—Poetry by Joseph Nolan, Michelle Kunert, Caschwa (Carl B. Schwartz)
—Public Domain Photos Courtesy of Joseph Nolan, Stockton, CA
SAILOR-BOY AND DOLPHINS
—Joseph Nolan
By sharing joy,
Joy will increase
By greater and
Greater measure,
Until joy will
Never cease!
Increase, increase,
Increase,
Until joy will
Never cease!
How much joy
Can you take?
How much can
You let your heart ache
Before it
Explodes with joy?
I used to know
A sailor-boy
Who went
Onto oceans
To sail them.
On his way
To where he went,
He’s scoop up
All the old
Spent nets
To try to spare
The dolphins,
Who, otherwise,
Might be caught
In an absence of purpose
From what man had wrought,
To show his kindly care.
It was all that he could dare
In front of the other sailors.
—Joseph Nolan
By sharing joy,
Joy will increase
By greater and
Greater measure,
Until joy will
Never cease!
Increase, increase,
Increase,
Until joy will
Never cease!
How much joy
Can you take?
How much can
You let your heart ache
Before it
Explodes with joy?
I used to know
A sailor-boy
Who went
Onto oceans
To sail them.
On his way
To where he went,
He’s scoop up
All the old
Spent nets
To try to spare
The dolphins,
Who, otherwise,
Might be caught
In an absence of purpose
From what man had wrought,
To show his kindly care.
It was all that he could dare
In front of the other sailors.
POST-HARVEST REFLECTIONS
—Joseph Nolan
I vaguely recall
September and all
The labor that
Went into harvest.
Diseased limbs of trees
Failed to produce
Like a sluice in
A dry river-bed.
They’ll be pruned
Before Spring
To let more new
Green buds grow.
This was always a saying,
“The frail will pass
With the changing of seasons.”
Like the changing of guard
At Buckingham Palace
With fur hats
On top of their heads.
—Joseph Nolan
I vaguely recall
September and all
The labor that
Went into harvest.
Diseased limbs of trees
Failed to produce
Like a sluice in
A dry river-bed.
They’ll be pruned
Before Spring
To let more new
Green buds grow.
This was always a saying,
“The frail will pass
With the changing of seasons.”
Like the changing of guard
At Buckingham Palace
With fur hats
On top of their heads.
SHRINKS ON SALE
—Joseph Nolan
My co-worker told me
She goes to a shrink,
As her insurance may allow.
I used to think
Anyone who goes
Must be crazy,
But now I know,
It’s only twenty-a-visit,
The deductible cost.
So, for her,
It’s not much loss.
She never pays
The regular cost.
If she did,
I’d know she was crazy!
But at twenty-a-shot,
She can go a lot
And it’s not much more
Than a double-hot
Latte at Starbuck’s.
—Joseph Nolan
My co-worker told me
She goes to a shrink,
As her insurance may allow.
I used to think
Anyone who goes
Must be crazy,
But now I know,
It’s only twenty-a-visit,
The deductible cost.
So, for her,
It’s not much loss.
She never pays
The regular cost.
If she did,
I’d know she was crazy!
But at twenty-a-shot,
She can go a lot
And it’s not much more
Than a double-hot
Latte at Starbuck’s.
WHAT DO YOU NEED?
—Joseph Nolan
Could you tell me what you need?
Clearly and simply,
As if we just had short time,
Like you were bleeding
To death on a battlefield,
With only minutes to go—
What would comfort you so!
In your final, painful folding?
Do you know?
What would you say?
If you only had moments
To give away
What you had kept below,
Underneath your skin,
Privately kept within,
Waiting for moments when
Telling would no
Longer matter,
And you could be free and let go?
Do you know?
—Joseph Nolan
Could you tell me what you need?
Clearly and simply,
As if we just had short time,
Like you were bleeding
To death on a battlefield,
With only minutes to go—
What would comfort you so!
In your final, painful folding?
Do you know?
What would you say?
If you only had moments
To give away
What you had kept below,
Underneath your skin,
Privately kept within,
Waiting for moments when
Telling would no
Longer matter,
And you could be free and let go?
Do you know?
Cannabis
Though I got a job with Pride Industries in Sacramento, I look for other possible prospects online
I am tired of folding boxes all day even though I have a university degree
so the only thing I would really want would be to be in charge in some way
and that doesn’t seem to be coming along, even with the Covid pandemic this past year
One of my peeves, though, is I that I get emails from Indeed: help wanted for “Budtenders” for the legal cannabis industry
Now I voted for legal cannabis (marijuana) in California for both medical use and for recreational use for those 21 and older
but I’m wary of the fact that cannabis is still federally illegal
That means at any California dispensaries, federal authorities can still come to make raids, seizures and arrests
I must confess that I can’t afford to end up in jail and lose everything for selling cannabis
which is why I’ve asked Indeed not to send me any more positions like that
but of course, after this pandemic, the legal cannabis industry is one of the few main ones that have survived and thrived
I am tired of folding boxes all day even though I have a university degree
so the only thing I would really want would be to be in charge in some way
and that doesn’t seem to be coming along, even with the Covid pandemic this past year
One of my peeves, though, is I that I get emails from Indeed: help wanted for “Budtenders” for the legal cannabis industry
Now I voted for legal cannabis (marijuana) in California for both medical use and for recreational use for those 21 and older
but I’m wary of the fact that cannabis is still federally illegal
That means at any California dispensaries, federal authorities can still come to make raids, seizures and arrests
I must confess that I can’t afford to end up in jail and lose everything for selling cannabis
which is why I’ve asked Indeed not to send me any more positions like that
but of course, after this pandemic, the legal cannabis industry is one of the few main ones that have survived and thrived
Coronavirus with Tendrils
When hearing electronic clicks in the women's bathroom stall next to me at work
I said “Hey—‘toilet texter’—remember to disinfect your phone!”
Indeed toilet texting is among those gross habits people got into even before the Covid pandemic
It’s just one issue that one doesn’t even need to be a “germaphobe” to be discussed
Just because the fecal matter collected onto a phone surface from unwashed hands often isn’t seen
It ought not to be “out of sight, out of mind” for possible transference of germs that can cause illness
Consider that people surely shouldn’t allow a phone not regularly sanitized to touch their face—it’s bad enough that they smear all over their hands and face the tissue they just used to wipe their butt
I said “Hey—‘toilet texter’—remember to disinfect your phone!”
Indeed toilet texting is among those gross habits people got into even before the Covid pandemic
It’s just one issue that one doesn’t even need to be a “germaphobe” to be discussed
Just because the fecal matter collected onto a phone surface from unwashed hands often isn’t seen
It ought not to be “out of sight, out of mind” for possible transference of germs that can cause illness
Consider that people surely shouldn’t allow a phone not regularly sanitized to touch their face—it’s bad enough that they smear all over their hands and face the tissue they just used to wipe their butt
WHEN EVERYTHING STARTS*
—Caschwa, Sacramento, CA
*calendar notation: Jewish and Islamic holidays
begin at sundown the day before they are listed
as does the preparation of many high school
students who have assignments due or tests
scheduled on the following day
—Caschwa, Sacramento, CA
*calendar notation: Jewish and Islamic holidays
begin at sundown the day before they are listed
as does the preparation of many high school
students who have assignments due or tests
scheduled on the following day
BACK TO BOOKS
—Caschwa
(after reading Tom Goff in Medusa’s
Kitchen, March 20, 2021)
I will retrieve an old
book from the shelf
blow the dust off
away from myself
sit down and relax
in one of my rockers
not have to accept cookies
or disable blockers
look at which pages
I choose to select
turn them at my pace
like music I direct
keep lexicon handy
for words I don’t know
not 8 scrabble points for “foin”
but real meaning to bestow
it’s nice if it has chapters
but an index I’ll eschew
my eyes enjoy some order
while my mind steers clear from glue
—Caschwa
(after reading Tom Goff in Medusa’s
Kitchen, March 20, 2021)
I will retrieve an old
book from the shelf
blow the dust off
away from myself
sit down and relax
in one of my rockers
not have to accept cookies
or disable blockers
look at which pages
I choose to select
turn them at my pace
like music I direct
keep lexicon handy
for words I don’t know
not 8 scrabble points for “foin”
but real meaning to bestow
it’s nice if it has chapters
but an index I’ll eschew
my eyes enjoy some order
while my mind steers clear from glue
WAIT TILL NEXT SEASON
—Caschwa
thousands of viewers seated
media with cameras and audio,
officials at the ready
the game is about to begin
this is the rubber game of the series
winner take all
both teams line up opposite each other
daring and glaring
it is the buttons versus the buttonholes
each sailor knows exactly what to do
they have practiced this innumerable times
it only takes one being out of place
to deny the whole team the championship
the action starts! thirteen buttons
count them, from top to bottom
skillfully slid out of their buttonholes
a brief pause for a call to nature
then it’s right back to work
everything closing up smoothly until
what’s going on there with number 6?
something’s out of place, just a little bit
heavens to Mergatroyd!!!
couldn’t get past five
Houston, we have a problem…
we’re stuck in orbit
—Caschwa
thousands of viewers seated
media with cameras and audio,
officials at the ready
the game is about to begin
this is the rubber game of the series
winner take all
both teams line up opposite each other
daring and glaring
it is the buttons versus the buttonholes
each sailor knows exactly what to do
they have practiced this innumerable times
it only takes one being out of place
to deny the whole team the championship
the action starts! thirteen buttons
count them, from top to bottom
skillfully slid out of their buttonholes
a brief pause for a call to nature
then it’s right back to work
everything closing up smoothly until
what’s going on there with number 6?
something’s out of place, just a little bit
heavens to Mergatroyd!!!
couldn’t get past five
Houston, we have a problem…
we’re stuck in orbit
WE BROUGHT OUR UMBRELLAS
—Caschwa
thunderstorms were forecast in the valley
so we brought our proper rain gear on a
routine visit to the HMO to talk with a
doctor and pick up a prescription refill
that was ready and waiting
doctor visit done, refill in hand, we
approached the building exit to return to
our car and at first we saw some rays
of sun, maybe we could get home
before rainfall, as usual, routine
as we began to step outside, gazing at
a partially sunlit sky, our eyes were
popping out of our heads, startled by
humungous walls of inky black clouds
threatening imminent danger and peril
and then it hit us…little inconsequential
bits of hail dropping onto our heads, like
seeing one or two ants at a picnic, we
took the hint and didn’t waste any time
getting into the car
and then it hit us harder, and harder, a
veritable broken dam of hail hurtling
onto our windows and gathering in piles
on car tops and walkways and every-
where one might look
windshield wipers and defroster on at
their highest levels, timidly begging the
hail to disappear as we slowly navigated
to leave the parking lot and merge onto
the street to drive home
the one good thing was that the intensity
of the hail, with more than enough
decibels to mute the car stereo, seemed
to instill discipline in the other drivers who
shared the lanes much better than usual
in the eight or so miles to reach home, all
there was to see was greater and greater
piles of hail, defining and owning the land-
scape, we skipped our usual iced tea stop
at the drive-through and proceeded homeward
our driveway was wet but thankfully lacked
any accumulation of hail, so we powered up
the garage door, pulled right in, and parked
our little snowball in that shelter; then I scraped
off clumps of excess hail into a bucket, and
melted back into
usual, customary,
commonplace, routines
_______________________
Today’s LittleNip:
MANY FORMS OF BEAUTY
—Joseph Nolan
There are many forms of beauty
And each deserves its share
Of honor and of glory
After wear and tear
From worry by the world.
There are many forms of beauty
And many made more pure
By battery by gauntlet
So many must endure.
________________________
Good Monday morning and many thanks to our three sassy poets this morning, along with Joseph Nolan’s photo-finds to go with them. We’re into Spring now; maybe that means things are looking up.
Tonight on Zoom, 7:15-8:30pm, Sacramento Poetry Center’s Socially Distant Verse presents Straight Out Scribes Staajabu Staajabu and V.S. Chochezi at us04web.zoom.us/j/7638733462 (Meeting ID: 763 873 3462; passcode: r3trnofsdv/). Facebook info: sacpoetrycenter.org/event/socially-distant-verse-featuring-straight-out-scribes/?fbclid=IwAR0G0Mso5s68W_mVIr8MqhSyUgH4uGq_6mSPXHvpsBPslNZX85eouB_oxcw/.
________________________
—Medusa
—Caschwa
thunderstorms were forecast in the valley
so we brought our proper rain gear on a
routine visit to the HMO to talk with a
doctor and pick up a prescription refill
that was ready and waiting
doctor visit done, refill in hand, we
approached the building exit to return to
our car and at first we saw some rays
of sun, maybe we could get home
before rainfall, as usual, routine
as we began to step outside, gazing at
a partially sunlit sky, our eyes were
popping out of our heads, startled by
humungous walls of inky black clouds
threatening imminent danger and peril
and then it hit us…little inconsequential
bits of hail dropping onto our heads, like
seeing one or two ants at a picnic, we
took the hint and didn’t waste any time
getting into the car
and then it hit us harder, and harder, a
veritable broken dam of hail hurtling
onto our windows and gathering in piles
on car tops and walkways and every-
where one might look
windshield wipers and defroster on at
their highest levels, timidly begging the
hail to disappear as we slowly navigated
to leave the parking lot and merge onto
the street to drive home
the one good thing was that the intensity
of the hail, with more than enough
decibels to mute the car stereo, seemed
to instill discipline in the other drivers who
shared the lanes much better than usual
in the eight or so miles to reach home, all
there was to see was greater and greater
piles of hail, defining and owning the land-
scape, we skipped our usual iced tea stop
at the drive-through and proceeded homeward
our driveway was wet but thankfully lacked
any accumulation of hail, so we powered up
the garage door, pulled right in, and parked
our little snowball in that shelter; then I scraped
off clumps of excess hail into a bucket, and
melted back into
usual, customary,
commonplace, routines
_______________________
Today’s LittleNip:
MANY FORMS OF BEAUTY
—Joseph Nolan
There are many forms of beauty
And each deserves its share
Of honor and of glory
After wear and tear
From worry by the world.
There are many forms of beauty
And many made more pure
By battery by gauntlet
So many must endure.
________________________
Good Monday morning and many thanks to our three sassy poets this morning, along with Joseph Nolan’s photo-finds to go with them. We’re into Spring now; maybe that means things are looking up.
Tonight on Zoom, 7:15-8:30pm, Sacramento Poetry Center’s Socially Distant Verse presents Straight Out Scribes Staajabu Staajabu and V.S. Chochezi at us04web.zoom.us/j/7638733462 (Meeting ID: 763 873 3462; passcode: r3trnofsdv/). Facebook info: sacpoetrycenter.org/event/socially-distant-verse-featuring-straight-out-scribes/?fbclid=IwAR0G0Mso5s68W_mVIr8MqhSyUgH4uGq_6mSPXHvpsBPslNZX85eouB_oxcw/.
________________________
—Medusa
Quote by Gabrielle Hamilton
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
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that which was previously-published.
Just remember:
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