Nothing I Own

Painting by Wendy Rivara, Sacramento

Mysterious ? Today ?
—frank andrick, Sacramento

I feel Mysterious today
Everything is humming loudly
I feel mysterious today

Stellectric in Sacra-Paris
it takes touch to erase
the grace on your face
outside the vapors take new shapes
dreaming becomes episodic
god is not the name of god

I feel mysterious today

Saquarra is a state of mind
anima anubis sistered soul
sensation and contemplation
are my favorite drugs
what name a sin that takes two to do
god is not the name of god

I feel mysterious today
Everything is humming loudly
I feel mysterious today


(originally published in WTF)

__________________

Thanks, frank! A Sac-Franciscan experimental mythologist whose work spans poetry, prose, story writing and telling; a Poet who loves mixing it up w/music and movies while still holding the solo voice high, frank andrick is the producer and host of “The Pomo Literati”, a monthly two-hour spoken word program broadcast on KUSF San Francisco which features live reading performances, contemporary recordings, and archival rarities from pre-beat to post-modern. He also co-hosts Poetry Unplugged @ Luna's Café in Sacramento, an open mic, featured-reader series which is Sacramento News & Review’s People’s Choice for Best Open Mic Venue. frank also creates word-driven, multi-media events and poetry/performance tours.

In 2008, frank edited La Luna, an anthology of work from Luna's poets, for Rattlesnake Press. He currently edits WTF, a quarterly journal of Luna’s poets, also for Rattlesnake Press. In addition, frank is the author of Soluna, a collection of his poems and prose, and three Rattlesnake Press littlesnake broadsides. Now RP is releasing PariScope: A Triptyche, a reprint of his three previous broadsides, plus some new material besides. Join us for the release party this coming Weds., November 11 at The Book Collector, 7:30 PM.

Speaking of Luna's Cafe, the feature tonight is Forword, a poet who has taken Sacramento by storm! Besides being a fine-tuned wordsmith, he is also a member of the 2008 Sacramento Poetry Slam Team. This is his first time featuring at Poetry Unplugged, so come out and show your support. Open-mic poetry will also occur before and after the feature. That's 1414 16th St., Sacramento, 8 PM.

Meanwhile, our talk of lucre, filthy or otherwise, continues...


Once upon a time
apart from the fairy tales of love
Fathers needed for their daughters "dowries"
for why else than for money would brides be taken
since such wives were merely collected as trophies
Their possessors would see either "mistresses" or "prostitutes"
whom these men paid dearly, instead, for their company
Such is the story of money and patriarchy
that still affects otherwise-educated women over thirty today
For proclaimed younger lover-men of such women with "experience"
still want to see some pocket money up front
Oh what's such a gal to do
if her savings are spent and she has no dowry?

—Michelle Kunert, Sacramento

___________________

BIG MONEY
—Richard Zimmer, Sacramento

Madame St. Claire, an astrologist, greets her
customer, Larry Dibble. It’s all in the stars,
she says, all in the stars. What are your in-
terests…love, your health, finances?

Dibble, excited, spurts out, Big money…the
Lottery numbers…is that asking too much?

Madame smiles, saying, That would be num-
erology. I am also a licensed numerologist.
That will be another twenty dollars.

Dibble shrugs, Okay, here’s the money, but
You’d better be right.

Madame grins, saying, The numbers I give
Are meant especially for you.

Later…Dibble plays the numbers, doesn’t
win, and goes back for a refund.

Madame shakes her head, and says, You
must understand this about numerology...
the numbers have powers over our lives.
They must have decided that if you won,
it would have brought trouble, with every-
one hounding you for money.

__________________

STRICT ECONOMY
—Tom Goff, Carmichael

We bottle the freshwater wild-free-clear,
canister the oozings, the now see here,
turn the ferment to froth and booze.
We take the right now fruit,
cook it and sugar and seal it in jars.
We husband, we housewife; we ply
a strict economy.

As we drink of life, so we repay life,
we brace ourselves to fork it over,
parkway dust, river, and oak.
Each pitted moon a ground-scarred apple,
each flown hawk a dropped feather.

That fugitive bone flute the owl-hoot—
we distill it, distill it, we near the far
far. Each syllable ours,
the glassed-in preserve passing hand to hand
to hand while the savor, the mystery,
lasts.

Do you talk to us of money? Must we
convert word-wisps to billable hours?
Are we to expect payment for what
we sniff, flavor a tad with spice
and pass on,

leaving only our
hymn, our hum?

Come,
come.

__________________

frank andrick and Kathy Kieth at Luna's Cafe, 2008
(That's Chris Olander in the foreground...)

__________________

Today's LittleNip:

BEING AS UNPERSON
—William Bronk

On the bridge, four trolls stood like
the Burghers of Calais. I remember trolls warm
spring nights in the fields, giggling in love.
I slip beside life: nothing I own.

__________________


—Medusa

SnakeWatch: What's New from Rattlesnake Press:


RATTLESNAKE REVIEW:

RR23 is now available free at The Book Collector,
and contributor and subscription copies
have gone into the mail—you should've received yours;
let me know if you haven't.
You may also order a copy through rattlesnakepress.com/.
Deadline is November 15 for RR24: 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 add all contact info,
including snail address. Meanwhile, the snakes of the on-going Medusa
are always hungry; keep that poetry comin', rain or shine!
Just let us know if your submission is for the Review or for Medusa,
or for either one, and please—only one submission packet
per issue of the quarterly Review.
(More info at rattlesnakepress.com/.)

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 likelihoodof getting your poetry published.
Pick up a copy at The Book Collector or
write to me (include snail address) and I'll send you one. Free!


NEW FROM RATTLESNAKE PRESS:

Now available at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento:
A new chapbook from Brad Buchanan (The War Groom)
and a new Rattlesnake LittleBook from
William S. Gainer: Joining the Demented.

Now available from SPC or at The Book Collector:
Our new anthology,
Keepers of the Flame:
The First 30 Years of the Sacramento Poetry Center.
Editor-in-Chief Mary Zeppa and her helpers have put together
many, many documents and photos
from SPC's 30-year history.

WTF!!: The third issue of WTF, the free quarterly journal from
Poetry Unplugged at Luna's Cafe that is edited by frank andrick,
is now available at The Book Collector,
or send me two bux and I'll mail you one.
Deadline for Issue #4 was Oct. 15;
it'll be released at Luna's on Thursday, Nov. 19.
Next deadline (for Issue #5) is Jan. 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 (clearly marked for WTF).
And be forewarned: this publication is for adults only, so you must be
over 18 years of age to submit. (More info at rattlesnakepress.com/.)


COMING IN NOVEMBER:

Join us on Wednesday, November 11
for a new chapbook from Dawn DiBartolo
(Secrets of a Violet Sky);
Rattlesnake Reprint #2 from frank andrick
(PariScope: A Triptyche);
plus our 2010 calendar from Katy Brown
(Wind in the Yarrow)!
That's 7:30 PM at The Book Collector. Be there!

_________________

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.