—Public Domain Visual Courtesy of Medusa
* * *
—Poetry by Nolcha Fox, Melissa Lemay,
Stephen Kingsnorth, Caschwa,
Devyanshi Neupane, Joe Nolan,
and Claire J. Baker
—Public Domain Photos Courtesy
of Joe Nolan and Medusa
GEAR SHIFT
—Nolcha Fox, Buffalo, WY
Coffee is calling. As I
make a fresh pot,
I see wild rabbits
gobbling up grass
below trees with leaves
turning yellow for fall.
The wind shakes the flowers
still blooming for summer.
Tomorrow they’ll wither and die.
If the day is a car, I can’t
find the gears to shift my mind
forward to housework.
—Nolcha Fox, Buffalo, WY
Coffee is calling. As I
make a fresh pot,
I see wild rabbits
gobbling up grass
below trees with leaves
turning yellow for fall.
The wind shakes the flowers
still blooming for summer.
Tomorrow they’ll wither and die.
If the day is a car, I can’t
find the gears to shift my mind
forward to housework.
Left-Turn Signal
—Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Medusa
SHIFTING GEARS
—Melissa Lemay, Lancaster, PA
My dog likes to lie
down in the front seat.
She covers the whole
thing and lays her paws
across the center
console. She turns
the heated seats on,
presses the e-brake,
and sometimes she
even throws the gear
shifter into neutral.
Not good when driving.
—Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Joe Nolan
SHIFTING GEAR—GEARING UP
—Stephen Kingsnorth, Coedpoeth, Wrexham, Wales
Unwrapping, gear is what some wear,
though naming thus is not my style;
and mother’s shift was smock, chemise,
an undergarment, second skin.
That nether world—like living hell—
might be as how folk manage fix,
equipment, apparatus or
required paraphernalia.
Or, single minded, moving lot,
the plot in shifting suspect stuff,
some stock of value, trafficked, moved
to safer, more productive ground.
Too, where the settled will is changed,
bridge liminal, some spurt to growth,
embracing change despite fall fear,
an equinox of seasoning.
The foreign dish, to palate strange,
our alien that’s norm for some,
the tongue adjusting, language, taste,
a new experience unleashed.
Preparedness, so gearing up,
anticipate from proffered range,
some coefficient ratio,
an engineering best for us.
Then stick shift, steer wheel; chassis sprout,
(loose couplings fixed from underneath),
till auto sought, rheumatic joints—
but each bore gear shift in the mind.
Avoiding scream in engine torque
(mechanics less known, law or tarts—
grasp more of tort or torte, in fact),
as pedal power, uphill and down.
—Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Joe Nolan
DAMNING ART
—Stephen Kingsnorth
(Response to the above cartoon posted on MK, 9/2)
Pragmatic or artistic bent,
to build a lodge or decorate—
so maybe draw with pencil shape,
though sculpting at the cutting edge?
Here is a space where bark meets bite,
cork cambium in layered trunk;
the sylvan dryads of the woods
know Greenman beavering away.
To urn its keep, the Grecian earn,
Pandora, Dione, wide awake,
an ode as Davy Crocket fan,
to cap it all, would capital?
—Public Domain Visual Courtesy of Medusa
I CONFESS…
—Stephen Kingsnorth
(Response to poem by Joe Nolan on MK, 9/2)
The early church might want a proof
their leader holds authority,
a spoof text more of mind than mouth
and subject to translators’ will.
No wonder Matt foremost be seen
when scholars, most, mark Mark as such,
immediacy of the man
before theology took hold.
So I make bold, no priestly garb
can cover aught divinely bought;
whatever lore or sect involved,
there’s too much taken, dogma, truth.
—Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Joe Nolan
LIKE CLOCKWORK
—Caschwa, Sacramento, CA
high school buddy and me
decided to go to the UCLA
Student Union one weekend
evening and got to playing
pool
neither of us was a hustler
there was no money on the
game, and at one point I
dared to call a shot way
above my ability level:
cue ball to object ball, double
carom, strike second object
ball, sink in corner pocket;
quick stroke on the cue stick,
all the gears clicked and the
second object ball crept ever
more slowly and slowly, then
finally fell into the corner pocket!
my friend conceded the game
I was on the floor laughing
this was decades ago, haven’t
tried it again…
Devyanshi Neupane
BIRD
—Devyanshi Neupane, Melbourne, Australia
I love bird
It is beautiful
And colourful.
It can fly in the skies.
As I see with my eyes.
—Devyanshi Neupane, Melbourne, Australia
I love bird
It is beautiful
And colourful.
It can fly in the skies.
As I see with my eyes.
—Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Joe Nolan
THE BIRTH OF LITTLE PUMPKIN
—Joe Nolan, Stockton, CA
She laid her egg.
It burst out through
Her water sac
And spent itself on the bed.
No sooner had it found its place
Than it was scooped up
For its cord to be cut—
A cute, little angel
In the gender of “he.”
Born on the seventh day
Of the ninth month,
Both of which are lucky,
They gave him a nickname
“Pumpkin,”
Since it was
Close to Halloween
And the harvest of the orange orbs
That grace our porches
In October.
A blessing of the harvest season,
In just a little early,
His parents are ecstatic,
But aren’t they always?
—Joe Nolan, Stockton, CA
She laid her egg.
It burst out through
Her water sac
And spent itself on the bed.
No sooner had it found its place
Than it was scooped up
For its cord to be cut—
A cute, little angel
In the gender of “he.”
Born on the seventh day
Of the ninth month,
Both of which are lucky,
They gave him a nickname
“Pumpkin,”
Since it was
Close to Halloween
And the harvest of the orange orbs
That grace our porches
In October.
A blessing of the harvest season,
In just a little early,
His parents are ecstatic,
But aren’t they always?
LIFE-SCRIPTS FROM MUTUAL
DREAM-SCAPES
—Joe Nolan
Scripts,
Written in dreams,
Infiltrated daily life,
Becoming our
Unclaimed dialogue.
It was not I
Who wanted to tell you
What I seemed
To want to say,
Even though
I actually said it.
I had heard
All the words, before,
That somehow,
Regardless,
Were spoken,
As though
From a re-wound tape.
One wonders,
Where is freedom?
When it seems
We can’t escape
From repeating dialogues
The emanate
From our mutual dream-scapes.
Are you O.K.
With scripted lives?
With planned exchanges
From other layers
Of being?
Or would your
Rather
Get a dog
And listen to
Its panting?
DREAM-SCAPES
—Joe Nolan
Scripts,
Written in dreams,
Infiltrated daily life,
Becoming our
Unclaimed dialogue.
It was not I
Who wanted to tell you
What I seemed
To want to say,
Even though
I actually said it.
I had heard
All the words, before,
That somehow,
Regardless,
Were spoken,
As though
From a re-wound tape.
One wonders,
Where is freedom?
When it seems
We can’t escape
From repeating dialogues
The emanate
From our mutual dream-scapes.
Are you O.K.
With scripted lives?
With planned exchanges
From other layers
Of being?
Or would your
Rather
Get a dog
And listen to
Its panting?
—Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Joe Nolan
WHEN YOU WIN, IT’S TIME TO GET EVEN
—Joe Nolan
We just blew everything up
One thing by one
With big, little bombs,
Big and small.
It took so many
To blow everything up
Since there were so many targets to hit
And more were shipped in
From overseas,
All the time, every day,
So it was a never-ending shooting-contest
That just went on forever.
You wouldn’t think it could,
But it does,
Until everyone on one side is dead
Or disabled.
They run up a white flag.
We trounce all those not capable of fighting
And rape all their women
Because they deserve it,
Because they lost,
But not before
They pissed us off.
When you win,
It’s time to get even.
—Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Joe Nolan
UNTIL MY END
—Joe Nolan
I fought for you
When I was weak,
When I could
Barely raise a sword
Or live out in
The elements,
Burned by summer sun
Or frozen
In Winter’s cold.
I did these things
Because I love you,
Because I could not refuse
To garner all my energies,
So greatly dimmed,
I could not use
Them for my
Own enjoyment.
Thus, I sought
Employment
In an army of our land,
To serve, protect and defend,
Until my end.
____________________
Today’s LittleNip:
A SHIFTY DREAM
—Claire J. Baker, Pinole, CA
Needing to shift
my position
on nothing of import,
gearing up for
shifting
a coupling broke.
Not into couplings
I woke
____________________
Welcome back to the Kitchen to all our contributors today, and thanks for visiting us on another Monday! Our Seed of the Week was ‘Shifting Gears”, so some of today’s work is based thereon.
Budding Poet Devyanshi Neupane, who goes to a kindergarten in down-under Australia, has been working on her editing; today’s poem is a revision of her previous “Bird”, which may be found at https://medusaskitchen.blogspot.com/2024/08/pizza-and-beer.html/.
The subjects of Stephen Kingsnorth’s two response poems may be found on last Monday’s MK at http://medusaskitchen.blogspot.com/2024/09/workin-hard-or-hardly-workin.html/. Call-and-response is an ancient form, and we can still do it in poetry by responding to each other’s work.
Fans of Ekphrastic poetry can sign up for an Ekphrastic Poetry Writing Workshop with Lara Gularte in Placerville, which will take place at the Switchboard Gallery on Wednesday, Sept. 18, starting at 5:30pm. The workshop will be based on responding to pictures in the gallery’s latest exhibit, “Spectres in Glass—Studio Portraiture in Early 20th Century Placerville”. Then, on Friday, Sept. 20, 6pm, there will be a public reading of the poems and writing generated at the workshop. Sign up with Lara at laralg@aol.com if you’d like to participate in her workshop.
The September issue of Sacramento Poetry Center's Poet News is now available at https://www.sacpoetrycenter.org/poetnews/. Check it out for area poetry events (including the Bay Area), poetry, submissions, workshops and more.
A SHIFTY DREAM
—Claire J. Baker, Pinole, CA
Needing to shift
my position
on nothing of import,
gearing up for
shifting
a coupling broke.
Not into couplings
I woke
____________________
Welcome back to the Kitchen to all our contributors today, and thanks for visiting us on another Monday! Our Seed of the Week was ‘Shifting Gears”, so some of today’s work is based thereon.
Budding Poet Devyanshi Neupane, who goes to a kindergarten in down-under Australia, has been working on her editing; today’s poem is a revision of her previous “Bird”, which may be found at https://medusaskitchen.blogspot.com/2024/08/pizza-and-beer.html/.
The subjects of Stephen Kingsnorth’s two response poems may be found on last Monday’s MK at http://medusaskitchen.blogspot.com/2024/09/workin-hard-or-hardly-workin.html/. Call-and-response is an ancient form, and we can still do it in poetry by responding to each other’s work.
Fans of Ekphrastic poetry can sign up for an Ekphrastic Poetry Writing Workshop with Lara Gularte in Placerville, which will take place at the Switchboard Gallery on Wednesday, Sept. 18, starting at 5:30pm. The workshop will be based on responding to pictures in the gallery’s latest exhibit, “Spectres in Glass—Studio Portraiture in Early 20th Century Placerville”. Then, on Friday, Sept. 20, 6pm, there will be a public reading of the poems and writing generated at the workshop. Sign up with Lara at laralg@aol.com if you’d like to participate in her workshop.
The September issue of Sacramento Poetry Center's Poet News is now available at https://www.sacpoetrycenter.org/poetnews/. Check it out for area poetry events (including the Bay Area), poetry, submissions, workshops and more.
NorCal poets will be saddened to learn that Sacramento's Sandi Wasserman passed away in early July. See the recent Sunday Sacramento Bee for her obituary.
And our congratulations to Joe Nolan on the birth of his step-grandchild, nicknamed "Pumpkin"!
_____________________
—Medusa
—Public Domain Visual Courtesy of Joe Nolan
A reminder that Poetic License
will meet in Placerville
this morning, 10:30am; and
Sacramento Poetry Center
will host Youth Open Mic
tonight, 7:30pm.
For infö about these and other
future 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!
will meet in Placerville
this morning, 10:30am; and
Sacramento Poetry Center
will host Youth Open Mic
tonight, 7:30pm.
For infö about these and other
future 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!
when you’re a snake~