Bad Feather Day
—Photo by Katy Brown, Davis
ICE
CUBES AND WHAT TO DO WITH THEM
—Patricia Hickerson, Davis
on
a hot day in July
in
the central valley
when
it all hangs heavy
you
can hardly move
when
you’re burning up
you
can’t speak,
you
can’t eat
you
can’t breathe
inside
and out
you’re
on fire
your
skin dry as dust
wretched
with wrinkles
hot
to the touch
fever
stokes your brain
can’t
think
rip
off your clothes
grab
those ice cubes
lie
under a tree
there
might be a breeze
let
the grass tickle your backside
cool
your fingers, your palms
ice
cubes
start
chewing on them
let
them slide down as they will
touch
them to your throat
your
nipples
your
navel
between
your toes
under
your arms
between
your legs
ice cubes
_______________________
CUBED
FOREVER
—Patricia Hickerson
her
lips were two pink cubes
pressed
together
she
vowed never to open them
until
Ms. or Mr. Right came along
she
kept her lips cubed
year
after year
her
lips began to crack
and
crumble
she died without ever parting her lips
_______________________
SLIME
AND SLIDE
—Patricia Hickerson
eating
oysters in Joe’s kitchen
east
coast oyster
tint
of sunrise on its back
ruffled
ridge of shell
hard
edge to protect the slime
slip
the knife in, careful!
hands
me a half shell
let
it slide, Joe says
oyster
pulp loosed from its root
head
back, let it slide
plump
and cool to the tongue
thanks,
Joe
but
Joe’s already gone
I
can hear his shouts
from
the shower he shares with Gianna
not
about the oyster in his life
but
the soft cool breasts of Gianna
how
easily they slide into his mouth
water-borne
Canada Goose
—Photo by Katy Brown
NOW
LOOK WHAT YOU’VE DONE
—Patricia Hickerson
you,
you
who
have set me on fire
like
sunlight igniting the color blue
I’m
now a passion tree
poems
flaming along the branches
I’m
all my own color
red
hot
a
new ignition of words
holding
the lit match to the tree
you the ignition
_______________________
PINK
—Patricia Hickerson
I
came to the party
to
be with you, darlin’
you
looking like a big ol’ baby
your
pink shirt
skinned
across your fat belly
matched
your pink face
as
though you’d been eating
tomatoes,
radishes, plums
hot
red peppers, all melted down
into
a pink tint on your body
you
blue-eyed baby in a pink shirt
I
could eat you up
and I will!
_______________________
THE
PARTY RIDDLE
—Patricia Hickerson
she
couldn’t come
to
the party no matter what
no
amount of music or liquor
could
induce her to come
she
heard her friends waiting
eagerly
waiting for her to come
their
voices urging her
their
hands held out
reaching
for her
to
help her come
no,
she couldn’t do it
just
couldn’t come to the party
she
dreamed of what it would be like
to
come
to
the party
how
great she would feel if only
if
only she could come
to
the party
could
let loose
something
early on had frozen her
a
scream, a head banging against the wall
so
frightening as to make sure
she
couldn’t come
couldn’t
come
to
the party
________________________
YOUR
HEAT
—Patricia Hickerson
I’m
cold and
your
heat rocks me
socks
me
mocks
me
locks
me
you
dear old fox
you’ve
wounded me
where
I longed to be
wounded
your
big belly
my
cushion against despair
your
white beard
my
notion of Santa Claus
grown
kind and loving
not
a scary thing
your
hands holding mine
your
lips grazing mine
your
eyes cuddling me
stay with me, pal
________________________
Our thanks to today's Davisites: Pat Hickerson for her smokin' hot poetry, and Katy Brown for her photos of geese in McKinley Park—which have nothing to do with Pat's poems but gosh they're cool. Another Davis poet, Sibilla Hershey, has a new book of poetry from Primula Press, entitled The Bleeding Tree (with a forward by Davis Poet Laureate Allegra Silberstein). This perfect-bound book of poetry with illustrations is available on the Local Authors' shelf at The Avid Reader in Davis (617 2nd St.), and is beautiful. Sibilla is of Latvian descent; look for the Latvian in her new book.
I see The Avid Reader has opened a new location in Davis; now there are two stores within steps of each other, in addition to the Sacramento location at the old Tower on Broadway. Good to see an independent doing so well!
Also in the good news department, JoAnn Anglin writes that Arturo Mantecón, Co-founder (with Francisco Mantecón) of Los Escritores del Nuevo Sol/Writers of the New Sun, is one of three who have been nominated in the Translation category for a Northern Calif. Book Award for his translation of My Naked Brain: Selected Poems of Leopoldo Maria Panero, published by Swan Scythe Press of Sacramento. In addition Lorna Dee Cervantes' poetry collection, Ciento: 100 100-Word Love Poems, has been nominated in the poetry category, as well as Mary Mackey's Sugar Zone. For a complete list of nominees, go to www.poetryflash.org and scroll down a bit. The award ceremony will be held this Sunday, June 10 at Koret Auditorium in San Francisco Main Library, 1pm.
_________________________
Our thanks to today's Davisites: Pat Hickerson for her smokin' hot poetry, and Katy Brown for her photos of geese in McKinley Park—which have nothing to do with Pat's poems but gosh they're cool. Another Davis poet, Sibilla Hershey, has a new book of poetry from Primula Press, entitled The Bleeding Tree (with a forward by Davis Poet Laureate Allegra Silberstein). This perfect-bound book of poetry with illustrations is available on the Local Authors' shelf at The Avid Reader in Davis (617 2nd St.), and is beautiful. Sibilla is of Latvian descent; look for the Latvian in her new book.
I see The Avid Reader has opened a new location in Davis; now there are two stores within steps of each other, in addition to the Sacramento location at the old Tower on Broadway. Good to see an independent doing so well!
Also in the good news department, JoAnn Anglin writes that Arturo Mantecón, Co-founder (with Francisco Mantecón) of Los Escritores del Nuevo Sol/Writers of the New Sun, is one of three who have been nominated in the Translation category for a Northern Calif. Book Award for his translation of My Naked Brain: Selected Poems of Leopoldo Maria Panero, published by Swan Scythe Press of Sacramento. In addition Lorna Dee Cervantes' poetry collection, Ciento: 100 100-Word Love Poems, has been nominated in the poetry category, as well as Mary Mackey's Sugar Zone. For a complete list of nominees, go to www.poetryflash.org and scroll down a bit. The award ceremony will be held this Sunday, June 10 at Koret Auditorium in San Francisco Main Library, 1pm.
_________________________
Today's LittleNip:
THE
ICE CUBE COMETH
—Patricia Hickerson
and
goeth
as
it slips its metal coil
of
articulated prison tray
woe
is the lonely ice cube
to goeth is to dieth
_______________________
—Medusa
Pigeon-Toed Goose
—Photo by Katy Brown