—Poetry by Nolcha Fox, Stephen Kingsnorth,
Joe Nolan, Shiva Neupane and Caschwa
—Public Domain Photos Courtesy
of Joe Nolan
Joe Nolan, Shiva Neupane and Caschwa
—Public Domain Photos Courtesy
of Joe Nolan
TITILLATING
—Nolcha Fox, Buffalo, WY
Your whisper wanders between
provocative and obscene,
tantalizing and indecent,
suggestive and lewd,
erotic and smutty.
Should I slap you
or follow you home?
—Nolcha Fox, Buffalo, WY
Your whisper wanders between
provocative and obscene,
tantalizing and indecent,
suggestive and lewd,
erotic and smutty.
Should I slap you
or follow you home?
KNOW YOUR RITES
—Stephen Kingsnorth, Coedpoeth, Wrexham, Wales
Around the palm, spread, garden traced,
those two steps, fingers, climbing arm,
until that teddy bear in pit;
anticipation, squeezing tight,
and sheer delight, hand held out, more.
A giggle, symptomatic sight,
a lighter touch, mere flutter, trite,
but far too close for assault days;
so measure when the flight is fight,
or squirm not wriggle, worm turned sour.
To catch an old trout, tickle, try,
entrancing with sly finger rub,
The Compleat Angler trickery;
for Adam’s rib, that lore told cite,
but shout out when a gender caged.
To tease, excite, arouse from bored,
is flitter, fly-by, butterfly;
to titillate, when all laid bare,
says more than etymology
of perps who care not, but desire.
So titivate to titillate,
ensure the first responder’s clear,
if of yourself or someone near.
When sense meets sensible is best—
if caution thrown, not legal claim.
So know the rite, approaching site,
accommodate the circumscribed
before too late if circumvent;
but by its nature, logic flies
and that controls the market scene.
Now whose the power, one in control,
the man who pays, pole dancing show,
or woman knowing meat for sale,
and she’s the one who makes the grade
for goggle trade with sweating men?
The pimping one will take his share,
sell drinking glasses rimmed with gin,
but she the mistress by design
who knows the taste of those who come,
and dominates imprudent lads.
—Stephen Kingsnorth, Coedpoeth, Wrexham, Wales
Around the palm, spread, garden traced,
those two steps, fingers, climbing arm,
until that teddy bear in pit;
anticipation, squeezing tight,
and sheer delight, hand held out, more.
A giggle, symptomatic sight,
a lighter touch, mere flutter, trite,
but far too close for assault days;
so measure when the flight is fight,
or squirm not wriggle, worm turned sour.
To catch an old trout, tickle, try,
entrancing with sly finger rub,
The Compleat Angler trickery;
for Adam’s rib, that lore told cite,
but shout out when a gender caged.
To tease, excite, arouse from bored,
is flitter, fly-by, butterfly;
to titillate, when all laid bare,
says more than etymology
of perps who care not, but desire.
So titivate to titillate,
ensure the first responder’s clear,
if of yourself or someone near.
When sense meets sensible is best—
if caution thrown, not legal claim.
So know the rite, approaching site,
accommodate the circumscribed
before too late if circumvent;
but by its nature, logic flies
and that controls the market scene.
Now whose the power, one in control,
the man who pays, pole dancing show,
or woman knowing meat for sale,
and she’s the one who makes the grade
for goggle trade with sweating men?
The pimping one will take his share,
sell drinking glasses rimmed with gin,
but she the mistress by design
who knows the taste of those who come,
and dominates imprudent lads.
TITILLATION
—Joe Nolan, Stockton, CA
It doesn’t take many
To cause so much
Excitation.
That’s the essence of
Titillation.
Large or small,
Bedecked with
Aureolas, nipples
Or cleavage,
To summon the nation,
Western males
Can’t seem
To get enough
Of the stuff
Of titillation.
—Joe Nolan, Stockton, CA
It doesn’t take many
To cause so much
Excitation.
That’s the essence of
Titillation.
Large or small,
Bedecked with
Aureolas, nipples
Or cleavage,
To summon the nation,
Western males
Can’t seem
To get enough
Of the stuff
Of titillation.
SOLDIERS AS SLAVES
—Joe Nolan
Slaves fill up
The battlefields,
Destined to
Take orders,
Destined to do or die,
To live in the most
Miserable conditions,
Never asking why.
They do it for
King and Country,
In service to banner or flag,
To show
They are
A part
Of the hive--
Worker bees
Making honey
For others
To thrive.
—Joe Nolan
Slaves fill up
The battlefields,
Destined to
Take orders,
Destined to do or die,
To live in the most
Miserable conditions,
Never asking why.
They do it for
King and Country,
In service to banner or flag,
To show
They are
A part
Of the hive--
Worker bees
Making honey
For others
To thrive.
HOW WE DANCE
—Joe Nolan
It’s all in the way
We dance
To thumping drums
That greet
The heat
Of our blood,
Making it move faster,
Slower, warmer,
Colder,
According to
Its mother’s heartbeat.
We don’t all
Dance the same.
There’s different steps
And different ways
Our legs will move
And hips will sway.
It’s all about
How we dance--
It’s all about first-romance
Between a child and its mother.
Note that she's on her toes...
SELF-MOTIVATION
—Shiva Neupane, Melbourne, Australia
Getting motivation from others is an addiction.
The moment they shun giving you motivation,
you will be emotionally paralyzed.
The erosion of emotion ensues
from the scarcity of motivation.
You must not be receiving motivation routinely,
because you will be addicted to it.
Self-motivation is the ultimate mantra of success,
It makes you bold enough to lead your
tumultuous life.
Self-motivation is the elixir of your hope,
but motivation from others makes you emotionally
parasitic.
—Shiva Neupane, Melbourne, Australia
Getting motivation from others is an addiction.
The moment they shun giving you motivation,
you will be emotionally paralyzed.
The erosion of emotion ensues
from the scarcity of motivation.
You must not be receiving motivation routinely,
because you will be addicted to it.
Self-motivation is the ultimate mantra of success,
It makes you bold enough to lead your
tumultuous life.
Self-motivation is the elixir of your hope,
but motivation from others makes you emotionally
parasitic.
AGAINST THE GRAIN
—Caschwa, Sacramento, CA
both my mother and my
mother-in-law were left
handers who got mistreated
for displaying their wonderful
trait
by the time I came along,
another lefty, there was more
tolerance than in the past
nonetheless, all of my grade
school teachers were righties
and though they displayed
patience in showing lefties
how to shape the letters, they
never quite got the feel of it
from a lefty standpoint
to this day, I use a computer
keypad to escape the harrowing
experience of repeatedly
incriminating myself for using
my left hand to do a righty’s job
I know there are many exceptions,
including left-handed Presidents,
and others who somehow achieved
fine results
include me in the list of folks who
are exceptionally poor at calligraphy
no matter how much practice I give
to the exploit
—Caschwa, Sacramento, CA
both my mother and my
mother-in-law were left
handers who got mistreated
for displaying their wonderful
trait
by the time I came along,
another lefty, there was more
tolerance than in the past
nonetheless, all of my grade
school teachers were righties
and though they displayed
patience in showing lefties
how to shape the letters, they
never quite got the feel of it
from a lefty standpoint
to this day, I use a computer
keypad to escape the harrowing
experience of repeatedly
incriminating myself for using
my left hand to do a righty’s job
I know there are many exceptions,
including left-handed Presidents,
and others who somehow achieved
fine results
include me in the list of folks who
are exceptionally poor at calligraphy
no matter how much practice I give
to the exploit
CHILDREN IN CHARGE
—Caschwa
Parents of schoolchildren
commonly face this scenario:
“I am getting ready to start
thinking about getting ready
to start thinking about starting
to do my homework”
We saw this grab hold and
refuse to let go in Uvalde, Tx
where hundreds of men and
materiel were gathered to do
virtually nothing at all
We see this take over as the
prime force in both houses of
Congress, where nothing is
left undone in terms of studying
the problem, until all time and
funding resources are exhausted
and nothing was actually done to
solve the problem
All the while there are brutal
predators ready to prey on us,
some with military arsenal,
but we will get to that once we
are damn good and ready…
—Caschwa
Parents of schoolchildren
commonly face this scenario:
“I am getting ready to start
thinking about getting ready
to start thinking about starting
to do my homework”
We saw this grab hold and
refuse to let go in Uvalde, Tx
where hundreds of men and
materiel were gathered to do
virtually nothing at all
We see this take over as the
prime force in both houses of
Congress, where nothing is
left undone in terms of studying
the problem, until all time and
funding resources are exhausted
and nothing was actually done to
solve the problem
All the while there are brutal
predators ready to prey on us,
some with military arsenal,
but we will get to that once we
are damn good and ready…
____________________
Today’s LittleNip(s):
A writer is a person who cares what words mean, what they say, how they say it. Writers know words are their way towards truth and freedom, and so they use them with care, with thought, with fear, with delight. By using words well they strengthen their souls. Story-tellers and poets spend their lives learning that skill and art of using words well. And their words make the souls of their readers stronger, brighter, deeper.
―Ursula K. Le Guin
* * *
My feet will tread soft as a deer in the forest… My heart will be strong as a great oak.
—Juliet Marillier
____________________
Good morning on this last Monday of September, as autumn creeps up on us, titillating us with colors and cool breezes. Our Seed of the Week was Titillation, and we have plenty of that in our poetry today, thanks to this week’s contributors. Be sure to check each Tuesday for the latest Seed of the Week.
This week will usher in October with plenty of poetry in the NorCal area, starting with a reading at the Sac. Poetry Center tonight (Gail Entrekin, editor of Canary, and Cheryl Dumesnil plus open mic), and continuing on Tuesday with Twin Lotus Thai Fourth Tuesdays in Sacramento; on Thursday, a reading of Ekphrastic poetry at Switchboard Gallery in Placerville; on Saturday, Camille Norton and Stella Beratlis at Sacramento Poetry Alliance; and also on Saturday, the long-running 30th Annual Dancing Poetry Festival, this year in Kensington. Click on Medusa's UPCOMING NORCAL EVENTS (http://medusaskitchen.blogspot.com/p/wtf.html) for details about these and other future poetry events in the NorCal area—and keep an eye on this link and on the Kitchen for happenings that might pop up during the week.
_____________________
—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.
Find previous four posts by scrolling down
under today’s post; or find previous poets by
typing the name into the little beige box
at the top left-hand side of today’s post; or
go to Medusa’s Rapsheet at the bottom of
the blue column at the right
and find the date you want.
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!
clicking on them once, then clicking on the x
in the top right corner to come back to Medusa.
Find previous four posts by scrolling down
under today’s post; or find previous poets by
typing the name into the little beige box
at the top left-hand side of today’s post; or
go to Medusa’s Rapsheet at the bottom of
the blue column at the right
and find the date you want.
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!
(A cookie from the Kitchen for today):
earsplitting roar
of a motorcycle:
Shirley’s visiting
Grandma today