—Poetry and Photos by Taylor Graham,
Placerville, CA
—And then scroll down for
Form Fiddlers' Friday, with poetry by
Nolcha Fox, Stephen Kingsnorth, Caschwa,
and Michael H. Brownstein
EDIBLES
Who tried to capitalize
on my coffee can full of used words?
The can I put in the garage for future reference,
in case I ran out of new words, or thoughts.
The metal can I covered with an old sheet
of butcher paper made to look like woodgrain,
with cutouts from some old-West story
about the Wild Horse Gallery and Ponderosa
Saloon. Whoever rifled my coffee can
started by tearing or chewing strips
off the covering. Rodent teeth
couldn’t deal with the metal, I guess.
My old words survive undamaged.
They’re only meant as food for a poem.
Who tried to capitalize
on my coffee can full of used words?
The can I put in the garage for future reference,
in case I ran out of new words, or thoughts.
The metal can I covered with an old sheet
of butcher paper made to look like woodgrain,
with cutouts from some old-West story
about the Wild Horse Gallery and Ponderosa
Saloon. Whoever rifled my coffee can
started by tearing or chewing strips
off the covering. Rodent teeth
couldn’t deal with the metal, I guess.
My old words survive undamaged.
They’re only meant as food for a poem.
IMAGINING OTIS
Imagination, you say, exaggerates
reality. But with my rescued puppy,
imagination lags a step behind.
ABOVE THE NORTH FORK
Remember that goat trail above
nothing but river far below?
Thin air would fit you like a glove
until you joined the water’s flow.
A dangerous mission, to find
a miner with gold on his mind.
No clues but slick fallen leaves
and rock that the river cleaves.
REMEMBER?
From overload scheduling to lock-
down, suddenly we were sheltering each
in our own place, cleaving
to structure surrounding us, our walls.
We’d emerge like thieves for food,
for batteries and gas, toilet paper,
venturing into the void empty of friends,
seething with virus. We scrounged
whatever we dared touch with gloved
hands, masked like outlaws.
Finally, after so many months,
gradually the miracle of normalcy.
Have we returned to the world
we knew? Are we the same as before?
BEAR SEASONING
The big black bear (I didn’t ask his name)
now haunts this ridgetop near the produce stands
of apples, pears, and pumpkins (all fair game
to fatten bears as wintertime commands.
He’s hefty as a bruin born to dump the bin—
a dumpster full of garbage—loud as tin
cans drumming in chill of night. Who could sleep
when such a ruckus cracks the darkest deep
of slumber? You wake to chaos gone wild,
as crazy as this real-live world we know.
You tried cayenne, its ultra-pepper glow
sprayed on the dumpster; could it be too mild?
I guess it just adds zest to this bear’s snacks
when midnight hunger strikes. Behold his tracks.
HEADWATER POND
Late October. Meadow’s a jungle of skeleton
weed in tones of straw. But the pond, watershed’s
eye, as blue-green as ever, edged with lashes
of tule and cattail. I don’t let Otis in the water,
though dogs of our past would so joyously swim
and fetch sticks here. Fear of E. coli now.
Fingers of forest alongside, conifers
scorched or combusted by wildfire three years ago.
Sheltered by charred stumps, a new generation
of sapling fir rises.
In the meadow, storm-fall
underfoot. We skirt head-high brittle-dry
false hellebore. Two thriving young firs beckon.
And bright color. Blue, red, aqua. Dog toys.
Small granite rock with black-painted words.
Love you Ginger. A grave for someone else’s
bittersweet loss, like my own for all the dogs
I’ve lost—anyone has lost—and can’t stop loving.
Today’s LittleNip:
BELOW THE GRAVEYARD
—Taylor Graham
That great melting pot
mortality—race, gender,
color, class, belief, culture—
each of us reduced to bone.
___________________
Thanks to Taylor Graham for her fine post-Halloween poetry and photos, reminding us of “that great melting pot mortality” on this Day of the Dead, 2024. Forms she has used this week include some Normative Syllabics (“Imagining Otis”); two Word-Can Poems (“Edibles” & “Remember?”); a Rispetto (“Above the North Fork”); a Tanka which is also an Ekphrastic response (“Below the Graveyard”); and an Onegin Sonnet (“Bear Seasoning”). “Above the North Fork” is TG’s response to our recent Seed of the Week, “Danger!”, and the Onegin Sonnet was one of last week’s Triple-F Challenges.
Hopefully, you’ve recovered from Halloween, and welcome to November! Today and tomorrow are celebrations of Día de los Muertos, and greetings to those who participate in these joyous times. There will be a Sugar Skull Art Walk in Placerville tomorrow (11/2), 5:30-8:30pm. Check out the details at http://medusaskitchen.blogspot.com/p/wtf.html/.
In other El Dorado County poetry events this week, El Dorado County Poet Laureate Stephen Meadows will read at the Cameron Park Library Wednesday, 11/6, at 5:30pm, 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 congratulations to El Dorado County’s Joe Walsh for having his poem, “Contemplation”, published in The Mountain Democrat as Poem of the Month. (See https://www.mtdemocrat.com/prospecting/poem-of-the-month-contemplationarticle_0b84c906-8642-11ef-853d-1ba05429750a.html/.)
And now it’s time for…
FORM FIDDLERS’ FRIDAY!
It’s time for more contributions from Form Fiddlers, in addition to those sent to us by Taylor Graham! Each Friday, there will be poems posted here from our readers using forms—either ones which were sent to Medusa during the previous week, or whatever else floats through the Kitchen and the perpetually stoned mind of Medusa. If these instructions are vague, it's because they're meant to be. Just fiddle around with some challenges— Whaddaya got to lose… ? If you send ‘em, I’ll post ‘em! (See Medusa’s Form Finder at the end of this post for resources and for links to poetry terms used in today’s post.)
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 photo inspired Nolcha Fox. Stephen Kingsnorth, and Caschwa:
IN MINIATURE
—Nolcha Fox, Buffalo, WY
So cute to see a dollhouse
filled with other people’s lives.
In miniature, I ooh and ahh
at dolls who bustle,
wrestle with the time
they have to give and live.
I wonder if my life
is so frenetic, hectic
through a microscope.
Maybe I’ll just sell
my townhouse,
learn to meditate.
* * *
MISSING, ON CUE
—Stephen Kingsnorth, Coedpoeth, Wrexham, Wales
I’m taken Ibsen, Doll’s House-wright,
Heath Robinson, if scale was right.
Though lines are too defined for war,
no bombing raid, gashed hanging floor.
But mine’s impressionistic sight
of storey cut-outs, refuge flight.
That juxta-teeter. wardrobe, gore,
invading private, core no more.
This stage act open, the fourth wall—
what comment from the circle, stall?
But leave the real, the newsflash reel,
return to comic, cartoon spiel.
And what the judgement, for withal,
our moral compass, wrecking ball?
So play along with picture deal,
this jig depicting rooms, bed, meal.
A hotel, bed and breakfast style?
Those upper windows hide maids’ pile.
As for the roof, a washing line,
between the stacks, length swinging twine,
Too pokey, even this profile,
for tip, through grit, creep, curtsey, smile.
All grease spots mixed with spilled red wine,
that should soon dry, given sun’s shine.
A comic view, when saw the pic
on guiding box—so there’s a tick.
And even in the attic, view
in gable end those dormers, few.
But being laid back takes the mick,
for neither slick, quick, brick by brick.
But of estate, an overview—
too true that last piece lost on cue.
* * *
Carl Schwartz’s (Caschwa’s) response is in a 7/7/4 form:
SILLY THOUGHTS
—Caschwa, Sacramento, CA
cookie cutter bedroom walls
flights of stairs but no great halls
with pianos
take a bath then go to bed
silly thoughts fly through your head
so few windows
above and beneath this floor
all your friends and many more
merge of pueblos
chimney spewing smoke
below that only a joke
fake, just suppose
rooftop lady hangs laundry
if she falls, big quandary
all status quos
a door may open, no knock
time ticks on without the clock
innuendos
this much home I couldn’t share
too many folks, everywhere
so adiós
* * *
Caschwa has gone back to a form he devised a while ago, called, “Sandwiched by Sevens” (7/7/5/5/5/5//7/7; a a b a c a d e e).
TOO OLD FOR FAERIE TALES
—Caschwa, Sacramento, CA
sounds of a spring unwinding
contract no longer binding
acting one’s age won’t
replace reminding
but all the same, it
leads to the finding
I walk my own path
fool me on multiple times
grandfather clock without chimes
* * *
Here is an Ars Poetica from Stephen Kingsnorth, with good advice, indeed:
—Caschwa, Sacramento, CA
sounds of a spring unwinding
contract no longer binding
acting one’s age won’t
replace reminding
but all the same, it
leads to the finding
I walk my own path
fool me on multiple times
grandfather clock without chimes
* * *
Here is an Ars Poetica from Stephen Kingsnorth, with good advice, indeed:
ESSENTIAL
—Stephen Kingsnorth
Essence, every word to count—
though scattered seed may germinate—
is it broadcast, plants for judge,
ore vein embedded, mind if will?
A waste of shame when spirit cedes,
a rhythm method, rhyme enforced,
when concentrate distilled, required,
the alchemy, requited smith.
(“Essential” was published by Roberta B-J on her “Five Fleas” Blogspot.)
* * *
And a wee nibble of a sign-off from Michael Brownstein:
Lunch for the Day After~
OCTOBER 31 AND BEYOND
—Michael H. Brownstein, Jefferson City, MO
host of ghosts
eating
pumpkin pie toast—
witches, witches
coast to coast
____________________
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!
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!
•••Mad Cow: https://poetscollective.org/poetryforms/mad-cow
•••AND/OR since we’re plunging into holiday season, how about a Memento:
•••Memento: https://poetscollective.org/poetryforms/memento
•••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 “In Nature there is darkness as well as light, and all shades in between”.
____________________
MEDUSA’S FORM FINDER: Links to poetry terms mentioned today:
•••Ars Poetica: www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/ars-poetica
•••Ekphrastic Poem: notesofoak.com/discover-literature/ekphrastic-poetry
•••Mad Calf: https://poetscollective.org/poetryforms/mad-calf
•••Mad Cow: https://poetscollective.org/poetryforms/mad-cow
•••Memento: https://poetscollective.org/poetryforms/memento
•••Normative Syllabics: hellopoetry.com/collection/108/normative-syllabic-free-verse AND/OR lewisturco.typepad.com/poetics/normative-syllabic-verse
•••Rispetto: www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/poetic-forms-rispetto
•••Sandwiched by Sevens (devised by Carl Schwartz): 7,7,5,5,5,5,5,7,7; rhyme scheme aaxaxaxbb
•••Sonnet, Onegin: Iambic Pentameter, a b a b | c c d d | e f f e | g g
•••Tanka: poets.org/glossary/tanka
•••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
•••Memento: https://poetscollective.org/poetryforms/memento
•••Normative Syllabics: hellopoetry.com/collection/108/normative-syllabic-free-verse AND/OR lewisturco.typepad.com/poetics/normative-syllabic-verse
•••Rispetto: www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/poetic-forms-rispetto
•••Sandwiched by Sevens (devised by Carl Schwartz): 7,7,5,5,5,5,5,7,7; rhyme scheme aaxaxaxbb
•••Sonnet, Onegin: Iambic Pentameter, a b a b | c c d d | e f f e | g g
•••Tanka: poets.org/glossary/tanka
•••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
___________________
—Medusa
Today's Ekphrastic Challenge!
Make what you can of today's
picture, and send your poetic results to
kathykieth@hotmail.com/. (No deadline.)
* * *
—Photo Courtesy of Public Domain
Make what you can of today's
picture, and send your poetic results to
kathykieth@hotmail.com/. (No deadline.)
* * *
—Photo Courtesy of Public Domain
For info 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!
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!
