Telepathy for Angels

Brad Hamlin and Nicky Christine, Sacramento, CA

—Poems by Bradley Mason Hamlin

IN RESPONSE TO A GIRL AFRAID OF OAK PARK

Sacramento
is shopping malls
big and smalls
beer
and Central California
valley girls
with the way they kiss
keeping their boyfriends
warm at night

and Tower Café burgers
& fries
poor people
rich people
and people who don't
give a fuck
working too much
and working not at all

so
if you get a screwdriver
thrown at you
on the gentrified streets
or one of those
lucky beer bottles
gets empty
and too close to your head

it's all good
because when you live
in a valley
there's just got to be
a way
to let your voice
be heard.

 —Anonymous Artwork

WHEN SHE WALKS AWAY

speaking


language


long forbidden


I clasp my palms


and fall


praying
to gods unknown …



stiff knee caps popping
against ancient
and new
dusty silence
of city


head bowed, listening



for the


forgotten ones
to whisper
your name.

 —Anonymous Photo

IF YOU GET JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT DRUNK TONIGHT

Right
now
in the super drunken
ecstasy
of appreciation

I know maybe
we don’t have it
all figured
out

all of the time

but
just know this
from me

as summer radiation
fades into
the awesome embrace
of autumn shadows

I love you
and don’t let
anyone
ever tell you
differently

and beer
I love beer & wine
and vodka

because,
why the fuck not

and
if you get
just the right amount
drunk tonight

you might see it
exactly
the same way.

 —Anonymous Photo

ATTACK OF THE IDEA PEOPLE

People, they offer their ideas when you tell them you’re a writer, because if you’re a writer, you know, you’re probably desperate for inspiration.

Hey, I know a great story you can write!

No, thanks, you say. You write it.

But I’m not a writer. Don’t you want a good story?

I’m already working on something.

Wow, that’s too bad, because this would have been really great.

 —Anonymous Artwork

TELEPATHY FOR ANGELS

Sometimes
it’s impossible
to sleep

maybe
it’s one martini
too many
red wine
or good California
beer

or bills
or worrying about
the future
the children
my pretty wife

and
only one thing
takes me
to clouds

I pray
to gods unknown
or to those
to whom I think
I should know
or want to know

I pray
to my ancestors
and various
other departed people

I phone it in …
hoping
to get past
the
dead letter office

but
I can’t tell you
whether or not
they answer

only
that they
grant me
the gift of dreams.

_______________

Today’s LittleNip:

SHE’S TOO PRETTY TO PLAY WITH SOBER

I’ve
got at least
one

foot
inside
the grave

but
I like
to pull it
out

once
in awhile.

_____________________

Enough of Halloween and all its demons—time to bring in a team of angels! Many thanks to Bradley Mason Hamlin for today’s fine poems! Brad is the creator of Secret Society Comics and is the publisher at Mystery Island Publications (mysteryisland.net/bradleymasonhamlin.html)—see below for a sample. Brad was first featured on Medusa's Kitchen on Sept. 19, 2013.

Sacramento’s Rob Esperanza will be reading tonight at Good Earth Movement in Placerville starting at 6:30pm and followed by open mic. Scroll down to the blue column (under the green column at the right) for info about this and other upcoming poetry events in our area—and note that more may be added at the last minute.

—Medusa
 

 Celebrate the poetry of the visual!
(Photos in this column may be enlarged by 
clicking on them once.)