Balance is Key

—Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Joseph Nolan, Stockton, CA

QUICK FIXES                                                    
—Sue Crisp, Shingle Springs, CA

A little duct tape here,
a little duct tape there.
Is there anything duct
can’t repair?

Use it for whatever inspires,
handgrips on pliers, tape
together wires.

Use your imagination
for your next creation.
Enter a duct tape contest,
show them your best,
you may come home with
a Blue Ribbon on your chest.

 —Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Sue Crisp

LIBERTY 
—Sue Crisp
                                                                    
A freedom from captivity or control.
It’s always been America’s goal.
There times those liberties abuse
take their tole on our heart, body,
and sole.

Liberty, our nations most precious
gift of all-together we conquer,
divided, we fall.

As long as we can get along,
together, we can keep our
country, Liberty Strong.

 —Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Sue Crisp

BROKEN
—Sue Crisp

Remember the heat of our passion, desire,
two hearts beating as one?  Hearts on fire
The blazing romantic year too soon passed
us by, and we watched our flames of passion
flicker, then die.

Now only cold ashes, broken remains of our
once burning hearts, scattered to the wind, in
useless broken parts.

 —Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Sue Crisp

TREE OF LIFE  
—Sue Crisp                                       

The Tree of Life, our heart’s desire,
to give us a living history,
as we push toward the future, we see
the tree sends out branches, two, three.

Our lives move forward, as the tree grows,
sometimes the roots are injured
by discontented blows.

Soon it begins to divide, to save its life,
it’s once solid branches, diseased by strife.
No longer one, each half clings to its own,
neither half wanting to be alone.

The Tree of Life broken, each
branch reaps what it has sown.

 —Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Sue Crisp

IN LOVE
—Douglas Polk, Kearney, NE

eyes so beautiful and naive
profess a love,
only imagined,
too young to know, or experience a love,
so complex,
and layered,
the heroic adored,
even though
the love was never heroic,
only fulfilling needs,
both physical,
and emotional,
but the young eyes,
beautiful and naive enough to believe
the truth, otherwise.

—Original Artwork by Douglas Polk

SKINNY DIPPING
—Douglas Polk
 
in the waters pure as creation,
naked and vulnerable,
I held you,
and felt your body melt into mine,
we were one,
the warm waters caressing our bodies,
in love,
listening to the soothing song of the flowing river,
expressing the joy to the universe.

 —Original Artwork by Douglas Polk
 

HOME
—Douglas Polk

the place, nowhere,
in the middle of sand and sky,
I found God,
there were no trumpet blasts,
or angelic voices,
only a soft whisper
in the soul,
saying, "I am home",
and among kin,
residing through the eons.
He is here.

 —Original Artwork by Douglas Polk
 

KITCHEN DAYS
—Joseph Nolan
 
There was crazy
In the kitchen.
There was madness
All day long.

Hardly a quiet moment,
A parade of jesters
In patched-up jeans
Or trousers,
With a woman at the sink,

With a better education
And ability to think
Circles around
The randomly-gathered,
With a pot of coffee to drink
And a floating haze
As thick as clouds at dusk.

With so many
Coming and going,
Across domestic stage,
We’d get an education
From two rocking-chairs,
Set in either corner,
Watching actors,
Over-turning pages,
Incidentally,
With only marginal interest. 

 —Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Joseph Nolan

ZEN AND NOTHINGNESS
—Joseph Nolan

I was growing unattached to nothingness.
They say non-attachment is a virtue.
When nothingness interpenetrates nothingness,
Nothing is left.
You are left with nothing.

There is nothing
To eschew
About nothingness.
You could ask
For more
Or less
Of nothingness,
But what good
Would that do?

You’d still be left
With nothing
But nothingness,
Throwing mind and reason,
All askew.

No need to renew
If all, indeed, is nothingness.
Nothing to curse or bless
In the middle of infinite nothingness-
No need to stress
It’s always been like this,
I guess?

 —Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Joseph Nolan

THE VACUUM SAID
—Joseph Nolan

The vacuum said,
“I was here before there was air.
I’ll be here when air is gone.
As you reach out for new friendship,
I inform that friendship is rare,
As is care
That lasts very long,
That grows very strong,
Since bodies fall into weakness
And opinions tend to be wrong.”

 —Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Joseph Nolan

YOUR OLD, FORGOTTEN FRIEND
—Joseph Nolan
 
In this little box over here,
In the back of your closet floor
Underneath your
Last week’s laundry
Hidden behind a heavy door,
I overflow
In silence.

I’ll be here
When you need me.

You only need
To open the heavy door,
Find out where I’m hidden,
In the back of your
Undone laundry,
Pull me out,
Dust me off,
Greet me with
A laugh and scoff
And ask me how I’ve been—
Your old, forgotten friend.

 —Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Joseph Nolan

LET ME CHANGE FOR DINNER
—Caschwa 
 
when I ask this, it
means quite the opposite of
what you are thinking

had quite enough of
allowing food stains to mar
my best finery

no, I’m going to change
into some attire that will
not see public eye

before I cook, serve,
or eat those baby back ribs
I’ll be as ready

as a grease monkey
in grungy pants and smeared shirt,
wearing a big smile

I’ll be ready in a minute ~ !
—Public Domain Photo

HAYDN STRING QUARTET, Op. 76, No 3, 'Emperor'
—Caschwa

The Lindsays

These are among the finest Haydn quartet recordings to be heard in years, performances which will quickly establish themselves as classics of the genre. They are consistently a degree more refined in texture and control of dynamic, while the ensemble is more polished.
 

I brought my kazoo
and auditioned for a part
they had no trouble

promptly reaching a
unanimous decision
to not include me

and I worked so hard
to produce the very best
nasal kazoo sounds

sometimes, no matter
what you do, naysayers slap
you where it hurts most 

 —Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Joseph Nolan
 

TRICKLE DOWN
—Caschwa

he had not always been a full time
Republican, but when Ronald Reagan
said people should pull themselves up
by their bootstraps, he boarded that
train for the long haul

then one day at the train station, his
black face grinning, he reached down
to pull up his bootstrap and someone
cried out “gun!” and then several
security officers shot him in the back

they left him to bleed out on the floor
cursing him for causing such a mess
calling him every foul name in the book
and several too raunchy to be printed
they didn’t bother so see if he had family

and so the trickle down theory had
double-underline zero to do with daily
economic matters, and everything to do
with instilling fear in the hearts and minds
of “Black Lives Matter” protesters 

 —Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Joseph Nolan

QUICK CRUCI-FIXES
—Caschwa 
 
Greater love has no man,
than that he lay down his
futures trading funds to
buy quick crucifixes

using a standardized
legal agreement to
buy or sell something at
a predetermined price

at a specified time
in the future, between
parties not known to each
other, all for our sins

no one can resist such
golden commodities
well infused with meaning
they will sell like pancakes 

 —Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Joseph Nolan

LEFT WITH DUST
—Caschwa

convenience tools
can lighten your load with those
heavy, daily chores

excess writing can
be edited down to read
like a good novel

exquisite cuisine
must still be apportioned to
a proper serving

unfeeling stone can
be whittled away until
fine art emerges

but do not chisel
investment portfolios
where balance is key

_____________________

Today’s LittleNip(s):

SNACK TIME
—Caschwa

googelly, goggelly
Salmon are wonderful
friends you can talk to, but
I have a hunch

don’t sit too closely, ‘cause
danger is lurking near
big pterodactyls will
eat you for lunch

* * *

NOT IN AMERICA
—Caschwa

higgety jiggety
not in America
this isn’t happening
please make it stop

different due process
standards are coloring
unconstitutional
murder by cop

* * *

MAYBE NOT
—Caschwa

can we ever stop
cruel and unusual crimes
with punishments that
fall short of qualifying
as cruel and unusual?

________________________

Thanks to today’s poets for weaving their words so deftly, and for photos and artwork to keep us all on track! Mondays have such variety in the Kitchen that it makes my head spin (in a good way, of course). These colorful poems come from a variety of sources: recent Seeds of the Week, current events, politics, pandemics and the personal. One wonders if “Kitchen Days” is how Joseph Nolan sees life in Medusa’s Kitchen. Well, he’s not far wrong, except for the part about the cook's “… ability to think/Circles around/The randomly-gathered…” I’m spinning in circles, alright, but not that kind ~

Sacramento poet Jennifer O’Neill Pickering writes that her new book of poetry, Fruit Box Castles: Poems From a Peach Rancher’s Daughter is available for pre-order from Finishing Line Press at www.finishinglinepress.com/product/fruit-box-castles-poems-from-a-peach-ranchers-daughter-by-jennifer-oneill-pickering/. Congratulations, Jennifer!
 
 Sac. Poetry Center uses Zoom for weekly readings and workshops. For more info, go to www.sacramentopoetrycenter.com/. Also this week, on Friday at 7:30pm, there will be a video poetry reading on Facebook by Davis Poet Laureate James Lee Jobe at james-lee-jobe.blogspot.com and/or www.youtube.com/jamesleejobe/.

For more about El Dorado County poetry events, check Western Slope El Dorado Poetry on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ElDoradoCountyPoetry/.

____________________

—Medusa, still trying to tame them snarky snakes ~

 —Public Domain Photo

 

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