Mount St. Helens
LEAVING PORTLAND IN THE FOG
—Daniel Williams, Wawona (Flight 2533)
The bullet turbine fan on the tail
Of our aircraft bends the plane
At 30 degrees and we are fired
Off the tarmac living inside the
Hiss of air jetting around surfaces
To a land that nobody knew
Rollers and breakers of cloud as far
As one can see and these gorgeous
Monoliths of stone and ice
Floating on it
Like the moon in the mist
They too appear translucent
The setting sun to the west
Painting a band of nectarine sky
On the eastern horizon
Mount Adams and Hood
Further north the topless mound
Of St. Helens with rounded shoulders
Further north still the vibrant
White presence of the god Tahoma
Everything an inevitable slippage outside
An oval plexiglas window
Light failing a small rip in the shroud
A slight pinpoint of apricot on an nameless
Peak where someone has lit a fire
It is important to remember that some
Of what makes beauty beautiful is its
Evanescence it all slips by and fades
As we buckle up dropping into that
Durable viral phosphorescence called Fresno
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Burns turns 250 on January 25!
If you've been checking Katy Brown's perpetual calendar (A Poet's Book of Days) for birthdays, you've noticed that Robert Burns will turn 250 years old on 1/25. I see that there will be a Robert Burns Celebration today from 1-3 PM at the Bethany Presbyterian Church, 5625 24th St., Sacramento, including readings of poetry, Scottish Highland dancing demonstrations, and bagpipes. $5. Info: 916-452-5204.
Or, on Sunday, January 25 at 6 PM, Poems-For-All presents its annual Burns Night: (this year) Burns 250, 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.
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 us 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.
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SKIMMING AND SCANNING RILKE'S POEM
IN THE PORTLAND PUBLIC LIBRARY
—Daniel Williams
Things are looking up
A ceiling full of huge expansive
Moons that will die around 9
This evening the guy across
From me looks up from his book
Slices an avocado puts it on
Wheat Thins then there is
This old guy in a fez
To my right
Researching interminable facts
In some paperback almanac
The next table over has 12 people
6 on each side each one staring
At their laptop screen
They differ only in the size of
Coffee cups near their hands
If I were a cat I could leap
From monitor top to monitor top
Warming my ass as I go
And nobody would notice
So long as I didn’t
Tip their latte
There are yellow brick walls just
Outside the windows old European
Capitals somewhere hunched in
The cold thumping with the cabbages
And sausages of their rhythms
Which brings me back to my book
These swift pages on the Willamette
Turning without a sound
Halfway through this veritable
Prague of a day below Parisian skies
__________________
WHY I NO LONGER WAIT
FOR THE PRIZE PATROL
—Daniel Williams
Some disappointments cut too deep
First you get a goldenrod
Envelope insane with numbers
Dollar signs and exclamations
If you look inside
How easy it is
To get rich by licking stickers
Buying magazines
Meeting mail-in deadlines
But the idea of the prize patrol—
This blue Windstar van
People with hand-held cameras
And balloons
And a huge phony check
Rushing at my door
That’s what always got me—
On Superbowl Sunday
I’d dress in my finest shirt
And tie but reticent about slacks
I would place them nearby
Easily reached once the
Pounding on the door began
In my boxer shorts sitting on my
Bed in my tiny mountain cabin
Inches from my rickety front door
My stoop decorated with wild flowers
Stuffed into Annie Green Springs bottles
I’d await my moment in the digital sun
Of ballooned pneumatic bliss
Bouquet of floating shiners
Giant cert. of cardboard wealth
And the sure knowledge I could
From then on face any landlord down
One Superbowl I
Actually heard a vehicle pull
Up in front. Peering out my
Door I saw my neighbor Everett
Getting out of his old Subaru
With two twelve packs for the
Game I could tell he’d
Already been at the sauce
As he stumbled by
Tripping over one of my
Flower draped bottles
He looked surprised to see me
Standing there full of hopeful dismay
'Fer chrissakes', he mumbled
'put on some pants.'
__________________
Today's LittleNip:
Habits: The mistakes he is best at.
—Stephen Dobyns
__________________
—Medusa
Thanks to Daniel Williams for today's poems!
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. The last of contributors' copies has gone into the mail. 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. But our October road trips inspired a new Rattlesnake publication, WTF, to be edited by frank andrick. This 30-page, chapbook-style (free) quarterly will primarily showcase the talents of readers at Poetry Unplugged at Luna’s Café, but anyone over 18 is welcome to submit. Deadline is Jan. 15 for a Feb. 19 premiere at Luna’s. Submission guidelines are the same as for the Snake, but please send three poems (each one page or less in length), 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! so you must be over 18 years of age to submit.
Also available now (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 TBC or write to me and I'll send you one. Free!
Coming February 11: 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.
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.
