—Photo by Katy Brown, Davis, CA
RIOTS IN THE AGE OF DYI
—Caschwa, Sacramento, CA
(a fusing of recent news items with Nancy Haskett’s
“On Landscape with the Fall of Icarus”)
A collection of otherwise regular people
Most without a history of terrorism
Took up stones and bats to confront
A Gibraltar Rock of justice that somehow
Was always slanted against them
Crushing them, burying them alive
We witnessed the
Watts Riots in Los Angeles
And then saw the utter frustration
From unmet basic needs
Spill over into Long Beach
Setting fire to public buildings
Now we see what happens
When individual members of
All The Lonely People
Feel the need to vent, but
Can’t gather a crowd
So they do it themselves
Using fully automatic weapons
Sold everywhere by everyone, because
The “ca-ching!” of sales numbers are everything
Whether it is people, drugs, or weapons of war
While the Congress and the high courts just
Shrug their shoulders and point to parchment
Sunlight on Trees Behind
HEADING HOME
—Caschwa
(in response to “A Green Home”
by Taylor Graham)
Our mission is over!!!
We’re heading home, boys
We can put all these war years behind us
Love our families and resume normal lives
Ascend to periscope depth
Up periscope!
The water looks calm, but dense with
Plastic bags, dead fish, food wrappers
Beverage cans and bottles
All kinds of air breather debris
Raise periscope!
The beloved mainland
Mostly hidden by smog
Skyline riddled with narrow, broken bridges
Far beneath generous executive air travel
Raise periscope top level!
All the married sailor boys see their wives
Enjoying some other man’s penthouse
Adorned in the very privileges
They had faced death to defend
Lower periscope!
Looks like we’re already home, boys
This is your family
For better or for worse
Angles and dangles
Airport Weeds
—Photo by Katy Brown
BEST SELLING MODEL KIT: “THE WEB”
—Caschwa
(a short diversion from the silken paths blazed
by Joyce Odam and D.R. Wagner)
Featured in all the finest toy stores
For kids of all ages
If you are over 50
Have your children help you
Instruction #1
1. Confirm that all the parts are included:
1 village of – idiots galore
A crowd of 3 – bruised egos
12 foggy sets – Quickly changing cloud formations
Millions of – obscure or lost memories from myth and fact
Countless, assorted, random – wind currents
Everywhere – mirrored images with glaring imperfections
Instructions #2-8
1. Choose any subject
2. Deeply inhale all the parts
3. Big, full breath like a tuba player
4. Diaphragm down
5. Hold it in a moment
6. Now release that beautiful web you just built!
7. Inflate and color to suit.
___________________
Today’s LittleNip:
A REMINISCENCE
—Richard O. Moore (1920-2015)
for Kenneth Rexroth, 1950
Held in a late season
At a shifting of worlds,
In the golden balance of autumn,
Out of love and reason
We made our peace;
Stood still in October
In the failing light and sought,
Each in the other, ease
And release from silence,
From the slow damnation
Of speech that is weak
And falls from silence.
In the October sun
By the green river we spoke,
Late in October, the leaves
Of the water maples had fallen.
But whatever we said
In the bright leaves was lost,
Quick as the leaf-fall,
Brittle and blood red.
___________________
Our thanks today to Carl Schwartz (Caschwa) for his intriguing poetic responses to other poets whose work has appeared in the Kitchen this past week, and to Katy Brown for her beautiful Phall Photos! For more about Richard O. Moore, one of the founders of KPFA, see www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/richard-o-moore/.
Poetry readings begin tonight in this area at Sac. Poetry Center, with Lisa Dominguez Abraham and Catherine French, plus open mic, 7:30pm. If you’d like to set up your own website, Manzanita Writers in Angels Camp will be presenting a Wordpress Website Class with Dale Baker tomorrow afternoon, 1-4pm. On Wed. at 5pm, Poetry Off-the-Shelves meets in Placerville at the Library, then Winters Out Loud meets on Main St. in Winters at 7pm.
Friday at 5:30pm will be the inaugural reading for the El Dorado County Poet Laureate Trail in Placerville, again at the library, featuring Kaitlyn Stahl, Kate Wells, and Taylor Graham.
Friday is also the first night of the 10th Annual Davis Jazz & Beat Festival at John Natsoulas Gallery in Davis; that night will present the winners of the Jack Kerouac Poetry Contest. The Festival continues on Sat. with jazz all afternoon and evening, and poetry at 7pm by Sacramento Poet Laureate Indigo Moor. Check out www.facebook.com/events/1916415878603936/?active_tab=about for info, schedule, and info about the contest.
Or, on Friday night in Old Sac., experience Love Vibes with music and poetry at Greciano’s, 9-11pm.
And Sunday afternoon, back in Placerville, Poetry in Placerville will feature Steve Talbert and Sue Crisp, plus open mic, at the Love Birds Coffee and Tea Co. Scroll down to the blue column (under the green column at the right) for info about these and other upcoming poetry events in our area—and note that more may be added at the last minute.
—Medusa
SPC at Night
Celebrate Poetry!
Photos in this column can be enlarged by clicking on them once,
then click on the X in the top right corner to come back
to Medusa.
then click on the X in the top right corner to come back
to Medusa.