A Few Observations

 

—Poetry and Artwork by Norman J. Olson, 

Maplewood, Minnesota

KEY LARGO PARKING LOT
 
palm fronds wave
like arms,
like charms,
prehensile in the wind…
 
prehistoric pelicans on knife-edge wings
float above
the gray, hot parking lot
with its neat white and  
yellow
lines and rows of metallic
insects, blue, red, white, gray, silver
and black… 

 

 

 

 

BOCA RATON HOTEL/back lot and parking area
 
what does this scene
mean?  is the person with
a rake really there?  is the
stick a snake?
 
the mourning doves  
seem indifferent to the fat ape, ME,
lugging suitcases across the lava…
 
time may have forgotten that
the sun is an exploded
avocado dripping its
wan starlight on rakes
and snakes
with no expiation in sight… 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SIPPING DIET SODA
 
spinning galaxies walk through 

windows of reflected
moonlight…
 
the old world has a spider for  
a brain
and the new world is insane…
 
robots with fire for eyes
sell insurance in offices lined
with tulips…  my face
itches and burns as I sip diet soda  
through a red striped  
straw… 

 

 

 

 

 

A FEW OBSERVATIONS
 
books will burn like  
logs  
if they are soaked in paraffin… the dogs
of revenge and  
idiocy 

are biting hungry children…
 
we hold hands and pray for rain, but
the climate
has changed and even the elves are
running for cover…
 
my hand is a broken robot
and my necktie
is of no
further use… 

 

 

 

 

 

THIS IS PRETTY CONFUSING
 
somebody must
be responsible for trees
that sink into the ground
like a bad internet
video…
 
yes, the plants do seem to communicate
with each other but they
are not sending messages
of love and peace…  how could they be?  they  
are at war with each other
and  
with the green and rubbery 

 

faces
hidden in the shrubbery…
 
the umpire has called us all  
out and  
first base has exploded like a fertilizer
bomb on the expressway… 

 

 

 

 

 

Today’s LittleNip:

ME
—Norman J. Olson
 
hanging by a string
between time and the still
uncounted stars,
I am a man in the wrong
army
fighting the wrong war,  
singing the wrong
song
and worshipping the wrong
god
on hungry, painful
knees… 

 

 

 

 

______________________

 

Our thanks to Norman Olson for dropping into the Kitchen today with his fine poetry and artwork! He writes, “I was interviewed a couple weeks ago by Melissa Blundell, Education Director of the Wilzig Erotic Art Museum in South Beach, Florida, as part of their Tea and Sex series...  we talk about my use of the nude in my art and whether or not my art is "erotic art" per se...  anyway, it is a chance to see some of my large paintings at scale...  and hear me read a poem lol...  the technical glitches are due to this being my first attempt at zoom...  so, you can check it out at: fb.watch/6d_OzeiNnh/.” Don't forget that visuals on Medusa's Kitchen can be enlarged by clicking on them once.

In national poetry news, the 2021 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Poetry is Natalie Diaz for her Postcolonial Love Poem collection, released by Graywolf Press. Natalie is the first Latina to win this prize, which includes $15,000 for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author. Congratulations, Natalie! Info: www.pulitzer.org/winners/natalie-diaz/.

Today (6/26), 11am-1pm: Writers on the Air presents Sue Daly’s book launch (Language of the Tea Leaves from Cold River Press) and poetry reading at the Sac. Poetry Center, 25th & R Sts., Sac. This is an open air venue which will have socially distanced seating, and vaccinations and/or masks are appropriate. For those not comfortable with social contact yet, the reading and follow-up open mic will be Zoomed at us02web.zoom.us/j/358106078?pwd=Z05TMEFJdmJyUGN1NTRPWnFva3Z5Zz09/; meeting ID: 358 106 078; passcode: 419778.

Also today (6/26), 2pm, Poetry of the Sierra Foothills returns with Lara Gularte and Taylor Graham plus open mic at Love Birds Coffee & Tea Co. (patio), 411 Hwy 49 at Pleasant Valley Rd., Diamond Springs. Host: Lara Gularte.

And tonight (6/26), 7:30pm, Sac. Poetry Alliance (www.sacramentopoetryalliance.com) presents Julie Woodside plus Bill Pieper’s book release of his Borders & Boundaries from Cold River Press (coldriverpress.org/HTML/borders.htm). 1169 Perkins Way, Sacramento. Host: Tim Kahl.

______________________

—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!