—Poetry by Claire J. Baker, Pinole, CA
—Photos Courtesy of Public Domain
FROM LOUDSPEAKER AT FAIRYLAND
Oakland, California
On hearing, Attention, last call
for the puppet show, I want to shout:
People everywhere, let’s untangle
our strings, try some Peter Panning feats,
cast off for awhile emails and tweets.
Hey,
let’s brush off our pale green suits,
polish our patent leather boots.
Someone waits to pull our strings,
to rescue us from, mostly, ourselves.
Dear Everyone,
go limp, get ready, the stage
is merely a few feet away.
And we can almost
float through the whole performance.
Oakland, California
On hearing, Attention, last call
for the puppet show, I want to shout:
People everywhere, let’s untangle
our strings, try some Peter Panning feats,
cast off for awhile emails and tweets.
Hey,
let’s brush off our pale green suits,
polish our patent leather boots.
Someone waits to pull our strings,
to rescue us from, mostly, ourselves.
Dear Everyone,
go limp, get ready, the stage
is merely a few feet away.
And we can almost
float through the whole performance.
PUZZLE QUEENS
Our puzzle queens tackle
a large, stunning New York City.
We onlookers watch, fascinated.
First they square up the corners,
then finger-press the cutouts
into brightly-lit skyscrapers
against a magnetic skyline.
The puzzle-box lid
pictures a sky blue-black,
no moon, no stars,
not one cloud—maybe 200
pieces for Night in the City!
Our seasoned ladies,
calm eyes lowered, focused,
try quick possibilities, a frenzy
of misses, then a flurry of pieces
that dovetail.
Finally,
every piece in place,
the puzzle is properly prepared
for framing and hanging
in the Community Room—
for our Big Apple Night!
everyone hears Sinatra’s neat hit—
New York, New York,
it’s a wonderful town.
Our puzzle queens tackle
a large, stunning New York City.
We onlookers watch, fascinated.
First they square up the corners,
then finger-press the cutouts
into brightly-lit skyscrapers
against a magnetic skyline.
The puzzle-box lid
pictures a sky blue-black,
no moon, no stars,
not one cloud—maybe 200
pieces for Night in the City!
Our seasoned ladies,
calm eyes lowered, focused,
try quick possibilities, a frenzy
of misses, then a flurry of pieces
that dovetail.
Finally,
every piece in place,
the puzzle is properly prepared
for framing and hanging
in the Community Room—
for our Big Apple Night!
everyone hears Sinatra’s neat hit—
New York, New York,
it’s a wonderful town.
HELEN
not told at memorial service
Our friend freed bees
and butterflies trapped by
windows and screens;
she sadly fingered sawdust
around a new tree stump.
Withered garden roses
and ladybugs caught in webs
shook her to the core. On seeing
injured animals, she paused as
if darts had pierced her arteries.
At an ocean oil spill, Helen
helped rescue waterfowl,
holding each in her lap, washing
down wings until they flashed
into flight.
HYSTERECTOMY
from the ‘70s
They plucked her ovaries—
ripe cherries;
yanked out her uterus—
juicy pear;
ripped out her tubes—
bean sprouts.
But she still had
brilliant ideas
and beautiful babies.
ROBBIE
You, Robbie, warm
& real as you were,
became for me a scrap
of address, come upon
one day while looking
for matches
in a catch-all drawer.
Did you slip or soar away?
What now is your story,
your name for or claim
to glory—
you, Robbie, you,
warm & real
as you were.
SAFE UNDER A FULL MOON
Though warned not to sleep
under a full moon’s rounded light—
that it would reverse her magnetic
poles and disrupt her karma,
not spooked by the hint, she opened
wide to the moon’s benediction….
In a week of sleeping out
in a friend’s flowered backyard,
no one she alarmed or alarming her—
here, with no pinpointed fright,
she began a fresh diction,
a direction full of light.
(prev. pub. in Benicia-Herald, 2021)
Though warned not to sleep
under a full moon’s rounded light—
that it would reverse her magnetic
poles and disrupt her karma,
not spooked by the hint, she opened
wide to the moon’s benediction….
In a week of sleeping out
in a friend’s flowered backyard,
no one she alarmed or alarming her—
here, with no pinpointed fright,
she began a fresh diction,
a direction full of light.
(prev. pub. in Benicia-Herald, 2021)
PICNIC ALONG THE RUBÁIYÁT
You grab the wine, I’ll pick up sour bread,
bananas, brie? My dear, we’ll be well-fed.
While sipping red, pausing to toast ourselves,
the bottle tips and paints the picnic spread!
So ends our tough-luck day. At home we play
O when the saints go marchin’ in, Ole!
A counselor has urged we lighten up.
Blasting the bass, we shout across the Bay…
Like gods, we climb on ladders made of air.
You’re clumsy, dear, while I use grace to spare.
But, when we reach a scary overview
I’m fully shaken. You? You’re debonair.
This week, in making love, at last we saw
we’re diamonds in a roughened stack of straw.
So, waxing bright and keeping facets shined
we give-in to groping, savoring, and awe.
_________________________
Today’s LittleNip:
OUT OF THE ASHES
—Claire J. Baker
I wish fresh flights
for all who seek to rise
from hellish ashes cooling
there and here. And since I
am not beleaguered but no prize
I wish for others who would rise
like the phoenix bird of no disguise
a glorious ascent into skies become clear.
_________________________
—Medusa, with our thanks to Claire Baker today for her lovely poetry in, as she says, the category of people.
A version of Claire’s “Robbie” appeared in Medusa’s Kitchen on 9/7/22: https://medusaskitchen.blogspot.com/2022/09/fingerprints.html/. And we were honored to post her Rubáiyát in the Kitchen yesterday for Form Fiddlers’ Friday.
OUT OF THE ASHES
—Claire J. Baker
I wish fresh flights
for all who seek to rise
from hellish ashes cooling
there and here. And since I
am not beleaguered but no prize
I wish for others who would rise
like the phoenix bird of no disguise
a glorious ascent into skies become clear.
_________________________
—Medusa, with our thanks to Claire Baker today for her lovely poetry in, as she says, the category of people.
A version of Claire’s “Robbie” appeared in Medusa’s Kitchen on 9/7/22: https://medusaskitchen.blogspot.com/2022/09/fingerprints.html/. And we were honored to post her Rubáiyát in the Kitchen yesterday for Form Fiddlers’ Friday.
Claire J. Baker
Note that there are three poetry events
in our area today!
For info about these and other
upcoming poetry happenings in
Northern California and otherwheres,
click on
UPCOMING NORCAL EVENTS
(http://medusaskitchen.blogspot.com/p/wtf.html)
in the links at the top of this page.
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!
in our area today!
For info about these and other
upcoming poetry happenings in
Northern California and otherwheres,
click on
UPCOMING NORCAL EVENTS
(http://medusaskitchen.blogspot.com/p/wtf.html)
in the links at the top of this page.
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!
peaches and cream—
young, young grocery clerk
—porcelain doll