Too Expensive? Never!

 —Illustration by Nolcha Fox (with Microsoft Designer)

* * *

—Poetry by Nolcha Fox, Caschwa,
Joe Nolan, and Claire J. Baker
—Drawing by Freya Pickard
—Public Domain Photos Courtesy
of Joe Nolan and Medusa

 

 

TOO MUCH
—Nolcha Fox, Buffalo, WY

You shower me with jewels and furs,
perfumes, and trips to paradise.
Your love is just a gilded cage
to keep me prisoner.
Your love is too expensive,
I cannot pay the price.
And so this bird escaped,
flew back to coffee shops
and sales racks and
travel on TV.

 

 

 

 —Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Medusa

THE PRICE OF PRETENDING
—Caschwa, Sacramento, CA

skipped the Prom
no close girlfriend
no limo
no exquisite flowers
no royal titles
no magic

impossible to slip into
the costume of the entitled
rent a tux
dinner that gobbles up your cash
dancing out of step
and how do you follow that?
no, not me

given that much spending money
I’d rather buy and play vinyl records
get a new diamond needle
bigger, better speakers
that would keep me occupied for
quite a few evenings, not just one

 

 

 

 —Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Joe Nolan

A MEANS TO NO END
—Caschwa

his mind gathers up
data, a human vacuum
cleaner, spits out dust 

 

 

 

 —Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Joe Nolan

HOW IT WORKS
—Caschwa

seven decades in the past
I followed the Kid’s Code
got up, had breakfast,
got dressed, went to school

my parents, following the old
“This will help you in the long run”
Code, felt this had the worth of gold
didn’t want their kid to be a fool

the state, following the “to expand
power, wield it now” Code, formally
mandated school attendance if/and
when families had second thoughts

it happened to be a grammar school,
that was even in their name, and they
taught us kids every grammar rule
until we were insane

now that I am a senior citizen, retired,
and finished with going to school, the
new normal uses minds rewired
“don’t you dare get caught using adverbs!”

no wonder people just don’t trust our
governmental institutions, who choose
what rules we are to follow, but cower
over heeding those rules themselves. 

 

 

 

 Another way to play online~

—Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Joe Nolan

IT’S ONLY A NAME
—Caschwa

Choices (a previous MK Seed of the Week)

I filled in as sub for an elementary teacher
who had a long name starting with “G” and
who let the class just call him Mr. G. Decided
to follow that and let the class call me Mr. S,
as some struggled to say my last name. That
won me some points with the kids.

Used to be active playing slide trombone, and
came to meet and practice with other musicians,
who addressed me as Carl. There was an
accomplished piano player named Carl, who
preferred his middle name Ed, along with a
dedicated rock & roll guitar player named Ed,
who preferred his middle name Nick. Names or
notes, we harmonized. 

 

 

 

 Wode Hills
—Drawing by Freya Pickard

On 2/19, Caschwa (Carl Schwartz) wrote: "Totally enjoyed . . . poetry and photos by Freya Pickard [MK, 2/19/25]. Her drawing of Wode Hills led me to write an Ekphrastic response." Freya wrote to say that "the post that includes Carl's poem will appear on 7th March at [her blog] https://dragonscaleclippings.wordpress.com/." Here is Carl's poem about Wode Hills:


PAR FOUR
—Caschwa

here it is, ladies and gentlemen, the
perfect inspiration for designing a
difficult golf course: hillocks abound,
staged in every way imaginable that
nature could act to leave things the
opposite of flat. 

 

 

 

 —Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Joe Nolan

MOSCOW AND BERLIN
—Joe Nolan, Stockton, CA

“Achtung!” sneezed a Nazi,
Marching down a street,
The weather,
Rather chilly—
He forgot to warm his feet.

Mukluks for the
Russian winter
Would have been more wise
Than heading north
Sans winter gear.
Bitter cold
Should come as no surprise.

It lay in wait for Napoleon
When he left Moscow
Behind,
Only, though,
October,
Flurries drifted in,
Swirling around
His freezing troops.
Far fewer,
There were,
When he reached
Berlin.

 

 

 

—Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Joe Nolan

“HONEY, I’M HOME!”
—Joe Nolan

When I look into a crowd
I see swarms of eggs
Impacted by some sperm,
Briefly, thus acquainted,

Giving birth
To love and ashes,
To brief attempts to rail
Against the sky
And to survive.

To be alive,
Repaying promise,
Of life from lust
All of which arise
From basic instinct
To burst through a membrane
Shouting,
“Honey, I’m home!”

 

 

 

—Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Joe Nolan

 

FRISKY WHISKERS
—Joe Nolan

If you were a cat
I’d call you “Frisky-Whiskers,”

Whiskers streaming
From your cheeks
Above a curving smile
All lined up
Above a
Scratching tongue,
A gentle, urging
Playful tone
With which you
Read your poems,
Very entertaining.

 

 

 

Bambina Peruviana con Lama
—Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Joe Nolan

DELAY THE INEVITABLE
—Joe Nolan

Why not delay
The inevitable,
At least for
One more day?

There is a time for leaving,
But it need not be today.

Omens and prophecies
Foretell of times so dire
Were we to bear them
On our backs
We’d soon grow dreadful-tired,
So let us live
In just this day
And thrive
While still alive.

Let there be
A space for breathing,
Time for kids to play
And if need be,
Let us pray—
Time will spare us
One more day.

 

 

 

 —Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Medusa

THE LIGHTNESS OF IMMORTALITY
—Joe Nolan

You must have been doing something
Before you took this incarnation.
What was it,
Can you recall?

Maybe with hypnotic
Past-life regression
You might find a clue
Or learn it all?
Surely, if before,
Also, after.
Fill your heart with laughter.

Things for you to do
Will be set forth,
Spread out on a table,
Ready for you to take on
As soon as you are able,
But first a little rest
In a gentle Heaven.

____________________

Today’s LittleNip:

A SPIN-OFF FROM
TOO EXPENSIVE
—Claire J. Baker, Pinole, CA

May each
sensitive-as-moonlight
person-in-progress
continue to
spread an aura
everywhere
they roam
from their journey
to become
fully
expansive
in their good works
for others.

____________________

—Medusa, with many thanks to today’s contributors! Our Seed of the Week was “Too Expensive”. Be sure to check each Tuesday for the new Seed of the Week.

 

 

 

 —Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Medusa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A reminder that
Sacramento Poetry Center
features an open mic at 7:30pm
 based on the themes of yesterday’s
panel at SPC. 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.

Poets’ bios appear on their first MK visit.
To find previous posts, type the name
of the poet (or poem) into the little
beige box at the top left-hand side
of this column. See also
Medusa’s Rapsheet at the bottom
of the blue column on the right
side of this column to find
any date you want.

Miss a post?
You can find our most recent ones by
scrolling down under this daily one.
Or there's an "Older Posts" button
at the bottom of this column.
(Please excuse typos in older posts!
Blogspot has been through a lot of
incarnations in 20 years!)

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!

 

 Nothing is too expensive for
LittleSnake…