Life's like chickens feeding
it's all scratch and peck
Alive is messy, hard to hold
many mishaps
we're all saps to mystery's mold
Weak and weary worn
I keep on steppin'
rock and me mountain made
Don't have to be first
don't have to be second
just have to be
So dancing on quicksand as civilization sinks
smile by smile lie by lie by by by
Cheer up
it's not all eat or be eaten
it's also eat AND be eaten
Let us prey
Sometimes I have to play music
to drown the horrors
in my head
Too many nuts, not enough squirrels
I sit in the dark
close my eyes
so you can't see me
Uncertainty is the only certainty we have
Enter you with me
enter me with you
it's all walrus food, but true
Doesn't seem to be much of an endgame
One second you're an egg
in a nest next to a cuckoo's
then Zap! you're a fried egg sandwich
Just another wary wander up the weary worry
Siren screams across bridge
lone coyote below howls in empathy
songs of hunger
song of shudder
getting through today
to a tomorrow tied to yesterday
I howl for hazy horizons
and their lying hints of hope
I live in Nowville
under deep fog of Then
looking for Zen
In my forever slog through Entropy
I keep breaking
so tape and tuck me back together
but I'm getting on
and fuck it
there's a lot less tuck it to tuck
Werewolves howl at night
vampires drain in the dark
capitalists suck and moan 24/7
Words from the past
crawl from the shadows
mewling with mirth
Today’s LittleNip:
White moon
purple sky
seven deer
—Smith
____________________
Steven B. Smith (Smith) is with us today, pounding out nuggets of gold about his and the human condition. Steven and his poetry-mining are always welcome in the Kitchen!
This is one of those nights were everybody in NorCal poetry seems to have an event going on. In addition to Poetry Unplugged at Luna’s Cafe in Sacramento at 8pm, Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis features William O’Daly and Lois P. Jones, 7pm. And Third Thursdays at the Library in Sacramento returns to meeting at noon on-site (instead of Zoom); write to Amanda Jacobs to sign up. PLUS—two early-evening workshops: Lara Gularte hosts her monthly writing workshop in Cameron Park at 5:30pm, and Nancy Gonzalez St. Clair hosts a workshop at Lodi Library, 6:30pm. Plenty to do!
____________________
—Medusa
—Visual by Smith
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—
and collaborations are welcome.
Just remember:
the snakes of Medusa are always hungry—
for poetry, of course!
