—Poetry by Joseph Nolan, Michelle Kunert,
Michael Ceraolo and Caschwa (Carl Schwartz)
—Public Domain Photos Courtesy of Joseph Nolan
BLEACHED WOOD ON THE BEACH
—Joseph Nolan, Stockton, CA
Oh! The bleached wood
On the beach,
Surely, sorely beckons,
Campfire memories,
When we were
Young and reckless.
We were undone,
Happily,
As though set free,
To fly into the sun!
Icarus
Was one of us,
Or were we
One-in-He?
Dandelions
Barked like lions!
When we
Took L.S.D.
Colors were
The energy,
Inside you and me.
—Joseph Nolan, Stockton, CA
Oh! The bleached wood
On the beach,
Surely, sorely beckons,
Campfire memories,
When we were
Young and reckless.
We were undone,
Happily,
As though set free,
To fly into the sun!
Icarus
Was one of us,
Or were we
One-in-He?
Dandelions
Barked like lions!
When we
Took L.S.D.
Colors were
The energy,
Inside you and me.
TOO LATE FOR FABULOUS RASPBERRIES
—Joseph Nolan
It’s too late
For fabulous raspberries
When Fall comes
With regret,
Bearing many kinds of harvests.
It’s getting there,
But it’s not Winter, yet.
October
Brings its own form
Of Autumn-fest,
With oodles of
Oom-pah-pah
And cleavage of
Young waitresses’ breasts,
Bearing forth
Large steins of lager,
Letting mirth and merry
Hold off Winter’s frets.
—Joseph Nolan
It’s too late
For fabulous raspberries
When Fall comes
With regret,
Bearing many kinds of harvests.
It’s getting there,
But it’s not Winter, yet.
October
Brings its own form
Of Autumn-fest,
With oodles of
Oom-pah-pah
And cleavage of
Young waitresses’ breasts,
Bearing forth
Large steins of lager,
Letting mirth and merry
Hold off Winter’s frets.
WHEN GODS WRITE POETRY
—Joseph Nolan
Gods
May seem
Somewhat Odd,
At times,
Trying to
Make rhymes,
One-two-three,
For you and me
To chew on.
They’d like to know
What makes humans
So human.
So,
They dither
With white pages,
In scripted lines,
Written in ink,
Black,
Summoning everything,
They can think,
Or ever hope
To act,
As though,
Somehow, what a god feels,
You could ever know!
Or from which,
You wouldn’t need to heal!
—Joseph Nolan
Gods
May seem
Somewhat Odd,
At times,
Trying to
Make rhymes,
One-two-three,
For you and me
To chew on.
They’d like to know
What makes humans
So human.
So,
They dither
With white pages,
In scripted lines,
Written in ink,
Black,
Summoning everything,
They can think,
Or ever hope
To act,
As though,
Somehow, what a god feels,
You could ever know!
Or from which,
You wouldn’t need to heal!
BRITTLE GATHERINGS
—Joseph Nolan
Everything is fragile.
More fragile, still,
Than fragile,
Is brittle.
Brittle is
When fragile breaks.
A little tap
Is all it takes,
To shatter
Thin glass
Into slivers!
I go to family gatherings
As though to funerals.
Somber is my mood,
Something close to dread,
As I walk in.
I try to make a smile,
But notice in the corner, a
Smirking grin,
“Oh, him again?”
Weary is the way
One’s warned away!
Never to return,
They hope.
That way,
Though it might seem strange
To strangers,
Far away,
Those in close proximity
Understand the ways
Brother is turned against brother
For so many unstated reasons.
The past is still here.
Nothing is forgotten
Or forgiven.
—Joseph Nolan
Everything is fragile.
More fragile, still,
Than fragile,
Is brittle.
Brittle is
When fragile breaks.
A little tap
Is all it takes,
To shatter
Thin glass
Into slivers!
I go to family gatherings
As though to funerals.
Somber is my mood,
Something close to dread,
As I walk in.
I try to make a smile,
But notice in the corner, a
Smirking grin,
“Oh, him again?”
Weary is the way
One’s warned away!
Never to return,
They hope.
That way,
Though it might seem strange
To strangers,
Far away,
Those in close proximity
Understand the ways
Brother is turned against brother
For so many unstated reasons.
The past is still here.
Nothing is forgotten
Or forgiven.
I learned years ago that “liquid pine” trees were planted throughout Californian suburban areas due to their brilliant fall colors
However, it was disregarded that, before shedding leaves, the trees also dropped little round spiky “gumballs”
These little cones can be serious foot-traffic trip hazards that can also puncture bike or car tires
But alas, these cones can also be used in fall or winter holiday decorative crafts, such as liquid pine cones can be weaved into wreaths or added to potpourri
—Michelle Kunert, Sacramento, CA
However, it was disregarded that, before shedding leaves, the trees also dropped little round spiky “gumballs”
These little cones can be serious foot-traffic trip hazards that can also puncture bike or car tires
But alas, these cones can also be used in fall or winter holiday decorative crafts, such as liquid pine cones can be weaved into wreaths or added to potpourri
—Michelle Kunert, Sacramento, CA
It's all in the wrist . . .
THE GRAND CANYON OF PERFUME
—Caschwa, Sacramento, CA
placed an order online for
some very nice perfume
and watched its progress
from the Atlantic to the
Pacific as the little package
was handed off from one
“shipping partner” to another
like carrier pigeons carving
a canyon of chaos across
the country:
New York
2 towns in New Jersey
Missouri
Panhandle, Texas
(have you ever had a
package work its way
through Panhandle, TX?)
Arizona
Nevada
California
close and closer to home until
one carrier pigeon lost its way
package delayed, re-routed
and whoopity doo, they gave us
a brand-spanking new, wet and
shiny, Tracking Number!!
ultimately the item arrived
late in the day
with the regular mail
—Caschwa, Sacramento, CA
placed an order online for
some very nice perfume
and watched its progress
from the Atlantic to the
Pacific as the little package
was handed off from one
“shipping partner” to another
like carrier pigeons carving
a canyon of chaos across
the country:
New York
2 towns in New Jersey
Missouri
Panhandle, Texas
(have you ever had a
package work its way
through Panhandle, TX?)
Arizona
Nevada
California
close and closer to home until
one carrier pigeon lost its way
package delayed, re-routed
and whoopity doo, they gave us
a brand-spanking new, wet and
shiny, Tracking Number!!
ultimately the item arrived
late in the day
with the regular mail
MIRACLE CURE
—Caschwa
remember that wonderful
Godsend material—asbestos?
they stuffed it in walls as if it
made our lives safer, until
science proved it was more
harmful than good
so what are we to do with
all those walls now?
the solution offered by one
former Prez, who had a solid
history of ruining every company
he took control of, was to
mandate giant walls at our
borders…brilliant, this was the
very best alternative for a product
you couldn’t sell in the public
marketplace
now sit back and watch as
proponents of other bad ideas
(anti-vax, anti-mask, anti-abortion)
also leave the public marketplace
and try to force-sell their product
by having the governors and the
legislators of various states make
their bad idea the law of the land
—Caschwa
remember that wonderful
Godsend material—asbestos?
they stuffed it in walls as if it
made our lives safer, until
science proved it was more
harmful than good
so what are we to do with
all those walls now?
the solution offered by one
former Prez, who had a solid
history of ruining every company
he took control of, was to
mandate giant walls at our
borders…brilliant, this was the
very best alternative for a product
you couldn’t sell in the public
marketplace
now sit back and watch as
proponents of other bad ideas
(anti-vax, anti-mask, anti-abortion)
also leave the public marketplace
and try to force-sell their product
by having the governors and the
legislators of various states make
their bad idea the law of the land
NIGHTMARE STUFF
—Caschwa
imagine if the American electorate
had installed a scorpion to be our
top executive
put aside the IQ tests, they would
only demonstrate our love for
futility
just to warm up to the idea, let us
bare our feet and walk on hot coals
or prickly things
and then if the following election
was fair and square and undeniably
copasetic
the winner would be confronted with
a landscape of landmines ready to
demolish
any well-intended plans to be finally
rid of the lowly legacy of that horrible
scorpion
just to warm up to the idea, let us burn
all the flags and the republics for which
they stand
the Emancipation Proclamation unleashed
a hotbed of resistance, paving the way for
Insurrection
so declared by Lincoln, who called out the
Militia to quell the rebellion, later called the
Civil War
just to warm up to the idea, let us accept
that the scorpion now defines our nation
in its own image
—Caschwa
imagine if the American electorate
had installed a scorpion to be our
top executive
put aside the IQ tests, they would
only demonstrate our love for
futility
just to warm up to the idea, let us
bare our feet and walk on hot coals
or prickly things
and then if the following election
was fair and square and undeniably
copasetic
the winner would be confronted with
a landscape of landmines ready to
demolish
any well-intended plans to be finally
rid of the lowly legacy of that horrible
scorpion
just to warm up to the idea, let us burn
all the flags and the republics for which
they stand
the Emancipation Proclamation unleashed
a hotbed of resistance, paving the way for
Insurrection
so declared by Lincoln, who called out the
Militia to quell the rebellion, later called the
Civil War
just to warm up to the idea, let us accept
that the scorpion now defines our nation
in its own image
REMEDIAL WITCH BURNING
—Caschwa
let us forgive our failures and
take a second shot at getting
this right
all those witches died in glorious
agony, but the lessons learned,
if any, lasted only a generation
or two
just look at all that evil surrounding
us all day, maybe we need to go
back and try it on steroids
it is like doing an exemplary job
of cleaning out the fireplace, and
then dumping a few skunks in
there to burn
our pockets are empty and our
prisons are full, so we are nowhere
close to solving the problems
using conventional means—
it’s a fool’s errand
—Caschwa
let us forgive our failures and
take a second shot at getting
this right
all those witches died in glorious
agony, but the lessons learned,
if any, lasted only a generation
or two
just look at all that evil surrounding
us all day, maybe we need to go
back and try it on steroids
it is like doing an exemplary job
of cleaning out the fireplace, and
then dumping a few skunks in
there to burn
our pockets are empty and our
prisons are full, so we are nowhere
close to solving the problems
using conventional means—
it’s a fool’s errand
Two poems from a sequence titled, “Some Afternoons and Evenings”
—Michael Ceraolo, S. Euclid, OH
May 10, 1849
The competition for audiences
between two egotistical actors
(sorry for the redundancy),
one English, one American,
soon became a personal feud about acting styles,
and was soon fomented by a sleazy politician
(not a redundancy but a woeful understatement)
into nationalistic bombast:
"WORKING MEN,
SHALL
AMERICANS
OR
ENGLISH RULE
IN THIS CITY?
The Crew of the British steamer have
Threatened all Americans who shall dare to express their
opinions this night at the
ENGLISH ARISTOCRATIC OPERA HOUSE!
We advocate no violence, but a free expression of opinion
to all public men
WORKINGMEN! FREEMEN!
STAND BY YOUR
LAWFUL RIGHTS!
—American Committee"
(And just to insure the proper response,
the same committee produced posters
purporting to be the English answer)
Nativists and Irish immigrants had purchased tickets
in order to drive the English actor from the stage,
but the house had been deliberately oversold
and most were denied admission
The original plan of simple assault with thrown vegetables, etc.
(apparently not violence but "free expression of opinion")
was thus thwarted,
so
arson was attempted but put out quickly,
and stones were thrown at the police
who were guarding the theater
But
the police weren't able to handle the mob
(estimated at many thousands),
so
the military was called out
The stone-throwing and attempted arson continued
and the order to disperse was ignored;
even
firing above the mob's heads couldn't stop
the mob's continued advance on the theater,
so the troops began firing,
and
an unknown number of people,
estimated between twenty-five and thirty,
including a few innocent bystanders
who weren't participating in the riot,
were killed
And soon after
the police department began to bear arms
* * *
October 8, 1871
We small towns are scorned
by the big-city folk,
sometimes deservedly, sometimes not
And even when we've clearly bested the big city
in something or other, it isn't well-known
because the big cities have better press agents
Case in point:
you may have recognized
this date as the date of the 'Great' Chicago Fire
and you may have heard the folk tale about the fire's starting
when Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicked over a lamp
and ignited the contents of the barn
You may know of the destruction:
between three and four square miles of the city
burnt to the ground, with at least three hundred people
killed in the inferno: a great tragedy
Meanwhile,
two-hundred-fifty miles north
in Peshtigo, Wisconsin
another fire was raging,
one that destroyed about 1900 square miles
in and around the town,
a fire that killed somewhere between
fifteen-hundred and twenty-five-hundred people;
the death toll was approximate
because the survivors were so few
Now you know.
______________________
Today’s LittleNip:
OMISSION ACCOMPLISHED
—Caschwa
is that big, bulky Constitution
getting in your way?
no problem
just act
like it
isn’t
there
is no reason
you have to
recognize any
laws or rules you
find disagreeable or
not to your liking you
can simply dump them
and go on and talk about
all the progress you are making
by going around conventional protocols
____________________
Our thanks to today’s fine contributors on this Labor Day! Tonight from 7:30-9pm, Sacramento Poetry Center presents JP Rapozo & Paulina Speaker on Zoom at us04web.zoom.us/j/7638733462 Password: r3trnofsdv/.
—Michael Ceraolo, S. Euclid, OH
May 10, 1849
The competition for audiences
between two egotistical actors
(sorry for the redundancy),
one English, one American,
soon became a personal feud about acting styles,
and was soon fomented by a sleazy politician
(not a redundancy but a woeful understatement)
into nationalistic bombast:
"WORKING MEN,
SHALL
AMERICANS
OR
ENGLISH RULE
IN THIS CITY?
The Crew of the British steamer have
Threatened all Americans who shall dare to express their
opinions this night at the
ENGLISH ARISTOCRATIC OPERA HOUSE!
We advocate no violence, but a free expression of opinion
to all public men
WORKINGMEN! FREEMEN!
STAND BY YOUR
LAWFUL RIGHTS!
—American Committee"
(And just to insure the proper response,
the same committee produced posters
purporting to be the English answer)
Nativists and Irish immigrants had purchased tickets
in order to drive the English actor from the stage,
but the house had been deliberately oversold
and most were denied admission
The original plan of simple assault with thrown vegetables, etc.
(apparently not violence but "free expression of opinion")
was thus thwarted,
so
arson was attempted but put out quickly,
and stones were thrown at the police
who were guarding the theater
But
the police weren't able to handle the mob
(estimated at many thousands),
so
the military was called out
The stone-throwing and attempted arson continued
and the order to disperse was ignored;
even
firing above the mob's heads couldn't stop
the mob's continued advance on the theater,
so the troops began firing,
and
an unknown number of people,
estimated between twenty-five and thirty,
including a few innocent bystanders
who weren't participating in the riot,
were killed
And soon after
the police department began to bear arms
* * *
October 8, 1871
We small towns are scorned
by the big-city folk,
sometimes deservedly, sometimes not
And even when we've clearly bested the big city
in something or other, it isn't well-known
because the big cities have better press agents
Case in point:
you may have recognized
this date as the date of the 'Great' Chicago Fire
and you may have heard the folk tale about the fire's starting
when Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicked over a lamp
and ignited the contents of the barn
You may know of the destruction:
between three and four square miles of the city
burnt to the ground, with at least three hundred people
killed in the inferno: a great tragedy
Meanwhile,
two-hundred-fifty miles north
in Peshtigo, Wisconsin
another fire was raging,
one that destroyed about 1900 square miles
in and around the town,
a fire that killed somewhere between
fifteen-hundred and twenty-five-hundred people;
the death toll was approximate
because the survivors were so few
Now you know.
______________________
Today’s LittleNip:
OMISSION ACCOMPLISHED
—Caschwa
is that big, bulky Constitution
getting in your way?
no problem
just act
like it
isn’t
there
is no reason
you have to
recognize any
laws or rules you
find disagreeable or
not to your liking you
can simply dump them
and go on and talk about
all the progress you are making
by going around conventional protocols
____________________
Our thanks to today’s fine contributors on this Labor Day! Tonight from 7:30-9pm, Sacramento Poetry Center presents JP Rapozo & Paulina Speaker on Zoom at us04web.zoom.us/j/7638733462 Password: r3trnofsdv/.
Here are a couple of workshops coming up this week:
•••Arts and Culture El Dorado hosts El Dorado County Poet Laureate Lara Gularte for The Firehouse Sessions: Exploring Art Through Poetry”, a series of workshops and poetry readings centered on ekphrasis, the practice of describing visual art in a literary mode. Sign up for the first workshop, “Marking Their Trail: Basque Arborglyphs in the Sierra Nevada” to be held from 5-6:30pm at the Confidence Firehouse Gallery (487 Main St., Placerville) on Sept. 8, then read your poetic results at the Gallery on Sept. 16. Workshop spaces are limited. If you would like to participate in a workshop, please email jordan@artsandcultureeldorado.org to sign up for the workshop or get more information.
•••A Zoom workshop beginning Tuesday (9/7), 5-6pm: Writing, Healing & Reconciliation: Four Intimate Conversations with Laura Davis, best-selling author of The Courage to Heal, in dialogue with Betsy Graziani Fasbinder, live on Zoom and recorded. Info/sign-ups (before 9/7; fee=$39 for the series): lauradavis.net/writing-healing-reconciliation/. Program titles include:
•••Arts and Culture El Dorado hosts El Dorado County Poet Laureate Lara Gularte for The Firehouse Sessions: Exploring Art Through Poetry”, a series of workshops and poetry readings centered on ekphrasis, the practice of describing visual art in a literary mode. Sign up for the first workshop, “Marking Their Trail: Basque Arborglyphs in the Sierra Nevada” to be held from 5-6:30pm at the Confidence Firehouse Gallery (487 Main St., Placerville) on Sept. 8, then read your poetic results at the Gallery on Sept. 16. Workshop spaces are limited. If you would like to participate in a workshop, please email jordan@artsandcultureeldorado.org to sign up for the workshop or get more information.
•••A Zoom workshop beginning Tuesday (9/7), 5-6pm: Writing, Healing & Reconciliation: Four Intimate Conversations with Laura Davis, best-selling author of The Courage to Heal, in dialogue with Betsy Graziani Fasbinder, live on Zoom and recorded. Info/sign-ups (before 9/7; fee=$39 for the series): lauradavis.net/writing-healing-reconciliation/. Program titles include:
—Sept. 7: Behind The Courage to Heal: What Is It Like to Be Suddenly Catapulted into Fame for the Worst Thing That Ever Happened to You?
—Oct. 5: Five Ways to Use Writing as a Tool for Healing and Transformation
—Nov. 2:Navigating Difficult Relationships: Reconciliation, Forgiveness & New Paths Toward Resolution
—Dec. 7: From Private Writing to Public Stories: The Journey from Excavation and Discovery to Sharing Your Story with the World
____________________
—Medusa
____________________
—Medusa
I'm outta here!
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!
