FLYING HIGH
On a wing between stratosphere and land
Higher than an eagle soars
Much higher than a robin
Up there
Anywhere you stare
You see a broad horizon
And you can go anywhere you care
Just point your nose and go there
—Photo and Poem by Ronald Edwin Lane, Weimar
On a wing between stratosphere and land
Higher than an eagle soars
Much higher than a robin
Up there
Anywhere you stare
You see a broad horizon
And you can go anywhere you care
Just point your nose and go there
—Photo and Poem by Ronald Edwin Lane, Weimar
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This weekend in NorCal poetry:
•••Friday (3/27), 8:15 PM: A poetry reading entitled Nature of Poetry, located at the Garden Terrace space at Yosemite Lodge at the Falls. This program follows the regular DNC Interpretive Services program of Ansel Adams: A Film from 7-8 PM across the courtyard in the Cliff Room. Local poets Joy Downs, Tim Lopez and James Downs will join guest poet Molly Weller of Portland, Oregon in an evening of poetry about the nature of nature and of human relationships. Info: e-mail James Downs (jamespeakdowns@yahoo.com).
•••Friday (3/27), 8-10:30 PM: Poetry Jam at Sacramento’s new and hot Spoken Word venue, The Upper Level Lounge (located inside of Fitness Systems Heathclub, by Cal State Skating Rink). Open mic, too. $5; 26 Massie Ct., Sacramento (exit Mack Rd. East to Stockton Blvd, left on Massie). Info: 916-208-POET (T-Mo).
•••Sat. (3/28), 10 AM: Writers of the New Sun/Escritores del Nuevo Sol have a new meeting date: the 3rd Saturday of each month. Coming dates are: March 28, April 18, May 16, June 20. The 10 AM potluck meetings are at La Raza Galeria Posada, 1024 22nd St., midtown Sacramento. Call ahead to confirm: 916-456-5323. Members of all skill levels support each other via readings, exercises, critiques and information, writing in English, Spanish, or both. To request information, call 916-456-5323.
•••Saturday (3/28), 7-9 PM: The Show Poetry Series, with live band LSB and house singer Chris J. Features Rod-zilla, Sacramento's own Khiry Malik Moore and the Spirit of Excellence Praise Dancers, as well as the NeverBeenDonedanceCo. Hosted by Charmaine Bassett. Wo-se Community Center, 2863 35th St., Sacramento (off 35th & Broadway). $5.00. Info: Terry Moore at (916) 208-POET.
•••Sunday (3/29), 1:15 PM: As a preview of National Poetry Month in April, the Unitarian-Universalist Society of Sacramento will present a public forum entitled, “What is the Point of Poetry?” UUSS PoemSpirits (Tom Goff, Nora Staklis, and JoAnn Anglin) will address this issue in a meaty discussion and Q/A from those attending, followed by a rich dessert of poem readings by regional poets James Lee Jobe and Allegra Silberstein, both rattlechappers and members of the UU Church of Davis. In the grand old tradition of poetry readings, we’ll invite audience members to share favorite poems, written by them or another. UUSS is located at 2425 Sierra Blvd., Sacramento (between Fulton and Howe, one block off Fair Oaks Blvd.). Info: 916-483-9283 or www.uuss.org/Home/Contact/. [For more info on Allegra Silberstein and James Lee Jobe, see their web pages on rattlesnakepress.com—click on “RattleChaps” on the menu and scroll down to find their Rattlesnake Press chapbooks; click on their names in red.]
•••Monday (3/30), 7:30 PM: Sacramento Poetry Center presents Sacramento City College !X Ethnic Theatre at HQ for the Arts, 1719 25th St., Sacramento. Original poetry/monologues/scenes/music/dance by The Sacramento City College Ethnic Theatre Workshop, which integrates various forms of art (playwriting, poetry, music, dance, visual art) with race, ethnic and gender studies. It is led by Angela-Dee Alforque.
Poem in Your Pocket Day, April 30:
Kevin Jones writes to remind us that April 30 is Poem in Your Pocket Day: Join the Academy of American Poets in celebrating National Poetry Month by selecting a poem, carrying it with you and passing it along to family, friends, and coworkers throughout the day. (Heck—why confine it to just that day, I say....!)
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THE HARLEM DANCER
—Claude McKay
Applauding youths laughed with young prostitutes
And watched her perfect, half-clothed body sway;
Her voice was like the sound of blended flutes
Blown by black players upon a picnic day.
She sang and danced on gracefully and calm,
The light gauze hanging loose about her form;
To me she seemed a proudly-swaying palm
Grown lovelier for passing through a storm.
Upon her swarthy neck black shiny curls
Luxuriant fell; and tossing coins in praise,
The wine-flushed, bold-eyed boys, and even the girls,
Devoured her shape with eager, passionate gaze;
But looking at her falsely-smiling face,
I knew her self was not in that strange place.
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THE TROPICS IN NEW YORK
—Claude McKay
Bananas ripe and green, and ginger-root,
Cocoa in pods and alligator pears,
And tangerines and mangoes and grape fruit,
Fit for the highest prize at parish fairs,
Set in the window, bringing memories
Of fruit-trees laden by low-singing rills,
And dewy dawns, and mystical blue skies
In benediction over nun-like hills.
My eyes grew dim, and I could no more gaze;
A wave of longing through my body swept,
And, hungry for the old, familiar ways,
I turned aside and bowed my head and wept.
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THE ISLANDS
—Robert Hayden
For Steve and Nancy, Allen and Magda
Always this waking dream of palmtrees,
magic flowers—of sensual joys
like treasures brought up from the sea.
Always this longing, this nostalgia
for tropic islands we
have never known and yet recall.
We look for ease upon these islands named
to honor holiness; in their chromatic
torpor catch our breath.
Scorn greets us with promises of rum,
hostility welcomes us to bargain sales.
We make friends with Flamboyant trees.
Jamaican Cynthie, called alien by dese lazy
islanders—wo'k hahd, treated bad,
oh, mahn, I tellin you. She's full
of raucous anger. Nevertheless brings gifts of
scarlet hibiscus when she come to clean,
white fragrant spider-lilies too sometimes.
The roofless walls, the tidy ruins
of sugar mill. More than cane
was crushed. But I am tired today
of history, its patina'd cliches
of endless evil. Flame trees.
The intricate sheen of waters flowing into sun.
I wake and see
the morning like a god
in peacock-flower mantle dancing
on opalescent waves—
and can believe my furies have
abandoned for a time their long pursuit.
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Today's LittleNip:
Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.
—Groucho Marx
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—Medusa
SnakeWatch: What's New from Rattlesnake Press:
Rattlesnake Review: The new Snake (RR21) is out! The issue is now available at The Book Collector, and contributor and subscription copies will go into the mail this week and next—or send me four bux and I'll mail you one. 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 MARCH: Rattlesnake Press is proud to present 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)!
COMING IN APRIL: Wednesday, April 8 will be our FIFTH ANNUAL BIRTHDAY PARTY/BUFFET at The Book Collector, featuring a SpiralChap of poetry and photos from Laverne Frith (Celebrations: Images and Texts), a littlesnake broadside from Taylor Graham (Edge of Wildwood), and Musings3: An English Affair, a new blank journal of photos and writing prompts from Katy Brown. That’s at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, 7:30 PM.
And April 15 is the deadline for the second issue of WTF, the free quarterly journal from Poetry Unplugged at Luna's Cafe that is edited by frank andrick. 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 is for adults only, so you must be over 18 years of age to submit. Copies of the first issue are at The Book Collector, or send me two bux and I'll mail you one.
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.......!
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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.
