THE DEATH OF SPRING
—Sue Crisp, Shingle Springs, CA
We waited patiently under winter's pall.
Waiting to push up through ground now warming,
to join the beginning of spring.
Daily we sought sun's light, our journey had begun.
At last our flower heads start to open,
we hear the bees swarming for the pollen we bring.
We finally feel the sun on our faces
and sleep under the pactolian moon.
Our waning blossoms warn of The Death of Spring,
our time here is over much too soon,
but it was worth it all.
—Poems by Sue Crisp, Caschwa (Carl Bernard Schwartz),
Michael Ceraolo, Joseph Nolan
—Public Domain Photos Courtesy of Sue Crisp,
Shingle Springs, CA,
and Joseph Nolan, Stockton, CA
SO I BOWLED A PERFECT GAME
—Caschwa, Sacramento, CA
In the Short Term
I can bathe in the warmth of adulations
Pause to re-compute my average
Change to my street shoes and go home to slippers
Mark the event on my calendar, underscore it
Share with all my family, friends, and neighbors
Try to think of graceful ways to accept abundant praise
Rest peacefully knowing I finally did it!
In the Long Term
Come to the realization that this is but one success
following a history of hundreds of years of horrific abuse
on the vast ocean of systemic racism…its ugly nature
finding ways to visit my local community and reach across
the nation, unabated by rules, laws, social mores, public
opinion, Sunday sermons, or common sense…oh how
I would trade this one, and every possible future perfect
game in an instant
for an outcome that
keeps my brothers and sisters
alive and breathing!!
—Caschwa, Sacramento, CA
In the Short Term
I can bathe in the warmth of adulations
Pause to re-compute my average
Change to my street shoes and go home to slippers
Mark the event on my calendar, underscore it
Share with all my family, friends, and neighbors
Try to think of graceful ways to accept abundant praise
Rest peacefully knowing I finally did it!
In the Long Term
Come to the realization that this is but one success
following a history of hundreds of years of horrific abuse
on the vast ocean of systemic racism…its ugly nature
finding ways to visit my local community and reach across
the nation, unabated by rules, laws, social mores, public
opinion, Sunday sermons, or common sense…oh how
I would trade this one, and every possible future perfect
game in an instant
for an outcome that
keeps my brothers and sisters
alive and breathing!!
THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DIFFERENT
—Caschwa
the great democratic experiment
was begun when American settlers
found themselves in the predicament
of having to shoulder the brunt of a
surfeit of egregious micromanagement
tools used by the crown against its subjects,
which came with the impediment
of constantly needing to assiduously avoid
an authority hell bent on aggrandizement;
then someone had the big lightbulb idea
that our only indefatigable emolument
lay with a plan to fully replace the
crown with a new kind of government,
one that exists from the consent of the
governed…. have we yet made a dent?
Sure looks like royalty is back in charge,
like a hunting dog hotly on the scent
I’VE BEEN WORKING ON IT
—Caschwa
used to be terrible at
m u l t i – t a s k i n g
but my horizons have
b r o a d e n e d
to the point where I can
d o 2 t h i n g s a t o n c e
just don’t engage me in
3 d i m e n s i o n a l c h e s s
—Caschwa
used to be terrible at
m u l t i – t a s k i n g
but my horizons have
b r o a d e n e d
to the point where I can
d o 2 t h i n g s a t o n c e
just don’t engage me in
3 d i m e n s i o n a l c h e s s
TRADING PLACES
—Caschwa
after daylight’s full burn
the sun hides under the bed
and pushes out the full urn
of lunar ashes
a loosely-capped sunken
vessel that never did return,
its glories and stories now
rest on a fireplace mantle
safely, peacefully above
gas flames adorned with
pokers denied of wood,
but that’s another story
—Caschwa
after daylight’s full burn
the sun hides under the bed
and pushes out the full urn
of lunar ashes
a loosely-capped sunken
vessel that never did return,
its glories and stories now
rest on a fireplace mantle
safely, peacefully above
gas flames adorned with
pokers denied of wood,
but that’s another story
TWO POEMS FROM DUGOUT ANTHOLOGY
(An anthology of baseball poems by Michael Ceraolo, W. Euclid, OH)
Nap Lajoie
I once was quoted as saying
no one gives you anything in baseball,
but that isn't correct
Morgan Murphy gave me and other Phillies many hits
when he stole signs from the stands
and relayed them to a coacher through a buzzer system,
and the coacher then relayed them to us
And the St. Louis Browns gave me half-a-dozen bunt hits
during a doubleheader to end the 1901 season,
enabling me to win the batting title and a car
I took those gifts without apology,
though I often wished that the Browns
would have given us the '08 pennant instead
* * *
Hank O'Day
I was a player, manager, and umpire,
the only one to do that in League history,
and that eventually got me in the Hall of Fame,
but of course there's only one thing everyone wants to know about
A few weeks before the Merkle incident
there was a similar scenario in a Cubs-Pirates game
I told Evers to go home, the game was over,
and wrote up the incident in the game report to President Pulliam
Many have criticized me through the years
for calling Merkle out on a technicality
for what was a common practice at the time,
but we actually called him out
because McGinnity interfered on the play,
which is hardly a technicality
And if I were consumed with technicalities
I could have ruled the game a forfeit to the Cubs
because the Giants couldn't clear the field
I made what I think is the right decision:
calling the game a tie ended by darkness
First President Pulliam, and then the League Board,
upheld the decision,
and you know the rest of the story
(An anthology of baseball poems by Michael Ceraolo, W. Euclid, OH)
Nap Lajoie
I once was quoted as saying
no one gives you anything in baseball,
but that isn't correct
Morgan Murphy gave me and other Phillies many hits
when he stole signs from the stands
and relayed them to a coacher through a buzzer system,
and the coacher then relayed them to us
And the St. Louis Browns gave me half-a-dozen bunt hits
during a doubleheader to end the 1901 season,
enabling me to win the batting title and a car
I took those gifts without apology,
though I often wished that the Browns
would have given us the '08 pennant instead
* * *
Hank O'Day
I was a player, manager, and umpire,
the only one to do that in League history,
and that eventually got me in the Hall of Fame,
but of course there's only one thing everyone wants to know about
A few weeks before the Merkle incident
there was a similar scenario in a Cubs-Pirates game
I told Evers to go home, the game was over,
and wrote up the incident in the game report to President Pulliam
Many have criticized me through the years
for calling Merkle out on a technicality
for what was a common practice at the time,
but we actually called him out
because McGinnity interfered on the play,
which is hardly a technicality
And if I were consumed with technicalities
I could have ruled the game a forfeit to the Cubs
because the Giants couldn't clear the field
I made what I think is the right decision:
calling the game a tie ended by darkness
First President Pulliam, and then the League Board,
upheld the decision,
and you know the rest of the story
FAT BLUE-JAY ON SHAKING BRANCH
—Joseph Nolan
A fat blue-jay
Perched upon
A shaking branch
On a windy day.
I couldn’t believe
A bird could be so fat,
Or how a thin, gray branch
Could hold him aloft.
He must have been quite soft
Under all those feathers,
Blue and gray.
He didn’t fly away.
Maybe he enjoyed the ride
Of going up and down,
Back and forth,
All around and round?
Then suddenly,
He noticed me,
As just an afterthought.
It was getting early,
Too late.
—Joseph Nolan
A fat blue-jay
Perched upon
A shaking branch
On a windy day.
I couldn’t believe
A bird could be so fat,
Or how a thin, gray branch
Could hold him aloft.
He must have been quite soft
Under all those feathers,
Blue and gray.
He didn’t fly away.
Maybe he enjoyed the ride
Of going up and down,
Back and forth,
All around and round?
Then suddenly,
He noticed me,
As just an afterthought.
It was getting early,
Too late.
LOVE IS NOW OR NEVER
—Joseph Nolan
Have you ever
Freeze-framed time,
To capture scenes
So full of rhyme,
Eternity was
Made sublime?
Some things only
Last a moment,
Yet,
They shine forever.
Love is now
Or never.
Either, you want it,
Or you let it go.
—Joseph Nolan
Have you ever
Freeze-framed time,
To capture scenes
So full of rhyme,
Eternity was
Made sublime?
Some things only
Last a moment,
Yet,
They shine forever.
Love is now
Or never.
Either, you want it,
Or you let it go.
THE CONCEPT OF SIN,
UNDER OVERWHELMING LIGHT
—Joseph Nolan
The weary sighs
Of passers-by
Who worry
Into wind,
Wondering
How passengers,
Claim that
They have sinned,
When the sky
Is so full of light!
There is no room
For shadow,
Beneath a sun
So bright,
And, so,
No need
For confession,
Since everything
We are is
Only light,
Since e=mc2!
UNDER OVERWHELMING LIGHT
—Joseph Nolan
The weary sighs
Of passers-by
Who worry
Into wind,
Wondering
How passengers,
Claim that
They have sinned,
When the sky
Is so full of light!
There is no room
For shadow,
Beneath a sun
So bright,
And, so,
No need
For confession,
Since everything
We are is
Only light,
Since e=mc2!
Mowing While Rome Burns
IF DEATH HAD COME TODAY
—Joseph Nolan
If death had
Come today
What, to it,
Would you
Have offered?
An emblem
Of what you
Had been?
Some honorary,
Proffered?
Would you have
Asked for
Time to talk,
Across a diplomatic table,
Hoping you’d be able
To eat another meal?
How would it
Make you feel?
To know you
Were in your
Final moments,
Waiting
To leave time,
Behind?
_____________________
Today’s LittleNip:
IN OUR DREAMS
—Joseph Nolan
But in our dreams,
We are magically entwined.
Summer breezes, warm.
_____________________
It’s May Day #3, as we clean up from Maypole celebrations with fine poetry and photos from our contributors! Ever do the Maypole thing? I remember it being foisted upon my class one year in school. That thing with entwining streamers drove me nuts. I never was much of a twiner, I guess.
Anyway, here are some poetry events this week:
•••Mon. (5/3), 7:30pm: Sac. Poetry Center’ Socially Distant Verse presents Chaparral Poets Rick Costa, Cleo Griffith, Daniel Williams online at Zoom: us04web.zoom.us/j/7638733462/. Password: r3trnofsdv/. Facebook info: www.facebook.com/events/297438152030598/.
•••Thurs. (5/6): Big Day of Giving for 2021: www.bigdayofgiving.org/index.php
•••Fri. (5/7), 7pm: Sac. Poetry Alliance (www.sacramentopoetryalliance.com) presents Natasha Sajé and Carol Lynn Stevenson Grellas online at csus.zoom.us/j/88414414335/. Host: Josh McKinney. Facebook info: www.facebook.com/events/3733922900066432?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A[%7B%22mechanism%22%3A%22search_results%22%2C%22surface%22%3A%22search%22%7D]%7D
•••Sat. (5/8), 1-4pm: Celebration of Life for Lincoln poet Sue Clark, 237 L St., Lincoln (in the garden). Poems, stories, anecdotes welcome for this recently deceased poet.
___________________
—Medusa
—Joseph Nolan
If death had
Come today
What, to it,
Would you
Have offered?
An emblem
Of what you
Had been?
Some honorary,
Proffered?
Would you have
Asked for
Time to talk,
Across a diplomatic table,
Hoping you’d be able
To eat another meal?
How would it
Make you feel?
To know you
Were in your
Final moments,
Waiting
To leave time,
Behind?
_____________________
Today’s LittleNip:
IN OUR DREAMS
—Joseph Nolan
But in our dreams,
We are magically entwined.
Summer breezes, warm.
_____________________
It’s May Day #3, as we clean up from Maypole celebrations with fine poetry and photos from our contributors! Ever do the Maypole thing? I remember it being foisted upon my class one year in school. That thing with entwining streamers drove me nuts. I never was much of a twiner, I guess.
Anyway, here are some poetry events this week:
•••Mon. (5/3), 7:30pm: Sac. Poetry Center’ Socially Distant Verse presents Chaparral Poets Rick Costa, Cleo Griffith, Daniel Williams online at Zoom: us04web.zoom.us/j/7638733462/. Password: r3trnofsdv/. Facebook info: www.facebook.com/events/297438152030598/.
•••Thurs. (5/6): Big Day of Giving for 2021: www.bigdayofgiving.org/index.php
•••Fri. (5/7), 7pm: Sac. Poetry Alliance (www.sacramentopoetryalliance.com) presents Natasha Sajé and Carol Lynn Stevenson Grellas online at csus.zoom.us/j/88414414335/. Host: Josh McKinney. Facebook info: www.facebook.com/events/3733922900066432?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A[%7B%22mechanism%22%3A%22search_results%22%2C%22surface%22%3A%22search%22%7D]%7D
•••Sat. (5/8), 1-4pm: Celebration of Life for Lincoln poet Sue Clark, 237 L St., Lincoln (in the garden). Poems, stories, anecdotes welcome for this recently deceased poet.
___________________
—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!
