Saturday, February 17, 2024

Let's Dream Together

 —Poetry by Joe Nolan, Stockton, CA
—Public Domain Photos Courtesy
of Joe Nolan
 
 
LET’S DREAM TOGETHER
 
Hello, let’s dream
Of something we
Could make together
With our lives,
 
Children, home and family,
Camping trips
Near running streams
Where we fish for trout.
 
Salmon-runs,
So exciting,
Everything a Grizzly
Could desire,
 
We smoke on
Open fires,
Hung on sticks
We leave for hours,
 
While we call on
Magic powers
To let us all
Get home,
Really home,
Where we all belong,
Together.
 
Shall we? 
 
 
 
 

A STAR FROM GEMINI

A distant star
From Gemini
Came to Earth,
A firefly,
To live
Inside a jar.

Having traveled far,
It knew the worth of space,
The vast expanse of grace
And its new
Tiny place
Of life inside
A jar.
 
 
 
 

THIS YEAR’S TEA

The news is tea-leaves
From yesterday’s tea,
Gone rancid, sour—
Dried-out fear.

This year’s tea
Is foul-worse
Than anything
We’d like to see.
Screams come from afar.
 
 
 


IN FUR AND FEATHERS, COVERED

Some have taken refuge
In the care of critters,
Lacking any
Better thing to do,

Little things
That peck and scratch
Learning how to fetch
And eat
Tiny specks of corn and
Crawling bugs—

Critters in fur
And feathers, covered,
Though they seem to have no sense
Their learning curves
Are steep.
Each day
They grow smarter.
Soon they roost in trees
And gaze down from above. 
 
 
 
 

ALL KINDS OF CRAZY

There’s all kinds of crazy
And some of them are sane,
Depending on the virtue-signals
Running through the brains

Of those who pick out victims,
Who send bombs through the mail
Or launch a wave
Of genocide
To prove that
They are brave

Members of a tribe
Of ubermenschen
Who all get a pass
No matter what they do
To outsiders.

It’s all about us and them,
All about us and them.
Don’t count the dead
Of those who do not matter—
Untermenschen. 
 
 
 


STRANGE NEEDS

Strange needs
Emerge over time.

Titanic’s Captain,
Sailing blind,
Measuring safety
By the wind,
In the dark,
Driving at full-speed.

Darkness
Has its own enchantment.
Death,
Its own attraction.
Destruction,
Its own commands,
Given out by principals,
Beyond our understanding.

Hubris,
Its ways of attraction,
Stating its sheet-metal
Was impregnable,
How-so-forth, thus,
Demons’ laughter
Reigned upon the deck,
When they learned the lifeboats
Were far from enough,
Meaning a civilized society
Had put its wealthy travelers
To snuff. 
 
 
 
 

WHEN OUR SKY BURSTS

When our sky bursts,
Harmonies
Will be sung,

In a rhythm
That a wailing minstrel
Has yet to strum,

Leading us
To wander
Through a glade,

Where what we
Had imagined,
Was already made,
As though we were
Walking through a dream,

Though everything
Apparent,
Was not what it seemed
And all our ancient wisdom
Was only just a dream.

___________________

Today’s LittleNip:

HOW TO EAT DRAGON FRUIT
—Joe Nolan

Put it in your mouth
Chew
Swallow.

Wash it down
With water
If you must.
 
___________________

—Medusa, with thanks to Joe Nolan for today’s fine poems, and for finding public domain visuals to go with them!
 
 
 

 















A reminder that today
the San Francisco Writers Conference
will hold its one-day Poetry Summit; and
this morning, the MoSt Book Club
meets in Modesto.
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—
and keep an eye on this link and on
the daily Kitchen for happenings
that might pop up
—or get changed!—
 during the week.

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-or-so posts by scrolling down
under today; or there's an "Older Posts" button
at the bottom of this column; or find previous poets
by typing the name of the poet or poem
 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
 to find the date you want.

Would you like to be a SnakePal?
Guidelines are at the top of this page
at the Placating the Gorgon link;
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!
 
Walking through a dream…