SO LONG, GOOD-BYE, ADIOS
—William S. Gainer, Grass Valley
Today
I’m buying a new hat,
something sporty,
it’s my birthday
and I need to look
sharp!
Tomorrow starts
the second half
and I got things to do.
2/17/49
Bettie’s baby boy,
me,
arrived
and I been busy
ever since.
Someone asked
if I’d change any of it.
I’d change it all,
even the dogs I’ve had.
Well,
I might keep
one or two,
the rest –
adios!
I’m thinking,
if any part of the past
can keep up,
let it.
Otherwise,
so long, goodbye, adios,
the second half is here
and I got
things to do.
_________________
Thanks, Bill, and Happy Birthday! Another Aquarian poet. William Gainer's birthday is the seed for our Seed of the Week—see the photograph above. Time may be a human construct, but as delusions go, it's a doozy! You can go for the obvious (time flies), or reach for something more: how time crawls sometimes, or weighs on our hands, or can even be our friend. The way we mark time, like with birthdays. Who you are now, who you were then, who you want to be as time ticks along, marking off your days. Write about it, and send it to kathykieth@hotmail.com or P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726. Speaking of birthdays:
Alcala wants to know:
Are you feeling poetic? Carlos Alcala of the Sacramento Bee has put out a call for poems to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday on March 2. He wants poems in the Seuss style, but using the theme of today’s difficult economic times. He suggests things like “If I Ran the Zoo”, changed to “If I Ran the State”. He even wrote one himself, based on “One Fish, Two Fish”; it starts:
One debt, two debt Red ink, new debt. Layoffs due threat. It hit you, yet?
Send submissions to calcala@sacbee.com by Feb. 26, including your name, town and contact phone number. The Bee will run them online and will publish a selection of the best during the week of Seuss’ birthday. For more info, see last Sunday’s Bee.
March Copyright Workshop:
•••Wednesday (3/11), 7-9 PM: California Lawyers for the Arts, the City of Roseville and PlacerArts present Copyrights and Trademarks. Join Attorney Grace Bergen for a discussion of copyright registration, protecting against infringements, fair use, work for hire, and copyrights and the Internet. There will be a Q/A section as well, so bring your questions! Maidu Community Center, 1550 Maidu Dr., Roseville. Fee: $20 general; $10 members of C.L.A., PlacerArts and Roseville Arts; $5 student/senior members. Info: (916) 442-6210 ext. 102 or email prclasacto@aol.com to register.
Gold Rush Writers' Retreat, May 1-3
Monika Rose writes: Reserve your space now for the Gold Rush Writers' Retreat, founded by Antoinette May. The reasonable rate, $135 if paid by March 30, includes a full weekend of workshops, two dinners, and a brunch—all at the Leger Hotel in Mokelumne Hill. Al Young, California poet laureate, jazz musician, fiction writer, will be leading a workshop Saturday and reading at the Friday poetry night that follows the picnic supper at Antoinette's lovely Victorian home. There's something for everyone, including a great flash fiction workshop with Sally Ashton. There is a laptop technology class with Tom Johnson, which will open worlds for you in researching for your books or articles. Lucy Sanna, Indigo Moor, Kevin Arnold, Helen Bonner, Donna Peck, and Antoinette May will all hold workshops and talks. Info: http://www.goldrushwriters.com/ or http://www.goldrushwriters.com/registration_2009.html
___________________
THE FLASHER
—William S. Gainer
When I do my morning
“S’s” (you know,
shit, shower
and shave)
naked,
the only one I seem
to scare anymore
is me.
__________________
SPRING
—William S. Gainer
By the end of winter
most of the beer cans
will be gone,
picked up and recycled
for cigarette money.
The yard
should be
safe
to mow.
__________________
THE EXHIBIT
—William S. Gainer
It was mostly sculptures
of female torsos,
very nice...
No nipples though.
That might explain
why the place
was empty.
__________________
TWO QUICK DECISIONS
—William S. Gainer
When she walked to the stage
I thought,
I could fall in love with this girl.
When she read her poems,
I thought,
nope.
__________________
LOVE IS HEAVEN/LOVE IS HELL
—Chrys Mollett, Angel's Camp
...(Love and Loss are both so over-filling)...
The sweet surprise, allover tingling of comingling
Wonderful. Giddy. Emergent as spring...
The sometimes crashing, wildly welcomed body bashing
somehow makes deep sense of everything—
—Is Love.
Is a lifetime of passion packed into the whorls
on a finger of his hand as he touches me in passing.
We stand on the edge of a perfect lake
Tossing leaves and scented blossoms onto the water
He weaves a stem into the tresses of my hair
And I want to wear this moment forever—
Light fills our plans, our conversations,
the symphony we make together.
Ideas abound.
Our home a mystic cavern.
Centuries of lovers know us & we them.
Juices flow freely between us.
We are so One.
But, oh, when that juice-filled limb is severed—
I am the last resident of a ghost town
Everything aches
He walks away with my arm, my legs, my dreams.
I feel like I've been poisoned.
I try to shovel myself out,
but failing, I give up and don't want to try again.
Memories are skewed into impossible puzzles—
My heart is screaming. I cannot put it to bed.
I feel I've wasted a lifetime.
I know what I've done
I've loved
and loved again.
__________________
Today's LittleNip:
You make the beds, you do the dishes and six months later you have to start all over again.
—Joan Rivers
__________________
—Medusa
SnakeWatch: What's New from Rattlesnake Press:
Rattlesnake Review: The latest issue (RR20) is currently available at The Book Collector, or send me four bux and I'll mail you one. Deadline for RR21 was Sunday, Feb. 15; the issue will appear in mid-March. Next deadline is May 15 for RR22: 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; let us know if your submission is for the Review or for Medusa, or for either one.
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!
New for February: Now available! A new rattlechap from Sacramento's Poet Laureate, Julia Connor (Oar); a free 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. Available from the poets or at The Book Collector (1008 24th St., Sacramento) or (soon) from rattlesnakepress.com/.
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.)
Coming in March: On Wednesday, March 11, Rattlesnake Press will be releasing a new chapbook from Norma Kohout (All Aboard); a littlesnake broadside from Patricia Hickerson (At Grail Castle Hotel); and a new issue of Rattlesnake Review (the Snake turns 21)! Join us at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, 7:30. 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, 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.