—Poetry by Joseph Nolan and Caschwa (Carl Schwartz)
—Public Domain Photos Courtesy of Joseph Nolan, Stockton, CA
CLEAR GLASS VERSUS LOVE!
—Joseph Nolan
How brightly passes
Sunshine through
Its shade!
Scarcely, does glass
Slice bright light,
Through divergent
Glances.
How wondrous!
How dear!
To let us see
Our outside world
Through
Aperture, so clear!
How near!
As though
We might almost touch,
But not so near
As it might seem,
In truth.
Glass prevents so much!
Like silky,
Oily, skin
Could smudge,
Over and over again,
When heat
And blood
And legs and arms,
Allow us to
Besmirch,
Joyfully,
With every folly,
Love might
Light encourage!
—Joseph Nolan
How brightly passes
Sunshine through
Its shade!
Scarcely, does glass
Slice bright light,
Through divergent
Glances.
How wondrous!
How dear!
To let us see
Our outside world
Through
Aperture, so clear!
How near!
As though
We might almost touch,
But not so near
As it might seem,
In truth.
Glass prevents so much!
Like silky,
Oily, skin
Could smudge,
Over and over again,
When heat
And blood
And legs and arms,
Allow us to
Besmirch,
Joyfully,
With every folly,
Love might
Light encourage!
BRIGHT, RED CHERRIES
—Joseph Nolan
I wish you
Bright, red cherries,
To fortify
Your dreams,
With juicy sweetness,
Through thin-skins,
Front-teeth pierce,
To let your
Joy begin!
Bright, red cherries
Overflow your bowl,
Beckoning your appetite,
To pluck off fragile stems,
From rounds you pass
Through eager lips
To awaiting tongue,
That slips them off
To hopeful molars
To gentle-out the pits,
And let sweet juices flow.
—Joseph Nolan
I wish you
Bright, red cherries,
To fortify
Your dreams,
With juicy sweetness,
Through thin-skins,
Front-teeth pierce,
To let your
Joy begin!
Bright, red cherries
Overflow your bowl,
Beckoning your appetite,
To pluck off fragile stems,
From rounds you pass
Through eager lips
To awaiting tongue,
That slips them off
To hopeful molars
To gentle-out the pits,
And let sweet juices flow.
“NO-NO” AND “YES-YES”
—Joseph Nolan
When you say your “No-no!”
I can’t say “No, no!” back.
If I tried,
It would cause
A major heart-attack!
Since no-one says
“No-no!” back
To a royal queen.
Queens are known
To make the rules
Subjects must obey.
It’s been clear
Throughout the years
If you love her
You must only say,
“Yes-Yes!”
Always and forever,
So she won’t have to guess
If she is still
Your only royal queen.
—Joseph Nolan
When you say your “No-no!”
I can’t say “No, no!” back.
If I tried,
It would cause
A major heart-attack!
Since no-one says
“No-no!” back
To a royal queen.
Queens are known
To make the rules
Subjects must obey.
It’s been clear
Throughout the years
If you love her
You must only say,
“Yes-Yes!”
Always and forever,
So she won’t have to guess
If she is still
Your only royal queen.
STRUGGLING WITH FUTILITY
—Joseph Nolan
I don’t want to bang a drum of war
For the deaf, anymore,
Or fife the flutes of golden peace
For the raging Mongol-horde.
It’s useless to be futile,
Futile and absurd,
As poets find
They uselessly struggle
Over every single word.
While most, outside
Are making merry
With song and dance and drink,
Poets inside wake and worry
And think and think and think.
—Joseph Nolan
I don’t want to bang a drum of war
For the deaf, anymore,
Or fife the flutes of golden peace
For the raging Mongol-horde.
It’s useless to be futile,
Futile and absurd,
As poets find
They uselessly struggle
Over every single word.
While most, outside
Are making merry
With song and dance and drink,
Poets inside wake and worry
And think and think and think.
AND THE PIANO SANK BACK INTO THE WALL
—Caschwa, Sacramento, CA
(seeded by Joyce Odam’s “Moody Afternoon With
Piano and Cat”, Medusa’s Kitchen, February 2, 2021)
don’t need an extra bed swinging down from the
wall, nor another ironing board, nor a trundle, but
oh how lovely it would be to have a piano that just
pulls down and retracts into the wall! mail to open,
dishes in the sink, accounts to balance, calls to
return, let them all wait…..
I’ll just pull down my trusty piano, with a keyboard
that never gets dusty, because it is tucked into the
wall, and play away the whole daily grind. Of course
when I am done, it makes itself small, but there it is,
ready for me 24/7
—Caschwa, Sacramento, CA
(seeded by Joyce Odam’s “Moody Afternoon With
Piano and Cat”, Medusa’s Kitchen, February 2, 2021)
don’t need an extra bed swinging down from the
wall, nor another ironing board, nor a trundle, but
oh how lovely it would be to have a piano that just
pulls down and retracts into the wall! mail to open,
dishes in the sink, accounts to balance, calls to
return, let them all wait…..
I’ll just pull down my trusty piano, with a keyboard
that never gets dusty, because it is tucked into the
wall, and play away the whole daily grind. Of course
when I am done, it makes itself small, but there it is,
ready for me 24/7
WITHOUT VALVES
—Caschwa
(inspired by Tom Goff’s “Without Left Hand”,
Medusa’s Kitchen, February 3, 2021)
It is dawn, and atmospheric events
arising from striking temperature
fluctuations alter the air pressure,
creating wild, enormous winds
blaring through trees like giant
post horns exciting sturdy steeds
to engage in mortal combat with
killer chariots
winner take all, like after a movie
show when the gallant ushers can
reach between seat cushions and
claim for themselves any small
change left there by the vanquished
at close of day, done with play, the
noble sun rakes a bow and vacates
the spotlight in favor of a waxing moon
WORSE THAN BAD, REVISITED
—Caschwa
it is our fate to love to hate
our beginning was a revolt,
prisons are full, we’re still irate
bad feelings grow until they molt
and pave the way for worse to come
no penalty is too severe
for open sores that will not numb
as we, the victims, dwell in fear
there was that speech, ‘twas heard by all
his breach of trust clear off the charts
some consequence should now befall
propriety must rule our hearts
—Caschwa
it is our fate to love to hate
our beginning was a revolt,
prisons are full, we’re still irate
bad feelings grow until they molt
and pave the way for worse to come
no penalty is too severe
for open sores that will not numb
as we, the victims, dwell in fear
there was that speech, ‘twas heard by all
his breach of trust clear off the charts
some consequence should now befall
propriety must rule our hearts
PRISON WALLS
—Caschwa
can’t tell night from day
imprisoned in a Haiku
counting syllables
I’m in here doing time
lost track of measures,
the memory of what days
used to be can’t break in
supposed to have known
right from wrong and fell short
so here I am in failure’s palace
to be taught a good lesson
my best role models are
the steel bars and concrete
that take a beating and don’t
ever complain one little bit
___________________
Today’s LittleNip:
CHAP…BOOK
—Caschwa
(following “On Perfection” by
Joyce Odam, Medusa’s Kitchen,
February 2, 2021)
chap
stick
poke
impale
exterminate
delete
erase
remove
trace
imprint
etch
record
edit
flaw
reproof
proof
publish
book
____________________
Here we are, on the day when Presidents’ Day is celebrated nationally, and the apostrophe in “presidents’” gets wildly misplaced. On this Monday, we have fine poetry about Valentines and various other subjects from Joseph Nolan and Caschwa—plus some snappy photos courtesy of Joseph. Our thanks to both of you! Caschwa has celebrated poetry from Joyce Odam and Tom Goff as inspiration; a call-and-response from poet to poet is always interesting—and fun!
Tonight at 6:15-8pm [SPECIAL TIME], Sac. Poetry Center’s SPC Coast to Coast Socially Distant Verse presents An Evening of Ekphrastic Poetry from the pages of Poemeleon: A Journal of Poetry on Zoom: us04web.zoom.us/. (Password: spcsdv2020). Facebook info: www.facebook.com/events/438893350587761/. Here is a link to Bio's and Photo's of the lineup of poets:
sacpoetrycenter.org/event/ekphrasticpoetryfeb152021/.
Note SPC’s current active Facebook page at www.facebook.com/sacpoetrycenter/. This page lists all of SPC’s current workshops (Tuesday night, Wed. MarieWriters, and Friday’s Writing from the Inside Out) plus up-coming SPC events. Check it out, and follow it, if you’re so moved.
Sat., Feb. 20, 2pm: Poetry of the Sierra Foothills is partnering with Black Lives Matter El Dorado County for art, poetry and open mic in front of the courthouse on Main Street in Placerville. Bring 1-2 poems to celebrate Black History Month (your own or a favorite). This is not online; masks and social distancing will be required.
Feb. 24-28: Public Poetry in Houston, TX (www.facebook.com/PublicPoetryUSA) presents REELpoetry, a 5-day online international festival of poem films and video poems. See www.publicpoetry.net/?fbclid=IwAR3nxqxz7y4lZmibDtsIX69BmzDo3CWkIOcRAw_ukVvuHPMcpB-l6joe_j8 for info and to reg. Tix: Give what you can. Schedule and details: www.publicpoetry.net/?fbclid=IwAR3nxqxz7y4lZmibDtsIX69BmzDo3CWkIOcRAw_ukVvuHPMcpB-l6joe_j8#SE/.
_____________________________
—Medusa, saying Let the Joy Begin!
—Caschwa
can’t tell night from day
imprisoned in a Haiku
counting syllables
I’m in here doing time
lost track of measures,
the memory of what days
used to be can’t break in
supposed to have known
right from wrong and fell short
so here I am in failure’s palace
to be taught a good lesson
my best role models are
the steel bars and concrete
that take a beating and don’t
ever complain one little bit
___________________
Today’s LittleNip:
CHAP…BOOK
—Caschwa
(following “On Perfection” by
Joyce Odam, Medusa’s Kitchen,
February 2, 2021)
chap
stick
poke
impale
exterminate
delete
erase
remove
trace
imprint
etch
record
edit
flaw
reproof
proof
publish
book
____________________
Here we are, on the day when Presidents’ Day is celebrated nationally, and the apostrophe in “presidents’” gets wildly misplaced. On this Monday, we have fine poetry about Valentines and various other subjects from Joseph Nolan and Caschwa—plus some snappy photos courtesy of Joseph. Our thanks to both of you! Caschwa has celebrated poetry from Joyce Odam and Tom Goff as inspiration; a call-and-response from poet to poet is always interesting—and fun!
Tonight at 6:15-8pm [SPECIAL TIME], Sac. Poetry Center’s SPC Coast to Coast Socially Distant Verse presents An Evening of Ekphrastic Poetry from the pages of Poemeleon: A Journal of Poetry on Zoom: us04web.zoom.us/. (Password: spcsdv2020). Facebook info: www.facebook.com/events/438893350587761/. Here is a link to Bio's and Photo's of the lineup of poets:
sacpoetrycenter.org/event/ekphrasticpoetryfeb152021/.
Note SPC’s current active Facebook page at www.facebook.com/sacpoetrycenter/. This page lists all of SPC’s current workshops (Tuesday night, Wed. MarieWriters, and Friday’s Writing from the Inside Out) plus up-coming SPC events. Check it out, and follow it, if you’re so moved.
Sat., Feb. 20, 2pm: Poetry of the Sierra Foothills is partnering with Black Lives Matter El Dorado County for art, poetry and open mic in front of the courthouse on Main Street in Placerville. Bring 1-2 poems to celebrate Black History Month (your own or a favorite). This is not online; masks and social distancing will be required.
Feb. 24-28: Public Poetry in Houston, TX (www.facebook.com/PublicPoetryUSA) presents REELpoetry, a 5-day online international festival of poem films and video poems. See www.publicpoetry.net/?fbclid=IwAR3nxqxz7y4lZmibDtsIX69BmzDo3CWkIOcRAw_ukVvuHPMcpB-l6joe_j8 for info and to reg. Tix: Give what you can. Schedule and details: www.publicpoetry.net/?fbclid=IwAR3nxqxz7y4lZmibDtsIX69BmzDo3CWkIOcRAw_ukVvuHPMcpB-l6joe_j8#SE/.
_____________________________
—Medusa, saying Let the Joy Begin!
Public Domain Photo
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