Placerville, CA
—And then scroll down for
Form Fiddlers’ Friday, with poetry by
Nolcha Fox, Stephen Kingsnorth,
Caschwa, and Michael H. Brownstein
WHERE AM I?
Confounded in this world
of dead-soldier trees still standing
after the fire—forest I loved,
my home woods—
Here, a fresh deer print,
overhead, turkey vulture
on surveillance. Atop a pine
not totally burned,
Raven
guardian bird.
Confounded in this world
of dead-soldier trees still standing
after the fire—forest I loved,
my home woods—
Here, a fresh deer print,
overhead, turkey vulture
on surveillance. Atop a pine
not totally burned,
Raven
guardian bird.
PREDATOR STATS
Mostly, they won’t attack humans but,
as the percentages cut,
there’s still that leastly
that’s beastly.
I WON’T TELL
A new camp’s stashed away in underbrush
off the trail. a floral bedsheet serves as
canopy over a neat arrangement
of personal items. And I glimpse two
legs stretched out as if at leisure. It’s well
past nine in the morning, past time to rise
& shine, I’d think. I hear music softly
played—a hint of song carried off on wind
to not give this hidden shelter away.
Don’t ask me where this camp is, I won’t say.
WIND IN THE ASPEN
What secrets do aspen leaves whisper
in the wind? How close the fire came, burning
the grove’s edges from three directions?
how the trees still mourn their kin?
is the mother tree alive only in her offspring?
Do they whisper among themselves
about the images, human numbers and letters
scribed into white tree-skin so long ago?
The artists are certainly dead now,
leaving the owl high on its perch, its outline
scabbed dark and thick as the tree healed itself.
Do trees speak of a wild pig’s head carved
across the way, gone with other victims
of that fire? Do they speak of us, three humans
sitting on collapsible camp chairs in midst
of young aspen and pine, eating our
peanut butter sandwiches? We’ve wandered
tree to tree, trying to find meaning
in those old carvings. It must make no sense
to an aspen. It must be cause for much
whispering behind our backs.
We just call it wind in the quaking aspen.
HAUNTING HAPPENINGS
Autumn, season of changes, when veils
between worlds, between living and dead
grow thinnest, season of hauntings
and happenings unexplained by human logic.
On this October afternoon I watched
a delivery truck drive slowly up a private
driveway, along stockwire fence
as goats in their grazed-stubble field
bunched into a running mass, expecting
supper. Surely a delivery truck doesn’t serve
livestock meals? The driver slowed,
backed up beside a few stacked bales of hay;
got out of his truck, and pitched one big
flake of alfalfa to the waiting crowd.
Doesn’t he know his business, how he’s
supposed to scatter a few small flakes
so all the critters get their chance at eating?
Truck drove away, leaving big ruminants
butting the smaller ones out of competition.
That’s business I guess, even in Autumn.
THERMOMETER THIEF
The
cat lies
impassive
on the table—
what happened to the
instrument lying there?
He
only
stole pencils
and pens and three
table knives before.
Now he’s going for tech?
_________________
Today’s LittleNip:
NUGGETS
—Taylor Graham
golden drops
a stream down pine bark
sylvan mining
_________________
Taylor Graham has been upcountry again, examining the aspen carvings that were done so long ago, and we thank her for her poems and pix today! Forms she has sent us this week include a Word-Can Poem (“Where Am I?”); an Odd Step Down “(Predator Stats”); some Normative Syllabics (“I Won't Tell”); a Haikuette (“Nuggets”); and a chain of Stepping Stones (“Thermometer Thief”). TG says that the “Odd Step Down" (four lines, syllable count 9-7-5-3, rhyme abab) is a chance invention; she composed the poem in her head on the trail, wrote it down, looked at its form and decided to name it. Predator refers to the mountain lions that have been sighted in the foothills this year.
Coming up in El Dorado County this weekend (tonight and tomorrow) is Tahoe’s first-ever Tahoe Literary Festival, with workshops, panels, and key speakers in Tahoe City, CA—including an Ekphrastic workshop with Lara Gularte entitled "Explore a Poet's Sense of Place Through Ekphrastic Writing" tomorrow, 1:30pm. $35 for the entire Festival, or $15 to hear only keynote speaker Obi Kaufmann tonight. Info/schedule/tix:
https://yourtahoeguide.com/2024/09/tahoe-literary-festival-schedule-tickets/?fbclid=IwY2xjawFke4RleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHXRzOcB-dGPYTrAqfYhJx5CIQytjKIXou5uKVdWRdgRRS8talUd_QGOfKA_aem_Ql_P1c1m91ou2aDkiOexwg/.
In other El Dorado County poetry events this week, if you happen to be down in Merced today, El Dorado County Residents Moira Magneson (poet) and Robin Center (artist) will be reading from their book, A River Called Home, 3pm, Merced Main Library. Next Monday, Poetic License meets in Placerville, 10:30am. And El Dorado County’s regular workshops are listed on Medusa’s calendar if you scroll down on http://medusaskitchen.blogspot.com/p/wtf.html/.
For more news about EDC poetry—past (photos!) and future—see Taylor Graham’s Western Slope El Dorado Poetry on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ElDoradoCountyPoetry or see Lara Gularte’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/382234029968077/. And you can always click on Medusa's UPCOMING NORCAL EVENTS (http://medusaskitchen.blogspot.com/p/wtf.html). Poetry is Gold in El Dorado County!
And now it’s time for…
FORM FIDDLERS’ FRIDAY!
Check out our recently-refurbed page at the top of Medusa’s Kitchen called, “FORMS! OMG!!!” which expresses some of my (take ‘em or leave 'em) opinions about the use of forms in poetry writing, as well as listing some more resources to help you navigate through Form Quicksand and other ways of poetry. Got any more resources to add to our list? Send them to kathykieth@hotmail.com for the benefit of all man/woman/poetkind!
* * *
Last Week’s Ekphrastic Photo
Last week’s photo brought response-poems from Nolcha Fox, Stephen Kingsnorth, and Caschwa (Carl Schwartz):
STUCK IN SUMMER
—Nolcha Fox, Buffalo, WY
I’m stuck behind a car
behind a car behind a car
behind a car behind
an antique Ford that wants
to stretch a mile
beach drive into hours.
I’m sweaty and disgruntled.
heat radiates from roadtop,
melts my tires and my brain.
By the time we hit the beach,
sun will set and we will
have to turn around
and head back home.
I hope we’ll get back
sometime before midnight.
* * *
TAKING OVER
—Stephen Kingsnorth, Coedpoeth, Wrexham, Wales
To pass would simply be unsafe,
not least to driver, other side,
pose death, destruction in its wake;
for mass and speed to overtake,
saves moment for so little gain.
Remember when you first took wheel,
that patience shown when learning stalled,
those early years, crunch gears, stop, go?
You know now that the older slow,
that soon too others see that you.
But as for leader of the pack,
try using mirror to look back,
recall temptations, shout out, hoot;
so hope for lay-by on the route
and use that viewpoint to reflect.
Here is a panorama site
to oversee most points of view;
the drive to reach point B from A,
a chance to bray, your wheels display—
just jaunt to ponder scenery?
But if our will, to overtake
is testament to how we live
while global half in despair, tired,
the day will come, our dreams backfired,
and punctured, pompous, Jack alright.
* * *
TAKE YOUR PICK
—Caschwa, Sacramento, CA
was doing substitute teaching in
public schools, and one sunny
morning found myself driving to
Escalon, California for an assignment
there was only one road to take
and it was a speedy, 2-lane highway
stretching out over many miles on
farmland, with vehicles travelling
well over 60 mph in both directions
on this one occasion there was a
(take your pick) combine, harvester,
thresher ahead of me doing about 15
mph, its width, all in all, occupying
the entire 2 lanes making any passing
attempt a risk not worth it
like a game, one could see other cars
coming the other way moving almost
off the road in their failed gestures to
pull around this wide, multiple purpose
machine
good thing I had left early so I could
afford to spend some extra time dealing
with this situation
eventually the gargantuan machine did
finally reach some destination where it
casually pulled off the road, thus allowing
traffic to resume a normal flow
while I did enjoy the novelty of this
experience, it will never appear on my list
of things I would like to repeat
* * *
Michael Brownstein sent us three Haiku which he has labeled “linked Haiku”, since they have his hydrangeas in common.
hydrangea bee hives
red, white and blue into windstorm
petals lift outward
My watered garden
blooms with hydrangea colors—
petals color rain
fragrant hydrangea
sends perfume throughout heaven—
God takes a whiff, smiles
—Michael H. Brownstein, Jefferson City, MO
* * *
And here is an Ars Poetica from Stephen Kingsnorth, upon gazing at his book shelf:
SHELF LIFE
—Stephen Kingsnorth
My books arranged as Dewey would,
but by some feet poetry shrunk,
the journals launched, space hollowed out,
but sell-by date too soon arrives.
With names which catch their spirit’s breath,
the shelf-life of these paper plates—
designs amongst the text of verse—
most sad expire, death come too soon.
When taken, family, for meal,
some hope nouveau cuisine, most more,
a curry, wonton, carvery—
take twelve menus to satisfy.
I want my words, one volume spread,
with space, stanzas, right justified,
and rhyming, light, free, metrical,
all courses, diets, foods, full range.
As testaments, most genres case—
in one book, poem library—
it’s that full range enables me
to flick the page, taste varied dish.
____________________
Many thanks to today’s writers for their lively contributions! Wouldn’t you like to join them? All you have to do is send poetry—forms or not—and/or photos and artwork to kathykieth@hotmail.com. We post work from all over the world, including that which was previously-published. Just remember: the snakes of Medusa are always hungry!
____________________
TRIPLE-F CHALLENGES!
•••Odd Step Down (devised by Taylor Graham): four lines, syllable count 9-7-5-3, rhyme abab
•••AND/OR let’s go for, well, Zip:
•••Zip: http://popularpoetryforms.blogspot.com/2014/01/zip.html
•••See also the bottom of this post for another challenge, this one an Ekphrastic one.
•••And don’t forget each Tuesday’s Seed of the Week! This week it’s “Brazen”.
____________________
MEDUSA’S FORM FINDER: Links to poetry terms mentioned today:
•••Ars Poetica: www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/ars-poetica
•••Caesura: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesura
•••Ekphrastic Poem: notesofoak.com/discover-literature/ekphrastic-poetry
•••Haiku: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/haiku-or-hokku AND/OR www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/haiku/haiku.html
•••Haikuette: https://poetscollective.org/poetryforms/haikuette
•••Normative Syllabics: hellopoetry.com/collection/108/normative-syllabic-free-verse AND/OR lewisturco.typepad.com/poetics/normative-syllabic-verse
•••Odd Step Down (devised by Taylor Graham): four lines, syllable count 9-7-5-3, rhyme abab
•••Stepping Stones (devised by Claire Baker): Syllables 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 (7, etc.)
•••Word-Can Poem: putting random words on slips of paper into a can, then drawing out a few and making a poem out of them
•••Zip: http://popularpoetryforms.blogspot.com/2014/01/zip.html
___________________
—Medusa
Today's Ekphrastic Challenge!
Make what you can of today's
picture, and send your poetic results to
kathykieth@hotmail.com/. (No deadline.)
* * *
—Public Domain Photo Courtesy of
Medusa
Make what you can of today's
picture, and send your poetic results to
kathykieth@hotmail.com/. (No deadline.)
* * *
—Public Domain Photo Courtesy of
Medusa
For info about
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!
