Nude in the Bath
—Painting by Pierre Bonnard, 1941
NUDE IN THE BATH
—Jane Blue, Sacramento
A woman lies in Bonnard’s bath
floating encapsulated, nearly faceless
in a shroud of blue water. I feel nothing
she thinks to herself, golden light
filling the panes of a leaded window
at the end of the tub, falling like yellow
tiles between the slabs of blue tiles
on the wall above her. She’s stretched
thin in the tub, oddly sexless, the tie
holding back her hair blue like the small
diamonds of tesserae on the bathroom floor.
She’s trying to keep her head above water
to keep from slipping under without
seeming to move a muscle, above
the tub’s claw feet, a scatter of gold there
on the floor, dropped from the thick sun.
She’s a cold muse and getting colder
as Bonnard works to get the mosaic right.
Outside the opaque window are trees—
she doesn’t see them, birds—
she doesn’t hear them, her parents
wishing they could do something, her sister
and someone is picking plums.
(first pub. in Antigonish and also in The Persistence of Vision by Jane Blue, The Poet's Corner Press, 2003)
_____________________
THE BIRDS THAT EAT IDEAS
(Ptaki Ktore Jedza Pomysty)
—D.R. Wagner, Elk Grove
The shearwater stays just above
The tops of waves. The air pushes
Their bodies upward inches from
All the ideas of air and water.
Bodies of fire exclaim.
A ball of shining made of ivory,
Made of wood, made of the beaks
Of ten thousand shearwaters.
A scroll unfurls itself, full of allegations
About who gave what gift to whom,
A sliver mine, a pillow full of love
Being wound around sharpened pins forever.
Surely there is a way to keep
These ideas safe. They glow
Like old friendships slowly
Being dismantled by birds
Birds feeding on the soft music
Of believing in things like songs
And the idea that animals can fly.
(first posted on drsspoon.blogspot.com in 2010)
_____________________
GOALTENDING
—Caschwa, Sacramento
The ball is heading
Into the basket
Too late to interfere
The fetus is in its
Third trimester
Too late to interfere
The corporation has grown
Too big to fail
Too late to interfere
The church has hired
Molesters to steer our faith
Too late to interfere
At-risk youth
Get thrown in jail
Too late to interfere
The experiment in democracy
Doesn’t always work
Too late to interfere
A fortune teller’s product
Is entertainment
Too late to interfere.
The threat of global warming
Might just be valid
Too late to interfere.
Bankruptcy is chosen
____________________
YOU HAVE 2 MESSAGES
—Caschwa
Wolfgang
Amadeus
Mozart
Bavaria
Augsburg
Minuets
Travel
Haydn
Archbishop
Nannerl
Köchel
Yung
Opera
Unter
Maria
Anna
Aloysia
Munich
_____________________
HOMELESS HORNETS
—Caschwa
Set up house right on my patio
What do you think about that?
In eaves over where humans gather
To sit, grill food, and chat
Despite multitudes of hornets
Far too poor for paying rent
It only matters what is fair
To the ruling 1 percent
Tonight we will evict them
With a special can of spray
That awful nest of hornets
Will not see the light of day
_____________________
Photo by Taylor Graham
THE TWINS, A PHOTO
—Taylor Graham, Placerville
Two sister ewe-lambs, 3 months old,
explore their new world of grass
lightening into a new spring morning.
Beyond, still deep in shadow
of the eastern hill, a garden fence
whispers “trespass” and “temptation”
as gardens always do. It's early
morning. The lambs step tentatively,
attached to their long shadows—
shadows opening, becoming
larger than life, a dark passage
across May-green grass.
The photographer planned this shot
with sun-angle in mind,
to keep herself out of the picture.
But she casts a shadow too. Her twin.
By day's end drifting to dark—
to memory and art—as shadows do.
_____________________
Today's LittleNip:
Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It's the one and only thing you have to offer.
—Barbara Kingsolver
_____________________
—Medusa (with thanks to today's cooks. Do you see the hidden message in Caschwa's (Carl Schwartz) second poem?)
Tiger lilies, Butte Meadows
—Photo by Katy Brown, Davis
Be sure to check out Medusa's Facebook page
for a new photo album:
Katy's Excellent Adventure in the Buttes
by Katy Brown!