—Poetry by Joseph Nolan, Michelle Kunert, Caschwa
—Public Domain Art Courtesy of Joseph Nolan
YOU WANNA BE A CRIMINAL
FOR CHRISTMAS?
—Joseph Nolan, Stockton, CA
The Governor has banned
All gatherings
Of more than
A single family.
This year,
There’ll be no big parties
Around our Christmas trees.
No kissing under the mistletoe,
No caroling in the street,
No lively Christmas parties,
Where all our friends can meet.
So, if you want
To do
Like you’ve done
Every year before,
You’re gonna become
A big criminal,
According to
Governor Newsom!
FOR CHRISTMAS?
—Joseph Nolan, Stockton, CA
The Governor has banned
All gatherings
Of more than
A single family.
This year,
There’ll be no big parties
Around our Christmas trees.
No kissing under the mistletoe,
No caroling in the street,
No lively Christmas parties,
Where all our friends can meet.
So, if you want
To do
Like you’ve done
Every year before,
You’re gonna become
A big criminal,
According to
Governor Newsom!
HERMIT CRABS
—Joseph Nolan
A hermit crab
Controls the flow
Of things he
Won’t let go.
At the bottom of the sea,
He knows
The value
Of a meal.
The bottom of the ocean
Is unforgiving.
A crab must grab
Whatever it can
Get its greedy
Claws around.
Hermitage
Is something you’d not wish
On anyone you’ve known.
Descending down in stages,
Backward through the ages,
Evolution in reverse
Into tiny shells,
Popping out from under sand
When it’s time to eat.
Every little creature
At the bottom of the sea
Does not live
In perfect harmony.
It gets its own
By pouncing and killing
And dragging it down
Below the sand
Before some other creature
Steals it.
THE MYSTERIES OF
SPACE & TIME
—Joseph Nolan
The mysteries
Of space and time
Have never
Promised
Anything sublime
To those caught
In their web.
Instead,
Each soul, lost
In confusion,
Must tread its way
On,
Through time and space,
Abandoned by directions.
Instead,
Suggested to go
Into introspection,
To crash through
The Divine Mirror,
To see things
Much more clearly
Than the shining
Of the Sun,
The brilliance
Of the stars,
Making love
In parked cars,
At the local
Drive-in
Theater.
SPACE & TIME
—Joseph Nolan
The mysteries
Of space and time
Have never
Promised
Anything sublime
To those caught
In their web.
Instead,
Each soul, lost
In confusion,
Must tread its way
On,
Through time and space,
Abandoned by directions.
Instead,
Suggested to go
Into introspection,
To crash through
The Divine Mirror,
To see things
Much more clearly
Than the shining
Of the Sun,
The brilliance
Of the stars,
Making love
In parked cars,
At the local
Drive-in
Theater.
DYSTOPIAN BREAKFAST
—Joseph Nolan
Would you like some
Brylcreem in your coffee?
Slick the hot piss down
That came from a black cow,
Now, unloved,
In a cup
On a table,
Covered in white cloth
That will not yield
Any amount of butter,
While croissants
Loiter, unattended,
On a distant counter,
Ignored in the quest
For the ultimate
Low-carb adventure
In chronic hunger.
If I were Sean Lennon, I would not only make sure my father's murderer, even after 40 years, never gets out of prison. I would punish him even further by forcing him to listen to recordings of my mother, Yoko Ono, every day—especially the records that failed to make any sales at all in the U.S.
—Michelle Kunert, Sacramento, CA
* * *
I heard the radio station at work play Amy Grant’s “Grown Up Christmas List”, where she says she wants no more war and wishes humankind to be better to each other. I let people know where I work that I have a more radical one than that, and that is for Jesus to please return as soon as possible, especially since all the Biblical prophesies are in place for that to take place. I just ask Jesus to please not be "pissed”, though a number of believers do suggest that these days. I hope He will remain as loving of humankind as he is in the Gospels.
—Michelle Kunert
NOT A NEW YORKER
(List format)
—Caschwa, Sacramento, CA
born and raised in the town
where the Munchkins were
housed and The Wizard of
Oz movie was filmed
I can show you various popular
attractions like Hollywood,
Venice Beach, Santa Monica
Pier, Union Station, the
Coliseum, Mulholland Drive,
Miracle Mile, the Tar Pits…
so if you bring up notions like
“the Tri-State area”, the best I
can figure is that encompasses
New York, New Jersey, and
Neptune, and mention of
“Burroughs” denotes those holes
in my garden left by foraging
squirrels
I’ll sure be glad when the federal
election is thoroughly over and
done with, our new President
properly seated and briefed, and
I can just go back to being a
California resident
(List format)
—Caschwa, Sacramento, CA
born and raised in the town
where the Munchkins were
housed and The Wizard of
Oz movie was filmed
I can show you various popular
attractions like Hollywood,
Venice Beach, Santa Monica
Pier, Union Station, the
Coliseum, Mulholland Drive,
Miracle Mile, the Tar Pits…
so if you bring up notions like
“the Tri-State area”, the best I
can figure is that encompasses
New York, New Jersey, and
Neptune, and mention of
“Burroughs” denotes those holes
in my garden left by foraging
squirrels
I’ll sure be glad when the federal
election is thoroughly over and
done with, our new President
properly seated and briefed, and
I can just go back to being a
California resident
CALL ME SOFI
(a rant using something remotely akin to Haiku form)
—Caschwa
Oh they sound so sweet!
laying out best intentions
seeking opinions
and then it hits you
after all that good bonding
they ask for money
using such terms as
responsibility, and
participation
call me Sofi, bro:
a “senior on fixed income”
cannot part with that
as nice as it sounds
extra money is not there
but bills pile higher
someday when I’m rich
keeping head above water
maybe then, maybe…
until that time, try
asking me for my one vote,
not my five dollars
(a rant using something remotely akin to Haiku form)
—Caschwa
Oh they sound so sweet!
laying out best intentions
seeking opinions
and then it hits you
after all that good bonding
they ask for money
using such terms as
responsibility, and
participation
call me Sofi, bro:
a “senior on fixed income”
cannot part with that
as nice as it sounds
extra money is not there
but bills pile higher
someday when I’m rich
keeping head above water
maybe then, maybe…
until that time, try
asking me for my one vote,
not my five dollars
THOSE NAUGHTY SHELVES
(Acrostic form)
—Caschwa
want to see what people are reading? there’s a
great insight available when watching TV interviews.
sex? that’s kept in the pocket, so
let’s look over the shoulders of the interviewees to
meet all the new and classic philosophers, then go
online for more sensational reading
and photos that are out of this world, which
discuss taboo topics and censured
terms of art, of the trade, just picture it!
(Acrostic form)
—Caschwa
want to see what people are reading? there’s a
great insight available when watching TV interviews.
sex? that’s kept in the pocket, so
let’s look over the shoulders of the interviewees to
meet all the new and classic philosophers, then go
online for more sensational reading
and photos that are out of this world, which
discuss taboo topics and censured
terms of art, of the trade, just picture it!
IRONIC
(Argonelle form)
—Caschwa
just the
usual holiday
craziness everywhere you look
package services overbook
and things will go astray
we got
plenty of cheerful stuff
our household had been expecting
but that was not all they would bring
as if that weren’t enough
two more
addressed to our neighbor
our same street number, minus four,
so I carried them to their door
a few steps, no labor
greeted
by a wonderful sign
thanking the postal carriers
for overcoming barriers
so we could be just fine
_______________________
Today’s LittleNip:
AWAKENING TO THE MOON
—Joseph Nolan
I, who rise
Each morning
To the moon,
Setting in
The western sky
In the month
Of June,
Know winter
Will be coming
All too soon!
________________________
Good morning and thank you to our contributors today: Joseph Nolan, complete with startling photos; Michelle Kunert, with her succinct thoughts about the world around us; and Caschwa (Carl Schwartz), who’s still juggling poetry forms with his deft computer. If you’re interested in poetry forms, refer back to Friday’s (and every Friday’s) Medusa’s Kitchen: Form Fiddlers’ Friday (medusaskitchen.blogspot.com/2020/12/noctilucent.html/).
(Argonelle form)
—Caschwa
just the
usual holiday
craziness everywhere you look
package services overbook
and things will go astray
we got
plenty of cheerful stuff
our household had been expecting
but that was not all they would bring
as if that weren’t enough
two more
addressed to our neighbor
our same street number, minus four,
so I carried them to their door
a few steps, no labor
greeted
by a wonderful sign
thanking the postal carriers
for overcoming barriers
so we could be just fine
_______________________
Today’s LittleNip:
AWAKENING TO THE MOON
—Joseph Nolan
I, who rise
Each morning
To the moon,
Setting in
The western sky
In the month
Of June,
Know winter
Will be coming
All too soon!
________________________
Good morning and thank you to our contributors today: Joseph Nolan, complete with startling photos; Michelle Kunert, with her succinct thoughts about the world around us; and Caschwa (Carl Schwartz), who’s still juggling poetry forms with his deft computer. If you’re interested in poetry forms, refer back to Friday’s (and every Friday’s) Medusa’s Kitchen: Form Fiddlers’ Friday (medusaskitchen.blogspot.com/2020/12/noctilucent.html/).
—Photo by Charles Mariano, Sacramento, CA
Also this week, Charles Mariano wrote to say that “the typed words in this image is the title to a story written recently. Too long to share on MK, unfortunately. The typewriter is from my college days, a Royal (manual). Not only do I still have it, still works.” The post he’s talking about is from Neil Fullwood of Nottingham, UK, last Wednesday: medusaskitchen.blogspot.com/2020/12/being-transported.html/.
Tonight, Sacramento Poetry Center invites you to join them for more Socially Distant Verse with Amanda Hawkins and Amanda Moore; that’s tonight (Monday, 12/14) at 7:15pm in their Zoom room: us02web.zoom.us/j/7638733462/. Meeting ID: 763 873 3462; Passcode: spcsdv2020/. For more SPC activities this week, switch over to the blue column (under the green column), at the right of this cream-colored one.
Also this week:
•••Fri., 7:30pm: Video poetry reading by Davis Poet Laureate James Lee Jobe at james-lee-jobe.blogspot.com/ or youtube.com/jamesleejobe/.
•••For more about El Dorado County poetry events, check Western Slope El Dorado poetry on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ElDoradoCountyPoetry/.
_______________________
—Medusa
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.
Would you like to be a SnakePal?
All you have to do is send poetry and/or
photos and artwork to
kathykieth@hotmail.com. We post
work from all over the world, including
that which was previously-published.
Just remember:
the snakes of Medusa are always hungry—
for poetry, of course!
clicking on them once, then clicking on the x
in the top right corner to come back to Medusa.
Would you like to be a SnakePal?
All you have to do is send poetry and/or
photos and artwork to
kathykieth@hotmail.com. We post
work from all over the world, including
that which was previously-published.
Just remember:
the snakes of Medusa are always hungry—
for poetry, of course!
