—Artwork by Norman J. Olson, Maplewood, MN
WHAT IT FEELS LIKE VI
—Caschwa, Sacramento, CA
You know full well that yours will
never be the loudest voice in the
room,
but if only the megaphone mouths
would pause to recharge,
the incontrovertible truth of your
argument will lay the foundation
for future, positive change
_________________
WHAT IT FEELS LIKE VII
—Caschwa
when someone attempts to measure
you against the high bar of “perfection”
and of course you both know failure is
imminent
it is nonetheless a high compliment to
be considered so close to perfection
to even warrant a comparison
WHAT IT FEELS LIKE VIII
—Caschwa
when the Eagle Court of your son’s friend is
completed and dispersing and there is still a
humungous array of really fine food left over,
far more than people wish to take home
and you call your pastor and get the name
and location of a shelter, pack up the back
of your minivan with big trays of food to take
there, and are joined by several other scout
parents who load up their vans, station
wagons, trucks, etc.
the look of wonder, amazement, and gratitude
of dozens of folks who typically don’t dare to
even think about having such a nice meal
this took place almost 2 decades ago, and the
warm feeling it left is still right there
_________________
WHAT IF FEELS LIKE IX
—Caschwa
when the model is so big, it includes:
the biggest aspects of big government
the greatest manifestations of big money
the most profitable lines of big business
all wrapped up into one system of laws
and rules intentionally designed to keep
our now defunct balance of power hidden
away in the deepest, darkest chamber of
the museum of forgotten history…..
……unless we vote
HELP!
—Caschwa
If you get Morse Code
message “How are you doing?”
don’t answer “SoSo”
__________________
LAW & ORDER
—Caschwa
we think up, debate
and finally legislate
millions of good laws
but once laws are passed,
order must come from an
entirely different source
like rules of the road
we post signs for due notice
some follow, some don’t
all those signs together
are Diogenes the Cynic
looking for an honest man
ZEN AND AGGRESSION
—Joseph Nolan, Stockton, CA
1. Everything is always changing
2. And everything, connected.
3. Pay attention!
—A Jane Hirschfield Summary of Zen
Everything is collapsing into itself
Under the influence of time and change.
We are all ghosts,
Temporarily
Assigned to human bodies,
But that will change.
Nature abhors a vacuum,
So it will suck us in,
Either into a convent
Or a whorehouse.
Get thee to a nunnery!
In Washington,
We hear a giant, sucking sound
As the masters of illusion
Smash the world around.
War is the means by which
It is determined,
Whether or not
The ruling-class
Of one nation,
Or the other,
Will become wealthier
And more powerful,
Or less so.
The working men
Who shoot the guns
Will never touch
The money-runs
That flow between nations
When one gets the upper hand.
It’s the privilege of command
To demand money,
Like after the end
Of World War One,
When the mark lost all its value
And German whores
Were the cheapest on the Continent.
Everything is connected,
All the time,
And always
Changing!
Pay attention!
You are about to be sucked in
To some strange mayhem!
_________________
IT GETS WORSE
—Joseph Nolan
I have to be mad
To want to go there,
But go there,
Still, I do.
What is wrong with me?
Am I enthralled
By maudlin tales of desperation,
Big, dark-circles under eyes,
Nightmares disguised as daydreams,
Stories of lives born in pain?
Have I gone insane?
Most people don’t want to do it
Just for the pleasure, alone.
It’s part of a larger story,
Something with a plot-line,
Not just a happy ending.
But it seems to grow so heavy
And hard to carry
And cold, like stone.
WHO WILL BUY THE NEXT ROUND?
—Joseph Nolan
We will get drunk together
And finally fall into our sadness
And our grief.
We will find we lack
Capacity for accurate
Description and belief.
We will know
We have no way to go
Except for further
Into darkness,
Since we are lost,
Have no light with which to see
Or to know.
And so,
Who will buy the next round?
____________________
CHESHIRE CAT?
—Joseph Nolan
Cat
Lounges in a neighbor’s yard.
Neighbor
Knocks on slider, hard!
To scare the cat away.
We don’t need any more cat-poop today!
Up
Cat
Quickly jumps
To the top of the fence.
Once there,
Saunters leisurely
As though it were
Wide as a mile.
Cat looks back.
Does he see
A cat with a
Cheshire smile?
COLORED IN VERMILION
—Joseph Nolan
No Buddhist
Can make the universe
Disappear.
They can only say
The void is here and there and
Everywhere,
Or pull out the
Common thread
That binds
All things together
In your head
And let the trillion,
Trillion, separate
Things in black and white
Show themselves
All colored in vermilion.
___________________
Today’s LittleNip:
WHAT IT FEELS LIKE
—Caschwa
when an auditioning piano player
brings forth Modest Mussorgsky’s
original score of Pictures at an
Exhibition written for piano
books the most luxurious concert hall
wears the most lavish tuxedo
hires the very best page turner
and then sits down at a spinet
…that hasn’t been tuned lately
___________________
Our thanks to today’s contributors today for their verse on a variety of subjects, as 2019 winds down. Carl Schwartz (Caschwa) has been working on a poem cycle, “What It Feels Like”, and last Monday I posted poems #2, 3, 4 and 5. Yikes, he said—where is the original (#1)? Well, looks like it flew away into cyberspace—my bad—so I posted it today as our LittleNip. Be sure to be vigilant about what you send to the Kitchen and what appears in a timely manner; Medusa can be a bit addle-brained. (Must be all those snakes!)
And thanks to Norman Olson, too, for his artwork! More of his poetry and art will appear in January.
Tonight in area poetry, Poetry in Motion poetry read-around will meet in the Placerville Sr. Center lobby, 6-7pm, on Spring Street in Placerville. Sac. Poetry Center will not have a reading this week or next, though, due to the holidays.
Want to do something on Christmas Eve that doesn’t involve fat men in furry suits? On Tuesday, Dec. 24, the 37th Annual X-mas Eve Hoot-Bash sing-along will take place in Luna’s Cafe and Juice Bar, 1414 16th St., Sacramento, with musicians and plenty of good cheer! See info at www.facebook.com/events/562961671154948/.
Then on Saturday, 2pm, Creative Minds meets again with spoken word and artists of all kinds at GOS Art Gallery on Del Paso Blvd. in Sacramento, hosted by Straight Out Scribes and Gary “Gos” Simpson. Also at 2pm that day, Poetry License will meet at Placerville Sr. Center on Spring Street in Placerville. The suggested topic for this month is "horse mail" but other subjects are also welcome. 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.
The Winter Solstice issue of Canary magazine is available now at Canarylitmag.org/.
—Medusa, celebrating—just for the heck of it!
—Ballpoint Sketch by Norman J. Olson
Photos in this column can be enlarged by
clicking on them once, then clicking on the x
in the top right corner to come back to Medusa.