Water & Poetry: What Else Do You Need?

Lazy cat on a hot afternoon
photo by Michelle Kunert, Sacramento


Out from the darkness
back into the darkness—
affairs of the cat

—Issa

__________________

TABLE TALK
—Donald R. Anderson, Stockton

A leg to stand on,
too short to be level, so
chapbook goes under.

__________________

Thanks to today's poets (we're still talking about haiku—plural is haiku, not haikus), to Shawn Aveningo for what she calls "pseudo-haiku", and to Michelle Kunert for the photo.

Donald Anderson writes: Here's the update on who's taking on editing the Moon Mist Valley poetry and art anthology instead of me: http://sunshadowmountain.ning.com/profiles/blogs/announcing-the-new-moon-mist/.


Come today for a POETRY QUENCH!

Today, the community is invited to share this new idea to mark the last day of Poetry Month, Thursday, April 30. Stop on your way home (from 4-7 PM) or on your way into town for the First Ever POETRY QUENCH. All passersby are invited to have a small cup of water and accept a free poem—two necessary elements of life. In front of La Raza Galeria Posada, 1024 22nd St. in midtown Sacramento. Poets and poetry lovers will be there to help QUENCH the public thirst for these necessities. Initiated by Graciela Ramirez and the Writers of the New Sun / Escritores del Nuevo Sol, we have invited members of the Sacramento Poetry Center, the Book Collector, ZICA writers, and other local poetry writers and teachers to join us. The general public is welcome. We strongly encourage everyone to recite—one poet at a time, one poem at a time. Any reader can present his/her own poem, or one by anyone else, just so credit is given. A podium, but no microphone—friendly and informal. Then what? People stopping on their way home for their POETRY QUENCH can stay for La Raza Galeria’s 7 PM movie, City of Men, or visit Luna’s Café (1414 16th St.) for the Poetry Unplugged reading by Joe Montoya, which starts at 8 PM.


B.L.'s Drive-Bys: A Micro-Review by B.L. Kennedy:

The Essential Ellison: A 50-Year Retrospective Revised and Expanded
by Harlan Ellison
Edited by Terry Dowling, Richard DeLap, Gil Lamont
Morpheus Press
1247 pp, $24.95
ISBN: 1-883398-46-0

When you talk about examples of Magical Realism in the United States of America, the one person who comes to mind is the country’s greatest composer of short stories: Harlan Ellison. The Essential Ellison: A 50 Year Retrospective Revised and Expanded is a collection of the author’s work that, in my opinion, will go down as one of the most historic collections of literature by an American writer. For those of you unfamiliar with Harlan Ellison’s work, I have one question: Where the fuck have you been? Enclosed in this collection are such classic stories as “A Boy and His Dog”, “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream”, “Jefty is Five”, “Deathbird”, and the ever-radical “Repent, Harlequin, said the Tick-Tock Man”.

I cannot express enough how essential it is to any writer to have a copy of this 50-year retrospective on his or her bookshelves, for not only are you discovering the words, images, and narratives of a great American author, but, as you read these stories, you will learn your craft. I have nothing but praise for Mr. Ellison and his large body of work. Often, people ask me who my favorite short story writer is; they expect me to say Raymond Carver, but I always look them straight in the eye and tell them, “The greatest living writer of short stories in America is Harlan Ellison, enough said.” Now do your part. Get off your ass, go outside to some Big Box bookstore, some used bookstore in your neighborhood, or go online, but purchase a copy of The Essential Harlan Ellison TODAY.

__________________

SPRING HAIKU
—Mitz Sackman, Murphys

Dojo robin
Attacks his reflection
Futile human game

Tulips follow spring
Heart arises with bright color
Spring brings life alive

Green grass, winter rains
Hillsides bloom with redbud flowers
Bright spring lifts the soul

Cedar scent fills air
Brings warmth, fresh forest spirit
Calls us to nature

Small red maple leaves
Open in the crisp spring air
Hearts echo maple tree

__________________

PASSION’S HAIKU
—Shawn Aveningo, Rescue

I lay unfolded,
secrets escaping hidden
creases of my skin.

Truth softly whispered
through hush of stillness. Hearts
beating. Unison.

Love’s river rushing,
stirring synapses of pleasure,
eruptions within.

Ignorant of time,
hours filled with years of moments,
clocks lose relevance.

Passion’s Haiku all
I have to sustain me ‘til
we meet once again.

__________________

Today's LittleNip:

Your thousand limbs rend my body.
This is the way to die:
Beauty keeps laying
Its sharp knife
Against
Me.

—Hafiz


(translated by Daniel Landinsky)

__________________


—Medusa



SnakeWatch: What's New from Rattlesnake Press:

Rattlesnake Review: The latest Snake (RR21) is now available (free) at The Book Collector, 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, and please—only one submission per issue.

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 APRIL: A SpiralChap of poetry and photos from Laverne Frith (Celebrations: Images and Texts); a (free!) 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. Now available from the authors, or The Book Collector, or (soon) rattlesnakepress.com/.

WTF!: Join us on Thursday, May 21 at Luna's Cafe, 1414 16th St., Sacramento for the unveiling of the second issue of WTF, the free quarterly journal from Poetry Unplugged at Luna's Cafe that is edited by frank andrick. Next deadline, for issue #3, is July 15. 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.

ALSO COMING IN MAY: Join us Weds., May 13 for a new rattlechap, Sinfonietta, from Tom Goff; Vol. 5 of Conversations, the Rattlesnake Interview Series by B.L. Kennedy; and the inauguration of a new series, Rattlesnake LittleBooks, with Shorts: Quatrains and Epigrams by Iven Lourie. That’s at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, 7:30 PM. 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.

Your Voices Blossom Me

Photo by Bob Dreizler, Sacramento
For info and more photos, go to
http://photo.net/photos/bdreizler

PRESTER JOHN OF THE WINDOW
—Tom Goff, Carmichael

Praise be to clouds assembled like skyey grumbles.
Grey eminences flood the air with bitters,
monks muttering odes and chants peculiar
to their unbreakable order. And the will,
though sun seems to want to assert the otherwise,
is to be the blackening rack, bananas old
shriveling to a dry and seedlike song.
The cloud-wish to breed rain attentuates
to grey dandelions of gloom and lower and brood.
All this over the under, and the under
is trees of blackforest green through which houses poke.
An artificial Tuscany of rooftile,
and if the red outtops a sere outcropping
of pastel nouveau mansions mansard-headed,
the scene is doing worse what’s been done better:
where are the Firenze olive trees in place of black oak,
olive suited to surround or crown a savior’s head
laid forehead crosswise to forearms, praying in conflict?
Into such scenes epiphanies ache to thrust,
to open like a pronged opener a can,
that is, brilliantly laser into the tough body
of dis- or non-belief, as in film cliché.
But isn’t the decadence of the scene mostly me,
looker from well ensconced behind a window?
Isn’t mine one decaying voice within the immortal
vocalise, all unison finished linear perfection?
Then I must be Prester John of this high window,
dead but outwitting death in fleshlife pulses,
centuries lapping and lapping at a friable edge…

__________________

Thanks to Bob Dreizler for the photo and to Tom Goff and our other poets who sent in poems today, including haiku, our Seed of the Week [see yesterday's rant on Medusa's Kitchen]. Tom will be releasing a new chapbook from Rattlesnake Press on May 13: Sinfonietta. Join us at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, 7:30 PM. Tom is also our Historian-in-Residence for Rattlesnake Review; watch for his wonderful articles about California poets of the past in each issue.

Tom says: Last week was the birthday of Edward de Vere, seventeenth Earl of Oxford, claimant to the Shakespeare plays (1550-1604). That's right: one day different from the traditional Stratford Shakespeare, he was born on April 12th (old style), April 22nd (new style)...


FOR EDWARD DE VERE, SEVENTEENTH EARL OF OXFORD
(who renounced all title to the authorship of the Shakespeare plays)
—Tom Goff

“Sometimes the title is the last to come.”
—observation often stated by James Merrill


Sometimes the title is the last to come.
What need have you of title? Every day
with lightning lines you gave us our ears hum:

think, “to the manner born,” “husband, I come.”
Snatches, like “things nothing worth”; “give o’er the play.”
Sometimes the title is the last to come,

but come it must, as truth will enter, stun
pryingly open to sun the dungeoned brain.
Our ears with the lightning lines you gave us hum.

Your rod can reach still darker, deeper to plumb
than Earth exists to be thrust through, or time remains.
Sometimes the title is the last to come,

sometimes the first to go. Not simply dumb,
you dispensed with lands and power as one sells plate,
but you gave us those lightning lines, and our ears hum

still. King Lear with mad self-knowledge numb,
or that busybody by the Dane’s sword slain:
with lightning lines you gave us our ears hum

and buzz. The foremost title taken from
you, we would restore—but that, you did convey.
Though with lightning lines of yours our ears still hum,
sometimes the title is the last to come.

__________________

Flower, then leaf-bud.
Green…why stop here, on this brink?
What ice browns your stem?

—Tom Goff

__________________

squeezing the joy from the hours
as from a ripe orange
this tastes too sweet to last

my womb
a tight pink rosebud
your voice blossoms me

I trace my tongue
over all your scars—
tasting your pain.


—Cynthia Linville, Sacramento

__________________

Storm clouds in April—
clay wind-chimes clash and clatter.
Gopherweed dances.

—Taylor Graham, Placerville

__________________

Today's LittleNip:

Poetry is any page from a sketchbook of outlines of a doorknob with thumb-prints of dust, blood, dreams.

—Carl Sandburg

__________________


—Medusa



SnakeWatch: What's New from Rattlesnake Press:

Rattlesnake Review: The latest Snake (RR21) is now available (free) at The Book Collector, 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, and please—only one submission per issue.

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 APRIL: A SpiralChap of poetry and photos from Laverne Frith (Celebrations: Images and Texts); a (free!) 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. Now available from the authors, or The Book Collector, or (soon) rattlesnakepress.com/.

WTF!: Join us on Thursday, May 21 at Luna's Cafe, 1414 16th St., Sacramento for the unveiling of the second issue of WTF, the free quarterly journal from Poetry Unplugged at Luna's Cafe that is edited by frank andrick. Next deadline, for issue #3, is July 15. 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.

ALSO COMING IN MAY: Join us Weds., May 13 for a new rattlechap, Sinfonietta, from Tom Goff; Vol. 5 of Conversations, the Rattlesnake Interview Series by B.L. Kennedy; and the inauguration of a new series, Rattlesnake LittleBooks, with Shorts: Quatrains and Epigrams by Iven Lourie. That’s at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, 7:30 PM. 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.

Is It Haiku or Lowku?

A woman
Reading a letter by moonlight
Pear blossoms.

—Buson

____________

A camellia falls—
cock-crow and another
camellia falls

—Baishitsu

_____________

In my hut this spring,
There is nothing—
There is everything!

—Basho

_____________

Carlos Alcala of The Sacramento Bee, bless him, rings an occasional bell for poetry in that struggling newspaper, sending out calls for poems and otherwise writing an article about it here and there. Yesterday there was an article on the front page of the regional section. Poetry needs all the friends it can get, and we need to thank him for such attention.

I just wish Carlos and many others would watch how they use the term, "haiku". (Yes, here I go—this is one of my pet peeves, and if you know me long enough, you're bound to trigger it sooner or later!) Many people look no further than the 5-7-5 syllabic pattern, missing entirely the finer definitions of this ancient form and often confusing it with a senryu. Worse, they teach children "haiku" because of the easy syllabics, entirely missing the rest of it. I have nothing against writing in 5-7-5 syllabics—or any others, for that matter—just don't call it haiku unless it follows some of the other rules of haiku. (As you can see from the definition below, the 17 syllables are not the defining nature of haiku and are probably not translatable to English.)

As for the "deep metaphor or symbolism" of haiku, while it may be beyond definition, as the society says, it remains important to true haikuists: roughly, it is a moment of awakening/epiphany (in Buddhism, kensho) that "turns" the poem at the end, the frog on the lily and then the "splash" being the classic example. A contrast, maybe, that makes a surprise. A camellia falls (death), then the lively call of a rooster (life), then death visits again. The temporality of reading a letter (and maybe even love), then the timelessness of pear blossoms and the seasons. There is nothing in my hut—there is everything! Like the definition says: the juxtoposition of two images.

Here is the Haiku Society of America, Inc. definition:

HAIKU SOCIETY OF AMERICA, Inc.
Report of the Definitions Committee Adopted at the Annual Meeting of the Society New York City, 18 September 2004

HAIKU

Definition: A haiku is a short poem that uses imagistic language to convey the essence of an experience of nature or the season intuitively linked to the human condition. Those who wish to learn more of haiku must read the best haiku they can find, not merely definitions of haiku. The numerous "Haiku Collections" on the HSA Web site, at http://www.has-haiku.org/haikucollections.htm, are a good place to start.

Notes: Most haiku in English consist of three unrhymed lines of seventeen or fewer syllables, with the middle line longest, though today's poets use a variety of line lengths and arrangements. In Japanese a typical haiku has seventeen "sounds" (on) arranged five, seven, and five. (Some translators of Japanese poetry have noted that about twelve syllables in English approximates the duration of seventeen Japanese on.) Traditional Japanese haiku include a "season word" (kigo), a word or phrase that helps identify the season of the experience recorded in the poem, and a "cutting word" (kireji), a sort of spoken punctuation that marks a pause or gives emphasis to one part of the poem. In English, season words are sometimes omitted, but the original focus on experience captured in clear images continues. The most common technique is juxtaposing two images or ideas (Japanese rensô). Punctuation, space, a line-break, or a grammatical break may substitute for a cutting word. Most haiku have no titles, and metaphors and similes are commonly avoided. (Haiku do sometimes have brief prefatory notes, usually specifying the setting or similar facts; metaphors and similes in the simple sense of these terms do sometimes occur, but not frequently. A discussion of what might be called "deep metaphor" or symbolism in haiku is beyond the range of a definition. Various kinds of "pseudohaiku" have also arisen in recent years; see the Notes to "senryu", below, for a brief discussion.)

SENRYU

Definition: A senryu is a poem, structurally similar to haiku, that highlights the foibles of human nature, usually in a humorous or satiric way.

Notes: A senryu may or may not contain a season word or a grammatical break. Some Japanese senryu seem more like aphorisms, and some modern senryu in both Japanese and English avoid humor, becoming more like serious short poems in haiku form. There are also "borderline haiku/senryu", which may seem like one or the other, depending on how the reader interprets them. Many so-called "haiku" in English are really senryu. Others, such as "Spam-ku" and "headline haiku", seem like recent additions to an old Japanese category, zappai, miscellaneous amusements in doggerel verse (usually written in 5-7-5) with little or no literary value. Some call the products of these recent fads "pseudohaiku" to make clear that they are not haiku at all.

__________________

So for our Seed of the Week, let's tackle the sharp imagery of haiku—fiddle with the form and send me your best two or three. Or maybe you'd rather write senryu. And no, I won't blow up at you if you don't "epiphany" at the end. I don't even care if you 5-7-5—a construct that, in light of the above definition, appears to be rather unnecessary in English.

If all this seems kind of slippery to you, then good! It is, and I guess that's my point: it's tricky and hard to move from Asia to the U.S., a bit like boning small fish. As the form has migrated across the Pacific, it has changed a lot and lost its rigid structure, true.

But I guess what I'm really asking is that you read the definition and ponder it a bit and understand that 5-7-5 does not a traditional haiku make. If nothing else, it's nature images—maybe two contrasting ones—and often some clue as to the season. Perfect for spring, yes? (And I'm not sure I agree that there's rarely metaphor—look at the three above examples.)

__________________

Fanning out its tail
in the spring breeze,
see—a peacock!

—Shiki

_______________

Henceforth,
Great Japan
and willows!

—Issa

________________

The peony bud
When opening,
Shoots forth a rainbow.

—Buson

__________________

Today's LittleNip:

My span of years
Today appears
A morning-glory's hour.

—Moritake

__________________


—Medusa



SnakeWatch: What's New from Rattlesnake Press:

Rattlesnake Review: The latest Snake (RR21) is now available (free) at The Book Collector, 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, and please—only one submission per issue.

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 APRIL: A SpiralChap of poetry and photos from Laverne Frith (Celebrations: Images and Texts); a (free!) 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. Now available from the authors, or The Book Collector, or (soon) rattlesnakepress.com/.

WTF!: Join us on Thursday, May 21 at Luna's Cafe, 1414 16th St., Sacramento for the unveiling of the second issue of WTF, the free quarterly journal from Poetry Unplugged at Luna's Cafe that is edited by frank andrick. Next deadline, for issue #3, is July 15. 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.

ALSO COMING IN MAY: Join us Weds., May 13 for a new rattlechap, Sinfonietta, from Tom Goff; Vol. 5 of Conversations, the Rattlesnake Interview Series by B.L. Kennedy; and the inauguration of a new series, Rattlesnake LittleBooks, with Shorts: Quatrains and Epigrams by Iven Lourie. That’s at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, 7:30 PM. 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.

Winding Up Poetry Month, 2009

Photo by D.R. Wagner

PROGRESS: 99 SOUTH
(for James Bradley Jones)
—D.R. Wagner, Elk Grove

For years, south of Sacramento,
California, south of the drive-in
Church, north of Elk Grove,
There was a sign painted on a barn.
'ED KLOSS, Bull Shipper' it read.
Proud, sincere, blatantly declarative.
It was like no other sign anywhere.
A most difficult profession always.

Today, the church, the barn, the sign,
Ed too, all gone. With this loss
The definition of the place changed.
The long views across the pastures,
Gone. Even distance swallowed up
By bigger signs, new roads, houses.

Farms have no names. They dissolve between
Rainstorms, it seems, without landmarks,
Without insistence of purpose, without place
At all. A most difficult position always.


(previously published in Rattlesnake Review #13)

__________________

Donald Anderson writes from Stockton: For those of you following along with my publishing ventures, I've made some important changes to the current publishing projects. Please review these changes posted on the website: http://sunshadowmountain.ning.com/profiles/blogs/big-changes/. Also I'm starting up an Open Mic night at Empresso Coffeehouse just for poetry,to complement the Songwriting one by giving poets more of a voice. The next one is Tuesday, May 12 at 6:30 PM. The Empresso Coffeehouse is located on Pacific Avenue just a block and a half from Harding Way in Stockton, where the big theatre sign is on the Miracle Mile. Chinetana Na2 Phounsavath will be my co-host, though I could use others if interested.


This week in NorCal poetry:

•••Monday (4/27), 12 PM: Poet/critic John Yau reads at UC Davis in 126 Voorhies Hall. Books include The Passionate Spectator: Essays on Art and Poetry; Paradiso Diaspora; and Borrowed Love Poems.

•••Monday (4/27), 7:30 PM: Sacramento Poetry Center presents Lucy Corin and Danny Romero, HQ for the Arts, 1719 25th St., Sacramento. Open mic after. [See last Friday's post for bios.]

Next week (May 4) at SPC: High School Poetry Contest Reading

•••Tuesday (4/28), 7-8 PM: Acclaimed poet Li-Young Lee will read at Morris Chapel at University of the Pacific in Stockton, sponsored by Ethnic Studies, ASUOP, Writing in the Disciplines, Humanities Center, Celebrate Diversity, Office of the Provost, and COP Dean’s Office at University of the Pacific to celebrate Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month. There will be a reception at 6:30 PM. Info: www.uop.edu/.

•••Thurs. (4/30): The American Academy of Poets will be celebrating Poem in Your Pocket Day on the last day of Poetry Month, April 30: select a poem, carry it with you and pass it along to family, friends, and coworkers throughout the day. In coordination with this event, our community is invited to share a Poetry Quench to mark that day from 4-7 PM in front of La Raza Galeria Posada, 1024 22nd St. in midtown Sacramento. All passersby are invited to have a small cup of water and accept a free poem—two necessary elements of life! Poets and poetry lovers will be there to help QUENCH the public thirst for these necessities. This new idea was initiated by Graciela Ramirez and Writers of the New Sun / Escritores del Nuevo Sol, who has invited members of the Sacramento Poetry Center, The Book Collector, ZICA writers, and other local poetry writers and teachers to participate. Interest has grown quickly. The general public is welcome. We strongly encourage those who wish to, to read—one at a time, one poem at a time. Any reader can present his/her own poem, or one by anyone else, just so credit is given. Afterward, stay for the LRGP movie presentation, City of Men, or visit Luna’s Café (1414 16th St., Sacramento) for their weekly poetry reading which starts at 8 PM.

•••Thursday (4/30), 8 PM: Poetry Unplugged @ Luna’s Café, 1414 16th St., Sacramento presents the man who began Poetry Unplugged @ Luna’s 14 years ago: Poet/songwriter Joe Montoya takes to the stage that he spawned with Vincent Montoya and Scott George from The Tattooed Love Dogs on Guitar, Guitars, Guitars backing and working with the words of Joe Montoya in an explosive mixture of Poetry, Prose, Tone Poem, and Songs. This ain’t the past, this is the future. Be There. Open mic prior and following the feature.

•••Fri.-Sun. (5/1-3): Last call to sign up for the Gold Rush Writers Conference May 1-3 in Mokelumne Hill at the Leger Hotel. Email Antoinette May to reserve your space (toni@antoinettemay.com/). Al Young, and others at open mic, will be reading at the Mokelumne Hill Library on Friday night at 7:30 PM. This is a free event. Everyone is invited, but only original material can be read. And Sat. (5/2), 6 PM, Al Young will be speaking at dinner in the Leger ballroom. The price of $35 includes a tri-trip 3-course dinner, tax, tip and talk. E-mail Antoinette May for reservations; check the Gold Rush Writers Conference site (goldrushwriters.com) for the address. Payment will be at the door, cash or check.

•••Friday-Sun. (5/1-3): The California Federation of Chaparral Poets, Inc. will host its annual convention in Modesto. Detailed information and registration forms are available at http://www.chaparralpoets.org/welcome.html/. If you are not a member, you are encouraged to sign up for the Saturday workshops (the fee is $15.00), or to attend the free presentation by John Fox on Sunday.

_________________

FLAMINGO
—Jeanine Stevens, Sacramento

It’s the color he loves best: salmon, ginger, sunset pink, mango, blush, coral, shrimp, tequila sunrise—some shade of tropical. The bird stood next to its plaster mate in his aunt’s yard along White River. He and his sister are photographed in sun suits in front of long arching necks. That time reminds him of romance over the airwaves, melodies of lovely hula hands, war chants from the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. During hardships over a twenty-year tour of duty—Iran (where wandering camels ate the roses he planted in the sand), Ethiopia, Korea—he thinks about the color, it gives him something to laugh about as he remembers his fluorescent socks, in the same shade, running track in high school, and the brightly painted bird, framed in little square sections of a mirror, on the wall at home. Eventually, he settles in the foothills above Chico—a sign—DEER RUN—attached to the mailbox. White tail bucks and red maples watch over the new plastic flamingo sitting in the backyard under tiki lights. A classic Chevy pickup is parked in the driveway—high gloss, in the same color, mixed by a computer at Ace Hardware down the road. In a new century, towers down, he offers the flamingo to his sister who declines—it will not fit in with starman, or dancer with bird-on-toe that play next to her dry streambed. He thumbs through a newer catalogue, and selects a great blue heron with silver tips, to keep the other company, and guard his dreams of paradise. His daughter, the one with pale peach cheeks, is deployed to the Gulf.


(previously published in Arabesque)

_________________

BABY SISTER
—Sammie Robertson-Corp, Coos Bay, OR

My baby sister's name was Karon, and we were pals.
She followed me everywhere…she was my shadow.
Karon had been sickly as a baby.
I was only twenty-one months older, but I took care of her.
In our childhood years I had been Karon’s protector.
If someone bullied her, I beat them up or chased them away.
We had a connection, a bond…“We two” were our family.

We had twin sisters who looked and acted nothing alike.
As kids, everyone thought Karon and I were twins.
I loved all the attention we got from people.
Karon was shy and would hide behind me.
Sometimes I think Karon identified with me so much,
She did not know we were separate people.

I have many wonderful childhood memories of Karon and me.
Memories of us playing together, going to town with Dad together.
Doing everything together…
I have three other sisters, but I have no memories of them.
Just Karon and me…“We two” were our family.

Karon died of cancer almost twenty years ago.
Karon died a young woman. In my mind she is still young.
Though I have connected with a few other people in my life,
Since Karon is gone, I am an only child.

Tea Rose
Photo by D.R. Wagner

__________________

Today's LittleNip:

A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness.

—Robert Frost

__________________


—Medusa



SnakeWatch: What's New from Rattlesnake Press:

Rattlesnake Review: The latest Snake (RR21) is now available (free) at The Book Collector, 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, and please—only one submission per issue.

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 APRIL: A SpiralChap of poetry and photos from Laverne Frith (Celebrations: Images and Texts); a (free!) 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. Now available from the authors, or The Book Collector, or (soon) rattlesnakepress.com/.

WTF!: Join us on Thursday, May 21 at Luna's Cafe, 1414 16th St., Sacramento for the unveiling of the second issue of WTF, the free quarterly journal from Poetry Unplugged at Luna's Cafe that is edited by frank andrick. Next deadline, for issue #3, is July 15. 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.

ALSO COMING IN MAY: Join us Weds., May 13 for a new rattlechap, Sinfonietta, from Tom Goff; Vol. 5 of Conversations, the Rattlesnake Interview Series by B.L. Kennedy; and the inauguration of a new series, Rattlesnake LittleBooks, with Shorts: Quatrains and Epigrams by Iven Lourie. That’s at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, 7:30 PM. 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.

And Hatred Will Vanish...

Spirit Being
Metalwork by Gary Foster, CSUS
Photo by Michelle Kunert, Sacramento

SORT OF AN APOCALYPSE
—Yehuda Amichai

The man under his fig tree telephoned the man under his vine:
"Tonight they definitely might come. Assign
positions, armor-plate the leaves, secure the tree,
tell the dead to report home immediately."

The white lamb leaned over, said to the wolf:
"Humans are bleating and my heart aches with grief.
I'm afraid they'll get to gunpoint, to bayonets in the dust.
At our next meeting this matter will be discussed."

All the nations (united) will flow to Jerusalem
to see if the Torah has gone out. And then,
inasmuch as it's spring, they'll come down
and pick flowers from all around.

And they'll beat swords into plowshares and plowshares into swords,
and so on and so on, and back and forth.

Perhaps from being beaten thinner and thinner,
the iron of hatred will vanish, forever.

__________________

—Medusa

Where The Earth Is Still Flat

Climbing Rose
Photo by Jane Blue, Sacramento

BRAMBLE BROTHER
—Chrys Mollett, Angel’s Camp

No fair!
Too easy.
I want mine!
You always take the bigger piece!

Mom loves you better,
She'd never say it.
But Dad loves me
So there.
And you should learn how to share!
You poke me tease me pick on me
Why?
It's just because I let you.

I'd rather be nice.
So what I'm chubby—
You're too skinny.
And stingy
Your feet are like ice.

That's not fair—
I just want to visit your white pet rat.
I don't think I should have to pay a quarter
To come into your room.
You never want to come into mine.

Everything's all twisted between you & me.
Twisted like a bramble tree.

__________________

RHYTHM OF THE NIGHT DRIVE
FREEWAY SEAMS TO THE RADIO BEAT
—Donald R. Anderson, Stockton

Too tired to drive, but forced to,
my brother-in-law negotiates with the drivers
in masterful awareness of the lanes, the traffic,
somehow overcoming the slumbering numbness
of long hours. He has made a life
of being awake at the odder hours of night,
and perhaps that has grown on him.
He would like retirement, if he could afford it.
He also tells of technology
for providing energy for the nation by
covering a couple miles of desert with
solar panels. The truth is sad: that it could
possibly happen, but the business isn't in it.
It would get bought out just like the patents
to electric cars and alternative fuel engines;
the technology isn't the problem,
it's the way we use it.
He sings the fabricated words to popular tunes
in soft satire, as we eat and gather
for our family outings,
and I ride with him, my gracious ride back
to the apartment in town, where I have no car,
no bike, and walk to work 30 minutes
every Monday through Thursday morn,
watching the sun rise on a new day.

__________________

WRITING AND KNOWING: 6th Annual Poetry Workshop

Join Ellen Bass, Dorianne Laux, and Joseph Millar for their July 5-10 writing workshop at Esalen, Big Sur, CA. The topics this year will be:

TRUTH AND BEAUTY with Joseph Millar: For Keats’ Urn, these were one and the same. We will look at poems by various contemporary masters with a view toward discovering whether one has ascendancy over the other, and what the tensions between them might mean to our own poetics (or general beliefs about writing).

THE PERSONAL UNIVERSE with Dorianne Laux: What makes your voice your own? What makes it uniquely yours? How does a poem create a feeling of intimacy with the reader? How can we make our poems daring, distinctive, unmistakably ours? Using the poems of Ruth Stone, a poet who is adept in all these matters, as examples, we'll practice writing poems that discover and reflect our personal universe.

THE LIST POEM with Ellen Bass: Lists are irresistible. There were lists in the library of Alexandria and they've continued from the Bible to Homer, from the Elizabethans to Whitman, from Cole Porter to us. Writing a list poem can be a lot of fun because once you've got your theme, you can just keep thinking up more and more and more. We'll look at a few list poems from the past and some contemporary catalogues, learning techniques to keep the tension high and the poem alive.

Although the emphasis is on poetry, this workshop is open to prose writers too. Rich, textured, evocative language is the province of all writers, so this workshop will be applicable to writers of fiction and memoir as well.

Lastly, there's Esalen itself. If you've been to Esalen before, you already know it's one of the most magnificent places on the planet. If you haven't, don't postpone it. It's breathtakingly beautiful and deeply nourishing. We'll be having our group meetings in the Big House overlooking the Pacific. We'll also be breaking into smaller groups for individual attention. Participants will have an opportunity to work with all three teachers.

Esalen fees cover tuition, food and lodging and vary according to accommodations--ranging from $570 to $1105. The least expensive rate is for sleeping bag space which can be very comfortable, but it's limited, so you need to sign up for it early. Some work-scholarship assistance is available, as well as small prepayment discounts and senior discounts.

All arrangements and registration must be made directly with Esalen at 831-667-3005 or visit www.esalen.org/. If you have questions about the workshop itself, please email Ellen (ellen@ellenbass.com, www.ellenbass.com) or call her at 831-426-8006.

__________________

FOR LOVE OF A SISTER
—Marie J. Ross, Stockton

The frilly Easter dresses were her pride and joy,
the fabric had tiny red and yellow flower buds,
with a matching bonnet she stitched; oh, how we
loved those outfits.
We were young then full of vitality, our screechy
voices a little too loud. We were rambunctious
weren’t we?
Our sandals would kick dust in the vegetable garden,
in the summer sun, and we argued who would water or
pick the harvest.
A tinge of jealousy arose when puberty seated us on the female
throne of competition, but, we managed didn’t we?
Then womanhood's verdant grasses flourished on different paths,
mine on different soils far-away, yours on homestead and children.
But, we loved the yesterdays, the skies of living,
and survived in the grey winds of loss,
loving the love of a sister.

___________________

TOBACCO 1900
—Patricia Hickerson, Davis

Aunt Polly Meadors 90 years old
widow of Jeremiah Meadors
(the tobacco farmer)
she smoked a corncob pipe
plug of tobacco bulged her cheek
last years of her life
she lived with her son's family at Jellico Creek
little Ethel had a geography book
spread out on the floor studying
it showed the world was round
Aunt Polly sneered ever'body knows the earth is flat

Years later in Appalachia
I see an old lady with a corncob pipe
chaw in her cheek
rocking on a front porch
suddenly
she gets off her rocker
leans over the porch railing
spits down a long, lingering hot stream of ebony tobacco
I thought that's just like Aunt Polly

well, right now
(things the way they are)
I wish I were high up in the mountains
where the earth is still flat
smoking with Aunt Polly

Jeremiah Meadors

__________________

Today's LittleNip:

Months pass, days pile up
like one intoxicated dream—
An old man sighs

—Ryokan

(translated by John Stevens)

__________________


—Medusa



SnakeWatch: What's New from Rattlesnake Press:

Rattlesnake Review: The latest Snake (RR21) is now available (free) at The Book Collector, 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, and please—only one submission per issue.

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 APRIL: A SpiralChap of poetry and photos from Laverne Frith (Celebrations: Images and Texts); a (free!) 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. Now available from the authors, or The Book Collector, or (soon) rattlesnakepress.com/.

April 15 was 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. Next deadline, for issue #3, is July 15.

COMING IN MAY: Join us Weds., May 13 for a new rattlechap, Sinfonietta, from Tom Goff; Vol. 5 of Conversations, the Rattlesnake Interview Series by B.L. Kennedy; and the inauguration of a new series, Rattlesnake LittleBooks, with Shorts: Quatrains and Epigrams by Iven Lourie. That’s at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, 7:30 PM. 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.