The Dismal
—Artwork by Douglas Polk, Nebraska
LONESOME
—Douglas Polk
fields of snow,
far as the eye can see,
lovely but lonesome,
in the wind and the cold,
childhood memories,
duck, duck, goose,
snowball fights,
snow men,
and snow forts,
defended at all costs,
makes the loneliness grow,
yet warms the soul,
fields of snow,
far as the eye can see.
_______________________
ASHER, A GRANDSON
—Douglas Polk
a new life,
blood of my blood,
a grandson,
in God's image,
still pure and holy,
feeling unfit to hold this miracle,
this creation of love,
I am humbled,
praying, praying, praying,
to be worthy,
of such a glorious gift,
a grandson,
Asher Camuy.
Palm Tree
TRIVIA
—Caschwa, Sacramento, CA
The 17th-century Poet John Milton was
born on Bread Street in London and died
on Bunhill Row in London, which brings
the question whether there was some
connection with Sandwich
it was common at that time to travel via
horse drawn carriage, at the rate of 30
miles a day, which means the roughly 65
mile journey between London and Sandwich
would have taken over 2 days to complete
In California that same measure would be
the distance between Disneyland and Magic
Mountain, which in the best of worlds are
about 2 hours apart, taking the freeway when
traffic is light
__________________
WHAT IT FEELS LIKE XVI
—Caschwa
when confronting
the smyler with the
knyf under the cloke
away and mock
the time with fairest
show;
false face must hide
what the false heart
doth know
to show an unfelt
sorrow is an office
which the false man
does easily
farewell, remorse!
all good to me is lost;
Evil, be thou my good
The Attractive
LOW-BUDGET MOVIE
—Caschwa
Bought a large-bore tenor trombone
for a cheap price from an aging
Salvation Army band member who
had gotten too feeble to march with it
the mouthpiece was chipped and
gave an unpleasant sting and taste
touching the lips, so I replaced it with
a new one, which I chose to help
enable reaching high notes
those more in the know told me that
I should get a mouthpiece to enable
low notes, what the horn was really
designed for
but their pleas just couldn’t quite
overcome the molasses stasis of a
penniless creature of habit
maybe some day
_________________
TOSS IT OUT
—Caschwa
Sometimes people
get very, very told
that they violated a law
that was very, very old
we see that today, during
congressional hearings
giving no honor or respect
to men wearing earrings
that special stone tablet
now aged thousands of years
harnesses timeless passions
of experience and fears
and that paper from the outset
of the democratic experiment
as amended here and there
will continue to make its dent
but if age is the demon we must
rid from consideration,
that tosses out all those moldy rules
from our parents’ generation
Praise or Punishment
IN THE NIGHT
—Joseph Nolan, Stockton, CA
When we are naked
We should
Turn out the lights.
Subtle feelings
Burn more brightly
In the night.
Colors,
Come dawn,
Will be born again,
But we can wait ‘til then
For the benefits of sight
And let caresses’
Kind inflections
Inform us,
In the night.
__________________
COMES TIME FOR DIAMONDS
—Joseph Nolan
But when it comes
Time for diamonds,
We find the carbon
Crumbles.
It’s only coal
And soft
And will not
Hold.
It’s disappointment,
Cold.
We find it lacking.
We have no backing.
We are out here,
Alone.
The Blind Leading The Blind
OUR OLD CAR’S DECLINE
—Joseph Nolan
Our old car collapsed slowly,
One bolt at-a-time.
It gave us many warnings
Of its sharp decline.
We didn’t want to hear it.
We hoped it would be fine,
But we couldn’t fail to notice
When it finally died.
I guess we need a new one?
It’s time to look around.
Nothing lasts forever.
Old cars
Aren’t like old wine.
Hills by the Dismal
AN ORIGINAL BARD?
—Joseph Nolan
Mouth,
Full of sunshine,
Ass,
Full of lard.
Tell me when
We’ll listen to
An original bard?
Open up your
Majesty
To plagiarism’s charge:
Are you
An original bard?
Or did you
Dig around,
In somebody’s pockets,
For greasy bits
And sounds?
Are you
An original bard?
_____________________
Today’s LittleNip:
WHAT IT FEELS LIKE XVII
—Caschwa
when an elderly widow lives just one
house and one small street from the
neighborhood park where the popular
President is going to appear in person,
a distance she commonly walks daily
but in order to attend this event, she
has to first get a ride to a shopping mall
a few miles away, and then get on a
special bus to take her to the park
and the reverse of all that to go home
____________________
Welcome to the Kitchen on this day in which we celebrate the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr. And thanks to Douglas Polk, Carl Schwarz (Caschwa), and Joseph Nolan for their fine work!
Tonight at the Sac. Poetry Center on 25th & R Sts. in Sacramento, there will be a reading to honor Martin Luther King, beginning at 7:30pm, and featuring several area poets.
Then next Saturday, four events: Writers on the Air features Michele Drier plus open mic, 9:30am-1pm at Sac. Poetry Center. Or, from 9:30-11am, Frank Graham will host The Beats: A Group Discussion at Identity Coffees on 28th St. in Sacramento. Then at 2pm that afternoon, Creative Minds meets at GOS Art Gallery on Del Paso Blvd. in Sacramento, with open mic, door prizes, refreshments. Also at 2pm in Placerville, Poetic License poetry read-around meets at the Placerville Sr. Center on Spring St. in Placerville. The suggested topic for this month is "excite" but other subjects also welcome. Bring your own poems to share; read from your favorite poets; or just come to listen.
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.
Interested in workshops? Check the green box at the right for a listing of local ones which will be held this week and/or later.
—Medusa, reminding you to hang on to that dream ~
Enough!!
—Artwork by Douglas Polk
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