRIT
—Mitz Sackman
Golden girl dancing sunshine
Dreams call to the spring
Rain wakes yellow daffodils
WINTER MORN
—Mitz Sackman
Lamp lights gray morning yellow
Whispers days coming
Lit with hopes of springtime love
__________________
—Medusa
SnakeWatch: What's New from Rattlesnake Press:
Rattlesnake Review: The latest issue (#20) is currently available at The Book Collector, or send me two bux and I'll mail you one. Deadline for RR21 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!
Coming in January: Other than the ever-restless Medusa, the Snake will be snoozing during January; no releases or readings.
Then, in February: On Weds., February 11, Rattlesnake Press will be releasing a new rattlechap from Sacramento's Poet Laureate, Julia Connor (Oar); a littlesnake broadside from Josh Fernandez (In The End, It’s A Worthless Machine); and the premiere of our new Rattlesnake Reprints, featuring The Dimensions of the Morning by D.R. Wagner, which was first published by Black Rabbit Press in 1969. That’s February 11 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.
And on February 19, the premiere of our new, free Poetry Unplugged quarterly, WTF, edited by frank andrick, will be celebrated at Luna's Cafe, 1414 16th St., Sacramento, 8 PM. (For those of you just tuning in, Poetry Unplugged is the long-running reading series at Luna's Cafe.)
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. Pick up a copy at The Book Collector or write to me and I'll send you one. Free!
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, or any other day!): 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.