Write A Poem!

What's Next?
Photo by Katy Brown, Davis

POETRY
—Deng Ming-Dao

Anything is subject for a poem:
A catalog of boxing equipment, a collage of other poems,
Serpentine trail of incense, raised deer fur, old shoes pointed pigeon-toed,
Glass and steel cityscape, almond eyes of a saint, weeping of tiny flowers,
Sunlight on whitewashed walls, blue shadows of stooped women,
A sprung mousetrap, a trickle of blood in the gutter,
The homing swoop of a gull, chill whitecapped bay, scent of eucalpytus.
Green lawn of broken blades, clods of fat earth.
Anything is subject for a poem.

Even in sleep, write a poem.
When waking, write a poem.
While loving, write a poem.
Even voting, write a poem.
When angry, write a poem.
While dreaming, write a poem.

___________________

—Medusa

Like Two Elephants Playing Chicken

Oh, wait!—wrong bird...

SAFE IN THE HILLS
—Taylor Graham, Placerville

All
the wild
turkeys have
disappeared—all
eight of them. I’d watch
them promenade our swale,
do the turkey circle-dance,
and peck our bit of lawn. They’re gone.
Turkeys keep good calendar, they know
it’s time to take Thanksgiving vacation.

___________________

THANKSGIVING
—Allegra Jostad Silberstein, Davis

We
are one
in kinship
saying thank-you
each in our own way
feasting with gratitude
love and a vision of peace:
all religions can meet this day
our fallible natures nourished and
in the crowded heart comes a kind of flight

__________________

Thanks to TG and Allegra Silberstein for more responses to this week's Seed of the Week: Thanksgiving. Send me a Thanksgiving poem and I'll post it. But send me a Thanksgiving etheree, and I'll mail you Katy Brown's new 2009 calendar, Beyond the Hill. What's an etheree? See the fine examples above; I think you can figure out the form from them. (Hint: count the syllables in each line.) This SOW has a deadline, though: to get your free calendar, your etheree(s) must be sent by midnight (e-mailed or postmarked) Monday, November 24. Addresses are below.

And another TG sends us a thistle poem: Tom Goff, who says he was inspired by yesterday's thistle photos, particularly the tall silhouette taken by Katy Brown. Thanks, TG, and thanks to rattlechapper Steve Williams, too, for his wonderful poetry below. All of today's poets will be represented in Snake 20, due out Dec. 10.


THISTLE
—Tom Goff, Carmichael

Tall drink of a silhouette, atop it a bristle-
spider. Bee-with-a-prickly-aura. Spine beetle.
Abdomen, set to expel egg,
spin web, anti-gravity, This End Up.
Say, rather, an egg cup
on a stem, itching to emit a yolk-gold
worth an emirate—and not cold.
Symmetrical insect legs,
little bent leaf-sneers,
gracile spears,
thrust up from the calyx. In the covert
thin thicket, a rich blackforest green,
then—since the background’s a clearing, overt—
that tending-to-radiant
sheen,
that urge
of voltage-spike spring meadow
in mid-surge,
ascending day-gradient
in Key Lime
proclaiming, Sunlight! This’ll
fix all things for all time!
Quoth the flower: Here I am, thistle
triumphant! Only a dark upswept braid
looms in the backshadow,
lurking, tensed and dirklike, in the glade…

__________________

ELEPHANT PARTS
—Steve Williams, Portland
(with apologies to Michael Nesmith)

Saturday night deep in the Ford years
(after the pardon and before Squeaky points
her swastika at the elephant),
Portland Wrestling is on channel 12.

The old armory is dim; the creak of folding
bodies into chairs; cinder block walls ooze
tobacco tar. Lonnie Mayne grapples
with Dutch Savage, their arms link
their foreheads together.
Rotunda men scrum rugby style
in a boxing ring. They separate, debate,
bounce into ropes and rush
each other like two elephants playing chicken.
Beer belly slams beer belly
tusks lock into tusks,
trunks twirl and the cuss of men
suck and spill their brew.

The announcer barely raises
his cliché but startles the referee
who’s been careful not to wrinkle his sweater.
This is a grudge match.
These two don’t like each other.

At home in the flood plain, Joanne always watches,
hopes for her husband’s favorite to win.
She wants to know in advance
whether to load the chicken’s gun.
Will he pass out in bed or rush
into her arms—her nipples pierced
by sharpened tusks.

__________________

DIVORCE
—Steve Williams

You are the scale and blister of Jock Itch
advancing down my inner thigh, surround each leg hair.
I am on my back, splayed, split and played.
I molt and leak, stack scabs under my finger nails.

You are fertile sweat, mushrooms shining like cream
where thigh meets pelvis again and again.
I wallow in the char of your glory loam.

This is lichen that crumbles the rock into emerald
and lime hyphae where nothing else can live. I am pricked
by your root hair, clothed in your truffles.

At our daughter’s birth, you screamed
for the Epidural to work and I pounded the wall
waiting for the doctor. This marriage is a truffle dog
dropping the root treasure for a piece of bread
and a pat on the head. Today, he died.

At the drug store, I browse past the Icey Hot pads,
the knee braces, the crutches and canes. Here are the creams—
firefighters and their hoses.
One hand rakes the inside of my pocket as the other
examines the four weeks of treatment on the package.
I drop cash on the counter and take my medicine home.

This is not a sickness but rather a hazard of locker rooms,
sharing towels and floors, an unbalanced bed,
an unwillingness to exterminate the necessary rot.

__________________

PARACHUTES
—Steve Williams

Desk Clerk: Are you here for an affair, sir? ~The Graduate

Mrs. Robinson pulls the strings
of her garters, peels stockings down the thigh,
caresses the back of her knee, floats them into a puddle
of sniper rot. Parachutes find it difficult to fly

in Saigon where another corporal is fragged
by his own race. Yet the nylon bed-sheet
curtains the camera, refuses to confess it is white.
She plays spy-game roulette and all her slugs drop

into the chamber of your apathy. You are in Berkeley
and the Asian war has yet to be shot
in living color. This is the cancer
of booze, that twist of tobacco smoke but not the acid test.

Rizzo, you die on the next bus and Joe Buck will soon
be coming home in a fucking wheelchair. The pill
has screwed the odds in her daughter’s favor.
Go ahead, Lenny. Assassinate yourself. Seize the day,

fold your taffeta sail into the back
of Ben’s speed, Elaine. You’re flying downwind
through a tie-dying afternoon while our parents
swing to the jazz of improvised youth.

I want to tell you all to jump off of the bus,
to tuck and roll in the dirt, kiss the worms,
weave bullet proof silk and wrap the dead
before they die too soon.

__________________

Today's LittleNip:

Most writers regard the truth as their most valuable possession, and therefore are most economical in its use.

—Mark Twain

__________________

—Medusa


SnakeWatch: What's New from Rattlesnake Press:

Rattlesnake Review: Deadline for the current issue (#20) has passed (it was Nov. 15); that issue is currently rattling around in the SnakePit and will be released at The Book Collector reading on December 10, then mailed to contributors and subscribers in mid-December. Next deadline is February 15: send 3-5 poems, smallish art pieces and/or photos (no bio, no cover letter, no simultaneous submissions or previously-published poems) to kathykieth@hotmail.com or P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726. E-mail attachments are preferred, but be sure to include all contact info, including snail address. Meanwhile, the snakes of Medusa are always hungry!

New for November: Now available at The Book Collector, or from the authors, or through rattlesnakepress.com (or—heck—just write to me and I'll send 'em to you): a new rattlechap from Red Fox Underground Poet Wendy Patrice Williams (Some New Forgetting); a littlesnake broadside from South Lake Tahoe Poet Ray Hadley (Children's Games); our 2009 calendar from Katy Brown (Beyond the Hill: A Poet’s Calendar) as well as Conversations, Vol. 4 of B.L. Kennedy’s Rattlesnake Interview Series, featuring conversations with Luke Breit, Gail Rudd Entrekin, Traci Gourdine, Taylor Graham, Noel Kroeplin, Rob Lozano, Crawdad Nelson, Monika Rose, Will Staple, Mary Zeppa and nila northSun. And don't forget to pick up your copies of B.L. Kennedy's new SpiralChap of his poetry and art, Luna's House of Words, as well as the anthology of poets, art and photos, La Luna: Poetry Unplugged from Luna's Cafe, edited by frank andrick.

Also available (free): littlesnake broadside #46: Snake Secrets: Getting Your Poetry Published in Rattlesnake Press (and lots of other places, besides!): A compendium of ideas for brushing up on your submissions process so as to make editors everywhere more happy, thereby increasing the likelihood of getting your poetry published. Write to me and I'll send you one. Free!

Coming in December: Join us at The Book Collector on Wednesday, December 10, for the release of a new chapbook from Danyen Powell (Blue Sky Flies Out); a littlesnake broadside from Kevin Jones, and a brand-new issue of Rattlesnake Review (#20)! That's at 7:30, 1008 24th St., Sacramento. Refreshments and a read-around will follow; bring your own poems or somebody else's.


Medusa's Weekly Menu:

(Contributors are welcome to cook up something for any and all of these!)

Monday: Weekly NorCal poetry calendar

Tuesday: Seed of the Week: Tuesday is Medusa's day to post poetry triggers such as quotes, forms, photos, memories, jokes—whatever might tickle somebody's muse. Pick up the gauntlet and send in your poetic results; and don't be shy about sending in your own triggers, too! All poems will be posted and a few of them will go into Medusa's Corner of each Rattlesnake Review. Send your work to kathykieth@hotmail.com or P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726. No deadline for SOWs; respond today, tomorrow, or whenever the muse arrives. (Print 'em out, maybe, save 'em for a dry spell?) When you send us work, though, just let us know which "seed" it was that inspired you.

Wednesday (sometimes): HandyStuff Quickies: Resources for the poet, including whatever helps ease the pain of writing and/or publishing: favorite journals to read and/or submit to; books, etc., about writing; organizational tools—you know—HandyStuff! Tell us about your favorite tools.

Thursday: B.L.'s Drive-Bys: Micro-reviews by our irreverent Reviewer-in-Residence, B.L. Kennedy. Send books, CDs, DVDs, etc. to him for possible review (either as a Drive-By or in future issues of Rattlesnake Review) at P.O. Box 160664, Sacramento, CA 95816.

Friday: NorCal weekend poetry calendar

Daily (except Sunday): LittleNips: SnakeFood for the Poetic Soul: Daily munchables for poetic thought, including short paragraphs, quotes, wonky words, silliness, little-known poetry/poet facts, and other inspiration—yet another way to feed our ravenous poetic souls.

And poetry! Every day, poetry from writers near and far and in-between! The Snakes of Medusa are always hungry.......!

_________________

Medusa encourages poets of all ilk and ages to send their POETRY, PHOTOS and ART, as well as announcements of Northern California poetry events, to kathykieth@hotmail.com (or snail ‘em to P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726) for posting on this daily Snake blog. Rights remain with the poets. Previously-published poems are okay for Medusa’s Kitchen, as long as you own the rights. (Please cite publication.) Medusa cannot vouch for the moral fiber of other publications, contests, etc. that she lists, however, so submit to them at your own risk. For more info about the Snake Empire, including guidelines for submitting to or obtaining our publications, click on the link to the right of this column: Rattlesnake Press (rattlesnakepress.com). And be sure to sign up for
Snakebytes, our monthly e-newsletter that will keep you up-to-date on all our ophidian chicanery.

Etheree-Spree!

Thistle
Photo by Katy Brown, Davis

VESUVIUS
—Ann Wehrman, Sacramento

the pie lay sweet,
golden before him
family surrounded
raised crystal glasses, silver
bellies distended
room still for pie
Dad shook the can
masterfully, theatrically
then it exploded
like a Redi Whip Fourth of July
cream covered his face, beard, glasses
chandelier, credenza, mirror
we howled, even Mom giggled
someone thought to snap a Polaroid
almost all around that table gone now
the moment lives again
this Thanksgiving, in my mind’s eye

___________________

Thanks, Ann, for the Thanksgiving poem and for your plethora of etherees (below)! This week's Seed of the Week is Thanksgiving: Send me a Thanksgiving poem and I'll post it. But send me a Thanksgiving etheree, and I'll mail you Katy Brown's new 2009 calendar, Beyond the Hill. What's an etheree? See the fine examples below; I think you can figure out the form from them. (Hint: count the syllables in each line.) This Seed of the Week has a deadline, though: to get your free calendar, your etheree(s) must be sent by midnight (e-mailed or postmarked) Monday, November 24. Addresses are below.

And thanks to Katy Brown and Steph Schaefer for the coincidental photos. See more work from both of these artists in Snake 20, due out in mid-December. In addition to her usual Snake Eyes column, Katy has written an article, including photos, about last September's Dancing Poetry Festival in San Francisco. And don't forget to get your copy of her 2009 calendar, Beyond the Hill, available from Katy, from me, at The Book Collector, or from rattlesnakepress.com/.


This weekend in NorCal poetry:

•••Friday (11/21), 7:30 PM: Chicken Soup for the Latino Soul, celebrating Latino life and community across the nation. La Raza Galeria Posada, 1024 22nd St., Sacramento. The Writers of the New Sun / Escritores del Nuevo Sol invite you to warm up with an evening of Chicken Soup stories, memoirs and anecdotes from across the USA. Charlie Mariano is the only local writer included in this remarkable anthology. His essay, in a slightly altered form, originally appeared in the Sacramento Bee. Come settle in to have some snacks and hear these heartwarming stories. Copies of the book, in English or Spanish will be available for $13 each. Proceeds from this evening’s sales of Chicken Soup for the Latino Soul will be donated to the Escritores del Nuevo Soul and to La Raza Galeria Posada. Info: Graciela Ramirez: 916-456-5323.

•••Friday (11/21), 7:30-9 PM: The Other Voice, sponsored by the U.U. Church of Davis, presents the dynamic husband/wife poetry team of Susan and Joseph Finkleman giving us their unique two-voice poems. We meet in the library of the church located at 27074 Patwin Rd. in Davis. Susan Finkleman began her writing career at the age of 10 as a struggling young novelist in Detroit, Michigan, and as a poet at the age of 13. Recent work has been published in Susurrus, Rattlesnake Review, and the Yolo Crow. She now works as office manager at the Davis Cemetery. Joseph Finkleman was born in Hollywood, CA. He has a BFA and MFA from the S.F. Art Institute, was a professional photographer for 20 years and taught photography and animation. Finkleman is also an accomplished water-color artist whose work has been widely shown in Northern California. Several pieces can currently be seen at the Design Center in Davis. He recently completed a libretto for American Chamber Opera. Refreshments and Open Mike follow, so bring along a poem to share, and may we give thanks for poetry and for all art.

•••Friday (11/21), 7 PM: Poetry at Raven's Tale bookstore in Placerville. Featured readers are Moira Magneson and Wendy Patrice Williams, both of whom have new rattlechaps from Rattlesnake Press. A short poetry open-mic follows (sign up before the featured readers). Raven's Tale is located at 352 Main St., Placerville. There is no charge.

•••Sat. (11/22), 10-11:30 AM: Sacramento Poetry Center Saturday Poetry Workshop, held on the 2nd and 4th Sats. of the month from 10-11:30 AM at the South Natomas Community Center (next to the library), 2901 S. Truxel Rd., Sacramento. Bring 10 copies of your one-page poem for workshopping. Contact Frank Graham or Emmanuel Sigauke, facilitators. FREE!

•••Sat. (11/22), 8 PM: Reading at Luna's Cafe to celebrate the new anthology, La Luna: Poetry Unplugged at Luna's Cafe, edited by frank andrick for Rattlesnake Press. Opening Poetic onslaught by Gene Bloom, Esteban Villa, Art Luna, Mario Ellis hill, and frank andrick, then Joe Montoya, the creator of Poetry Unplugged 13 years ago, makes a rare headlining appearance backed by Vincent Montoya and Scott George, both guitarists for The Tattooed Love Dogs and currently w/ ‘70’. It’s been 9 years since Joe has read at Poetry Unplugged and we are revved up and in a full-tilt poetic rage to present this night! That's Luna’s Café, 1414 16th St., Sacramento. $6.00 at the door; anthologies will be for sale for $8 each.

•••Sat. (11/22), 1-4 PM: Ekphrasis Poetry and Art Reception in affiliation with Windermere Welcome Home Realty and sponsored by the City of Livermore. Windermere Welcome Home, 1790 First St., Livermore. Selected Poets and Artists will come together to celebrate the “marriage” of poetry and art. The public is invited to attend, meet the poets and artists, and view the show. Selected Artists include Linda Ryan, Marjorie Haggin, Robert Eastwood, Barbara Stanton, Trish Fenton, Carolyn Ramsey, Laura Thournir, Charan Sue Wollard, Katie Caulk, Ruth C. Jurs.

•••Mon. (11/24), 7:30 PM: Sacramento Poetry Center presents Janet Smith and Connie Post at HQ for the Arts, 1719 25th St., Sacramento. Open mic follows. Janet Smith moved to Yosemite when she was 18 and lived there until she started college at 35. She graduated from the University of Minnesota with an MFA in creative nonfiction in 2000, and then moved back west to Lake Tahoe, where she is on faculty in the English department of Lake Tahoe Community College. Her first book of poetry, All of a Sudden, will be published in 2010.

Connie Post is the first and current Poet Laureate of Livermore, California. During her term, she created two popular reading series, “Wine and Words” and “Ravenswood” in Livermore. She has written six collections of poetry. Her work has appeared in Kalliope, Comstock Review, Main Street Rag, Iodine Poetry Journal, White Pelican Review, Oberon, Monterey Poetry Review, California Quarterly, Hardpan, Song of the San Joaquin and the Carquinez Poetry Review. Her work is forthcoming in Calyx, Cold Mountain Review and RiverSedge. Her most recent book, City of Words, is a collection of all of the poems she has written during her term as Poet Laureate. She was one of for runners up in the Calyx 2008 Lois Cranston Memorial Awards. She was also a finalist in the 2007 & 2008 Comstock Review Muriel Craft Bailey Awards.

___________________

MY DOG IS CHEWING ON A CUP
—Chrissy D., Stockton

I'm busting at the seams
My skirt is too tight
It must have shrunk
Yeah, that is a good excuse

My skirt is too tight
Work sucks, but I manage to get dinner on
That is a good excuse
Kids are arguing with the wind

Work sucks, but I manage to get dinner on
I stub my toe
Kids are arguing with the wind
I check their homework

I stub my toe
Why can't I breathe?
I check their homework
And the room is spinning

Why can't I breathe?
I haven't had a drop in 6 years
And the room is spinning
My dog is chewing on a cup

I haven't had a drop in 6 years
Everything will be alright
My dog is chewing on a cup
I just laugh, life is good

Even though I'm busting at the seams

___________________

PENANCE
—Ann Wehrman

Great,
it’s yet
another
Thanksgiving Day,
and I find myself
alone, in the city,
no one with whom to feast,
disinclined to serve the poor…
like every day, the heart to give thanks,
once found, makes everything taste delicious

___________________

HOMESICK
—Ann Wehrman

fog
not snow
nor winters
blustery cold
take a walk outside
yellow gingko leaves spin
lay a carpet underfoot
this Thanksgiving once again
neither family nor friends surround
share a Spartan meal with TV—give thanks

___________________

A THANKSGIVING CAROL
—Ann Wehrman

Yams,
green bean
casserole,
dark meat or white,
champagne or cider?
Pumpkin pie a la mode,
dinner rolls with sweet butter,
Waldorf salad—peel me a grape!
Families gather from near and far,
Happy Thanksgiving, wherever you are!

Thistle down
Photo by Stephani Schaefer, Los Molinos

__________________

Today's LittleNip:

Great poetry is always written by somebody straining to go beyond what he can do.

—Stephen Spender

__________________

—Medusa


SnakeWatch: What's New from Rattlesnake Press:

Rattlesnake Review: Deadline for the current issue (#20) has passed (it was Nov. 15); that issue is currently rattling around in the SnakePit and will be released at The Book Collector reading on December 10, then mailed to contributors and subscribers in mid-December. Next deadline is February 15: send 3-5 poems, smallish art pieces and/or photos (no bio, no cover letter, no simultaneous submissions or previously-published poems) to kathykieth@hotmail.com or P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726. E-mail attachments are preferred, but be sure to include all contact info, including snail address. Meanwhile, the snakes of Medusa are always hungry!

New for November: Now available at The Book Collector, or from the authors, or through rattlesnakepress.com (or—heck—just write to me and I'll send 'em to you): a new rattlechap from Red Fox Underground Poet Wendy Patrice Williams (Some New Forgetting); a littlesnake broadside from South Lake Tahoe Poet Ray Hadley (Children's Games); our 2009 calendar from Katy Brown (Beyond the Hill: A Poet’s Calendar) as well as Conversations, Vol. 4 of B.L. Kennedy’s Rattlesnake Interview Series, featuring conversations with Luke Breit, Gail Rudd Entrekin, Traci Gourdine, Taylor Graham, Noel Kroeplin, Rob Lozano, Crawdad Nelson, Monika Rose, Will Staple, Mary Zeppa and nila northSun. And don't forget to pick up your copies of B.L. Kennedy's new SpiralChap of his poetry and art, Luna's House of Words, as well as the anthology of poets, art and photos, La Luna: Poetry Unplugged from Luna's Cafe, edited by frank andrick.

Also available (free): littlesnake broadside #46: Snake Secrets: Getting Your Poetry Published in Rattlesnake Press (and lots of other places, besides!): A compendium of ideas for brushing up on your submissions process so as to make editors everywhere more happy, thereby increasing the likelihood of getting your poetry published. Write to me and I'll send you one. Free!

Coming in December: Join us at The Book Collector on Wednesday, December 10, for the release of a new chapbook from Danyen Powell (Blue Sky Flies Out); a littlesnake broadside from Kevin Jones, and a brand-new issue of Rattlesnake Review (#20)! That's at 7:30, 1008 24th St., Sacramento. Refreshments and a read-around will follow; bring your own poems or somebody else's.


Medusa's Weekly Menu:

(Contributors are welcome to cook up something for any and all of these!)

Monday: Weekly NorCal poetry calendar

Tuesday: Seed of the Week: Tuesday is Medusa's day to post poetry triggers such as quotes, forms, photos, memories, jokes—whatever might tickle somebody's muse. Pick up the gauntlet and send in your poetic results; and don't be shy about sending in your own triggers, too! All poems will be posted and a few of them will go into Medusa's Corner of each Rattlesnake Review. Send your work to kathykieth@hotmail.com or P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726. No deadline for SOWs; respond today, tomorrow, or whenever the muse arrives. (Print 'em out, maybe, save 'em for a dry spell?) When you send us work, though, just let us know which "seed" it was that inspired you.

Wednesday (sometimes): HandyStuff Quickies: Resources for the poet, including whatever helps ease the pain of writing and/or publishing: favorite journals to read and/or submit to; books, etc., about writing; organizational tools—you know—HandyStuff! Tell us about your favorite tools.

Thursday: B.L.'s Drive-Bys: Micro-reviews by our irreverent Reviewer-in-Residence, B.L. Kennedy. Send books, CDs, DVDs, etc. to him for possible review (either as a Drive-By or in future issues of Rattlesnake Review) at P.O. Box 160664, Sacramento, CA 95816.

Friday: NorCal weekend poetry calendar

Daily (except Sunday): LittleNips: SnakeFood for the Poetic Soul: Daily munchables for poetic thought, including short paragraphs, quotes, wonky words, silliness, little-known poetry/poet facts, and other inspiration—yet another way to feed our ravenous poetic souls.

And poetry! Every day, poetry from writers near and far and in-between! The Snakes of Medusa are always hungry.......!

_________________

Medusa encourages poets of all ilk and ages to send their POETRY, PHOTOS and ART, as well as announcements of Northern California poetry events, to kathykieth@hotmail.com (or snail ‘em to P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726) for posting on this daily Snake blog. Rights remain with the poets. Previously-published poems are okay for Medusa’s Kitchen, as long as you own the rights. (Please cite publication.) Medusa cannot vouch for the moral fiber of other publications, contests, etc. that she lists, however, so submit to them at your own risk. For more info about the Snake Empire, including guidelines for submitting to or obtaining our publications, click on the link to the right of this column: Rattlesnake Press (rattlesnakepress.com). And be sure to sign up for Snakebytes, our monthly e-newsletter that will keep you up-to-date on all our ophidian chicanery.

This Blood Is Mine

Lytton Bell

EXCESS AS AN ACTION PLAN
A Ghazal
—Lytton Bell, Sacramento

Single celled plant and animal organisms that drift with the currents are called plankton. Although each organism produces
millions of offspring each year, only one or two will survive to adulthood; most will be eaten.

Zipped in an evidence bag at 935 Pennsylvania Avenue waits Monica Lewinsky’s blue dress.
Clinton’s semen, white life preserver on that sea of blue, is bigger than a fingerprint.

My neighbor the used car salesman once told me: the best defense is a good offense.
The magician wills the rabbit out of the hat. He does not try to lure it with a limp carrot.

Much of modern living is a disappearing act:
division and subtraction, account balances, aging and death.

Do you admit or deny that you had a conversation with Richard "Dick" Morris in which he stated
that the polling results regarding the Monica Lewinsky matter suggested that
the American people would forgive you for adultery but not for perjury or obstruction of justice?

Sixteen years ago in Nadine’s barn I watched a spider’s sac burst open, spilling forth a frenzy of many-legged life.
Mother Nature does not believe in moderation.

The fossil record still shows species persisting unaltered for eons before giving rise to new species in the blink
of an eye, geologically speaking.
Gould argued that those apparent sudden changes should be taken at face value.

Tupperware™:
Fresh Just Got Smarter.

Leibniz says that Descartes' rules amount to saying,
"Take what you need, and do what you should, and you will get what you want."

The spider can use this special claw to swing from strand to strand without having to touch the sticky part of the web.
Come; leave your legacy all over the blue dresses of your days.

___________________

Thanks, Lytton, for the poems! Lytton Bell has published two chapbooks (A Path Before Winter, 1998, and The Book of Chaps, 2002), won five poetry contests (Sacramento Public Library, 2002; Tickled by Thunder, 2003; Laughing Frank, 2003; the Brodine/Brodinsky/Connecticut Poetry Society, 2004 and Wergle Flomp, 2008) and performed at many local venues, including the Sacramento Poetry Center, Luna’s Café and The Book Collector, to name a few. Her work has appeared in over two dozen poetry journals, web sites and e-zines. Ms. Bell earned a poetry scholarship to the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Arts in 1988, where she studied with Deb Burnham and Len Roberts. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Bryn Mawr College in 1993 and went on to study poetry with the legendary Molly Fisk. She is currently hard at work on a biography of celebrated local poet, B.L. Kennedy. Ms. Bell can be reached at lytton_bell@hotmail.com.

__________________

B.L.'s Drive-Bys: A Micro-Review from B.L. Kennedy

Blasphemy
By Douglas Preston
Forge Books
413 pp, Hardcover, $25.95
ISBN 978-0-7653-1105-4

Yeah, well, I have a hard-on for almost anything that Douglas Preston writes. True, I think that he is much more entertaining an author when he shares the title with his writing buddy, Lincoln Child, because together they can do no wrong. It’s when they fly solo that shit happens! Look, if you just want a flat-out entertainment that will keep you glued to the seat of your pants, give Blasphemy a go. But remember what I said about flying solo.

—B.L. Kennedy, Reviewer-in-Residence

__________________

BLOOD
—Lytton Bell

There it was on page 116
of my Lady Chatterly’s Lover.
You are dead, but here it is—a dark red drop of your blood.

I remember the day that it fell there.
We were in the woods behind your house.
You were reading aloud to me how
Connie hid, spying on the bathing gamekeeper,
when suddenly your nose began to bleed
'Now you’ll always remember this moment,' you said.

I read in the paper that they couldn’t even recognize you
when they pulled you from the wreck seven years ago.

Your blood had spilled out all over the seat of your smashed
Camaro, onto the highway,
pooling beneath the boots of cops and EMTs.

But not this blood.
This blood is mine.

__________________

FOR ABELARD
—Lytton Bell

We hurt in places we could not undress
I’d spurn Augustus to be hanged your whore
And every day my heart is with me less
And every day my heart is with you more
We hurt in places Heaven would not bless:
the fetal heart, the tender twist of throat
We hurt for sins that we do not confess
Injustice slew their sacrificial goat
I hurt for letters I cannot address
for words that won’t be spoken into life
What moves you, Abbott, now I cannot guess
although my blood still screams I am your wife
My love for you now holds you double-scarred
May God protect and keep you, Abelard

___________________

This week's Seed of the Week is Thanksgiving: Send me a Thanksgiving poem and I'll post it. But send me a Thanksgiving etheree, and I'll mail you Katy Brown's new 2009 calendar, Beyond the Hill. What's an etheree? See the fine examples below; I think you can figure out the form from them. (Hint: count the syllables in each line.) This Seed of the Week has a deadline, though: to get your free calendar, your etheree(s) must be sent by midnight (e-mailed or postmarked) Monday, November 24. Addresses are below.


TO THE AIR!
—Tom Goff, Carmichael

Go,
go to
work, school, love,
and once you’re there,
be loved, learn, labor;
how else give our thanks but
be the cloud we hold within:
You—make like fur tugged from beasts by
the wind, little shreds on sky wire. Hey
there—you: bleed rain. Sacrifice to the air!

___________________

thankful
—dawn dibartolo, citrus heights

food
and love
overflow.
bloated, we moan
how we’ve eaten too
much but must eat some more
because leftovers abound,
as do family and close friends;
when the evening ends, sweet yams and
ham will be divided amongst all.

____________________

feast
—dawn dibartolo

love
and food
to which this
day is given
flow like honey-yams
and gratitude for aunt
pat’s stuffing ~ evidence that
God answers prayers; we’re thankful
that she’s a fighter, a survivor,
grateful, another year under our belts.

__________________

READY, SET, EAT!
—Donald R. Anderson, Stockton

Eggs,
devilled.
Carved turkey.
Tender roast beef.
A house full of kids.
Ten minutes on the phone
with a grandma missed so much.
Frantic cooking, place silverware.
Prepare for one huge thanksgiving feast!
Collapse satisfied on living room couch.

__________________

Lytton Bell (and Dan)

__________________

Today's LittleNip:

At first, form is needed.
Then doubt and inhibition must be dispelled.
Eventually, form is celebrated with joy,
And expression becomes formless.

Take dance, for example. The novice student must drill constantly on the basics, isolating each step and movement with meticulous attention. Although the emphasis on structure may add to the beginner's inhibition, it must be done. Eventually, the dancer will learn to let go. The steps will have become a natural part of movement. Then dance can be celebrated joyously. Our now-mature dancer may even dance in a way that seems so spontaneous, so magical, that it will seem formless—or more precisely, the form will re-emerge with fluidity, grace, originality, and beauty.

—Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao: Daily Meditations

__________________

—Medusa


SnakeWatch: What's New from Rattlesnake Press:

Rattlesnake Review: Deadline for the current issue (#20) has passed (it was Nov. 15); the issue is currently rattling around in the SnakePit and will be released at The Book Collector reading on December 10, then mailed to contributors and subscribers in mid-December. Next deadline is February 15: send 3-5 poems, smallish art pieces and/or photos (no bio, no cover letter, no simultaneous submissions or previously-published poems) to kathykieth@hotmail.com or P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726. E-mail attachments are preferred, but be sure to include all contact info, including snail address. Meanwhile, the snakes of Medusa are always hungry!

New for November: Now available at The Book Collector, or from the authors, or through rattlesnakepress.com (or—heck—just write to me and I'll send 'em to you): a new rattlechap from Red Fox Underground Poet Wendy Patrice Williams (Some New Forgetting); a littlesnake broadside from South Lake Tahoe Poet Ray Hadley (Children's Games); our 2009 calendar from Katy Brown (Beyond the Hill: A Poet’s Calendar) as well as Conversations, Vol. 4 of B.L. Kennedy’s Rattlesnake Interview Series, featuring conversations with Luke Breit, Gail Rudd Entrekin, Traci Gourdine, Taylor Graham, Noel Kroeplin, Rob Lozano, Crawdad Nelson, Monika Rose, Will Staple, Mary Zeppa and nila northSun. And don't forget to pick up your copies of B.L. Kennedy's new SpiralChap of his poetry and art, Luna's House of Words, as well as the anthology of poets, art and photos, La Luna: Poetry Unplugged from Luna's Cafe, edited by frank andrick.

Also available (free): littlesnake broadside #46: Snake Secrets: Getting Your Poetry Published in Rattlesnake Press (and lots of other places, besides!): A compendium of ideas for brushing up on your submissions process so as to make editors everywhere more happy, thereby increasing the likelihood of getting your poetry published. Write to me and I'll send you one. Free!

Coming in December: Join us at The Book Collector on Wednesday, December 10, for the release of a new chapbook from Danyen Powell (Blue Sky Flies Out); a littlesnake broadside from Kevin Jones, and a brand-new issue of Rattlesnake Review (#20)! That's at 7:30, 1008 24th St., Sacramento. Refreshments and a read-around will follow; bring your own poems or somebody else's.


Medusa's Weekly Menu:

(Contributors are welcome to cook up something for any and all of these!)

Monday: Weekly NorCal poetry calendar

Tuesday: Seed of the Week: Tuesday is Medusa's day to post poetry triggers such as quotes, forms, photos, memories, jokes—whatever might tickle somebody's muse. Pick up the gauntlet and send in your poetic results; and don't be shy about sending in your own triggers, too! All poems will be posted and a few of them will go into Medusa's Corner of each Rattlesnake Review. Send your work to kathykieth@hotmail.com or P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726. No deadline for SOWs; respond today, tomorrow, or whenever the muse arrives. (Print 'em out, maybe, save 'em for a dry spell?) When you send us work, though, just let us know which "seed" it was that inspired you.

Wednesday (sometimes): HandyStuff Quickies: Resources for the poet, including whatever helps ease the pain of writing and/or publishing: favorite journals to read and/or submit to; books, etc., about writing; organizational tools—you know—HandyStuff! Tell us about your favorite tools.

Thursday: B.L.'s Drive-Bys: Micro-reviews by our irreverent Reviewer-in-Residence, B.L. Kennedy. Send books, CDs, DVDs, etc. to him for possible review (either as a Drive-By or in future issues of Rattlesnake Review) at P.O. Box 160664, Sacramento, CA 95816.

Friday: NorCal weekend poetry calendar

Daily (except Sunday): LittleNips: SnakeFood for the Poetic Soul: Daily munchables for poetic thought, including short paragraphs, quotes, wonky words, silliness, little-known poetry/poet facts, and other inspiration—yet another way to feed our ravenous poetic souls.

And poetry! Every day, poetry from writers near and far and in-between! The Snakes of Medusa are always hungry.......!

_________________

Medusa encourages poets of all ilk and ages to send their POETRY, PHOTOS and ART, as well as announcements of Northern California poetry events, to kathykieth@hotmail.com (or snail ‘em to P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726) for posting on this daily Snake blog. Rights remain with the poets. Previously-published poems are okay for Medusa’s Kitchen, as long as you own the rights. (Please cite publication.) Medusa cannot vouch for the moral fiber of other publications, contests, etc. that she lists, however, so submit to them at your own risk. For more info about the Snake Empire, including guidelines for submitting to or obtaining our publications, click on the link to the right of this column: Rattlesnake Press (rattlesnakepress.com). And be sure to sign up for Snakebytes, our monthly e-newsletter that will keep you up-to-date on all our ophidian chicanery.

Of What Do Shopping Carts Dream?

What do shopping carts dream of
during their busy season?

ALTER EGOS OF THE SHOPPING CART
—Don Feliz, Sacramento

Baby limousine and condiment cart.
Harvest hauler and biscuit basket.

Food collector and purchase aid.
Sidewalk delivery and moving van.

Garden cart and workbench.
Trash collector and personal SUV.

Wardrobe and outdoor storage.
Walker and wheelchair.

_________________

Thanks, Don, for the poems today. For more about Don Feliz, open Medusa's August, 2008 archives at the right and scroll down to August 20. Or go to rattlesnakepress.com and click on SpiralChaps for info about To Berlin With Love, the book he co-wrote with his wife, Elsie.

This week's Seed of the Week is Thanksgiving: Send me a Thanksgiving poem and I'll post it. But send me a Thanksgiving etheree, and I'll mail you Katy Brown's new 2009 calendar, Beyond the Hill. What's an etheree? See today's poems from Mitz Sackman and Taylor Graham as fine examples, and I think you can figure out the form from them. (Hint: count the syllables in each line.) This Seed of the Week has a deadline, though: to get your free calendar, your etheree(s) must be sent by midnight (e-mailed or postmarked) Monday, November 24. Addresses are below.


ANOTHER THURSDAY IN NOVEMBER
—Taylor Graham, Placerville

What
to be
thankful for
in this year of
market crash and war,
of news each morning worse
than yesterday? Just look out
the window—see the birds hunched cold
and hungry, waiting for the handful
of thanks-giving seeds you hold in your hand.

__________________

I AM THANKFUL
—Mitz Sackman, Murphys

Fall
Is here
Smells find me
Remembering
Long ago fall days
Fallen leaves, cooking turkey
Family gatherings full
Of laughter spilling into food
Thanking life for the blessings, health, joy
Wondering now if I was grateful enough

__________________

THE HAIRDO
—Don Feliz

Sunburned and wrinkled,
she sat on the park bench
in a faded floral dress

combing her long blond hair.
Ribbons and pins, ready to use,
on two plastic shopping bags.

When she stood up, her thick hair
draped like a robe to her knees.
She pulled at the tangles,

brushed to the ends, twisted
the hair in a bun held with combs,
ready to cope with city streets.

__________________

HOT POEM
—Don Feliz

Meager rain.
Forests, fields,
and brush
scorch in spring sun.

Ready tinder
for lightning fires
by the hundreds
week after week

over a thousand miles—
California burning.

___________________

HILLSIDE WILDFLOWERS
—Don Feliz

Garden ghosts from a ruined house
invite me to pick the pink survivors

of pampered plants long gone to seed.
Valerians grow in sidewalk cracks.

I add white ones to the pink bouquet
for my love waiting at the hilltop.

__________________

Today's LittleNip:

Writing free verse is like playing tennis with the net down.

—Robert Frost

__________________

—Medusa


SnakeWatch: What's New from Rattlesnake Press:

Rattlesnake Review: Deadline for the current issue (#20) has passed (it was Nov. 15); the issue is currently rattling around in the SnakePit and will be released at The Book Collector reading on December 10, then mailed to contributors and subscribers in mid-December. Next deadline is February 15: send 3-5 poems, smallish art pieces and/or photos (no bio, no cover letter, no simultaneous submissions or previously-published poems) to kathykieth@hotmail.com or P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726. E-mail attachments are preferred, but be sure to include all contact info, including snail address. Meanwhile, the snakes of Medusa are always hungry!

New for November: Now available at The Book Collector, or from the authors, or through rattlesnakepress.com, or—heck—just write to me and I'll send 'em to you: a new rattlechap from Red Fox Underground Poet Wendy Patrice Williams (Some New Forgetting); a littlesnake broadside from South Lake Tahoe Poet Ray Hadley (Children's Games); our 2009 calendar from Katy Brown (Beyond the Hill: A Poet’s Calendar) as well as Conversations, Vol. 4 of B.L. Kennedy’s Rattlesnake Interview Series, featuring conversations with Luke Breit, Gail Rudd Entrekin, Traci Gourdine, Taylor Graham, Noel Kroeplin, Rob Lozano, Crawdad Nelson, Monika Rose, Will Staple, Mary Zeppa and nila northSun. And don't forget to pick up your copies of B.L. Kennedy's new SpiralChap of his poetry and art, Luna's House of Words, as well as the anthology of poets, art and photos, La Luna: Poetry Unplugged from Luna's Cafe, edited by frank andrick.

Also available (free): littlesnake broadside #46: Snake Secrets: Getting Your Poetry Published in Rattlesnake Press (and lots of other places, besides!): A compendium of ideas for brushing up on your submissions process so as to make editors everywhere more happy, thereby increasing the likelihood of getting your poetry published. Write to me and I'll send you one. Free!

Coming in December: Join us at The Book Collector on Wednesday, December 10, for the release of a new chapbook from Danyen Powell, a littlesnake broadside from Kevin Jones, and a brand-new issue of Rattlesnake Review (#20)! That's at 7:30, 1008 24th St., Sacramento. Refreshments and a read-around will follow; bring your own poems or somebody else's.


Medusa's Weekly Menu:

(Contributors are welcome to cook up something for any and all of these!)

Monday: Weekly NorCal poetry calendar

Tuesday: Seed of the Week: Tuesday is Medusa's day to post poetry triggers such as quotes, forms, photos, memories, jokes—whatever might tickle somebody's muse. Pick up the gauntlet and send in your poetic results; and don't be shy about sending in your own triggers, too! All poems will be posted and a few of them will go into Medusa's Corner of each Rattlesnake Review. Send your work to kathykieth@hotmail.com or P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726. No deadline for SOWs; respond today, tomorrow, or whenever the muse arrives. (Print 'em out, maybe, save 'em for a dry spell?) When you send us work, though, just let us know which "seed" it was that inspired you.

Wednesday (sometimes): HandyStuff Quickies: Resources for the poet, including whatever helps ease the pain of writing and/or publishing: favorite journals to read and/or submit to; books, etc., about writing; organizational tools—you know—HandyStuff! Tell us about your favorite tools.

Thursday: B.L.'s Drive-Bys: Micro-reviews by our irreverent Reviewer-in-Residence, B.L. Kennedy. Send books, CDs, DVDs, etc. to him for possible review (either as a Drive-By or in future issues of Rattlesnake Review) at P.O. Box 160664, Sacramento, CA 95816.

Friday: NorCal weekend poetry calendar

Daily (except Sunday): LittleNips: SnakeFood for the Poetic Soul: Daily munchables for poetic thought, including short paragraphs, quotes, wonky words, silliness, little-known poetry/poet facts, and other inspiration—yet another way to feed our ravenous poetic souls.

And poetry! Every day, poetry from writers near and far and in-between! The Snakes of Medusa are always hungry.......!

_________________

Medusa encourages poets of all ilk and ages to send their POETRY, PHOTOS and ART, as well as announcements of Northern California poetry events, to kathykieth@hotmail.com (or snail ‘em to P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726) for posting on this daily Snake blog. Rights remain with the poets. Previously-published poems are okay for Medusa’s Kitchen, as long as you own the rights. (Please cite publication.) Medusa cannot vouch for the moral fiber of other publications, contests, etc. that she lists, however, so submit to them at your own risk. For more info about the Snake Empire, including guidelines for submitting to or obtaining our publications, click on the link to the right of this column: Rattlesnake Press (rattlesnakepress.com). And be sure to sign up for Snakebytes, our monthly e-newsletter that will keep you up-to-date on all our ophidian chicanery.

Fire Up Your Etherees!

Photo by Katy Brown, Davis

NOVEMBER
—Margaret Ellis Hill, Wilton

The end of the year approaches
with dismal days that suggest
rain, something like tears held back
at funerals. Hours slip into winter.

Autumn’s fiery displays turn brown.
The chill in the air adds a somber tone.
Everything moves at slower speeds
as the world prepares for rest.

Yet, a similar thing happens in June.
Gray skies preclude bright days that try
to dampen marriages and graduations
that lean toward future, hope and summer.

However, even as Novembers ease
into quiet time, nothing continues to sag
the spirit more than the silence
of breath stilled one June night.

_________________

Bistro 33 reading tomorrow night

•••Weds. (11/19), 9 PM: Poetry Night at Bistro 33 (226 F St., Davis) proudly presents “A Poetry of Lucid Insanity,” a performance piece featuring poets Arturo Mantecón and Gilberto Rodriguez with musical accompaniment by Dylan Morgan and Sheri Rodriguez. The event combines mime, dramatic interpretations and reading in order to personify and present the poetry of Antonin Artaud and Leopoldo Maria Panero.

“On Wednesday night, Antonin Artaud will emerge from the bardo state to add to the current situation of poetic language,” Gilberto Rodriguez says. “Only the insane poetry of Leopoldo Maria Penero has the trajectory to dispel their magic spells and inseminate a new myth.” Gilberto Rodriguez is a poet, playwright, musician, storyteller, and singer/songwriter. He is the founder of musical group, Diluvio, as well as the theatre group, Unheimlich. His plays have been performed in Sacramento and at the Cayuga Vault in Santa Cruz. His current projects include an on-going production of Antonin Artaud and his doubles, set to premiere in Santa Cruz in the spring of 2009.

Davis resident and poet Arturo Mantecón claims that translating the poetry of Spanish madman Leopoldo Maria Panero has been an exercise that has consumed him for several years. He has been featured at various poetry venues in Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Jose and around the Bay Area. He has also been published in several anthologies and journals.

Sheri Rodriguez currently serves as the costume designer, make-up artist and creator of music and soundscapes for Gilberto Rodriguez’s Unheimlich Theatre. She has performed solo and has also backed many of local poets with her skills in Tibetian bowls, bells, gongs, chimes and the Djembe drum. Currently, Rodriguez is crafting the new sounds of Unheimlich with fellow musician, Dylan Morgan.

Morgan has studied in New York with Milford Graves and recorded in San Francisco with saxophonist Sonny Simmons as a jazz drummer, and has participated in two U.S. tours with Chicago-based performance poet Daniel X. O’Neil as a cellist and musical director. In addition to being a musician, Morgan is also a painter, and has had exhibitions in Chicago, Los Angeles and elsewhere.

Poetry Night at Bistro 33, co-hosted by UC Davis faculty members Andy Jones and Brad Henderson, occurs on the first and third Wednesdays of every month beginning at 9 PM, with an open microphone at 10 PM. The event is free and open to the public.


Tuesdays in Truckee: Ongoing Creative Writing Workshops

Write. Connect with a writing community, generate new material, play with language and meaning, explore craft and form, and develop a writing practice in a creative environment. Learn to workshop your pieces in a supportive group. Karen Terrey, poetry editor for the literary arts journal, Quay, holds an MFA in creative writing and teaches creative writing at Sierra Nevada College. Publications in which her poetry can be found include Poet’s Espresso, Moonshine Ink, Rhino, Rattlesnake Review, and Sierra Nevada Review. For more info, see www.karenaterrey.blogspot.com/. That's Tuesday nights from 6:30-8 PM at the Teen Center on Donner Pass Rd., next to KidZone. Register at the Community Center, 10046 Church St., Truckee, 530-582-7720. Drop in for $20 per night or sign up for ongoing 4-week sessions for $72.


Soul-Making Literary Competition deadline is Nov. 30

Established in 1994, the Soul-Making Literary Competition (and its subsequent Awards Reading at the Koret Auditorium, San Francisco Main Library, Civic Center) is a community arts outreach program of the National League of American Pen Women, Nob Hill, SF Bay Area Branch. There are 11 categories, including one for poetry, one for prose poetry, and one for young adult poetry (grades 9-12). Cash prizes for each category are $100, $50, and $25. For complete details visit www.soulmakingcontest.us. Deadline is November 30.

___________________

THE YARD ORNAMENT

placed near the front door, remains
steps away from a garden of cosmos,
nicotina, geraniums and weeds.
My daughter dresses it ‘to the nines’
in changes to celebrate the seasons:
a bearded Santa, the diapered New Year Baby,
the Easter Bunny, Uncle Sam with a flag.
Here I am in the garden, laughing
(while admiring primroses and hollyhocks)
at this bilious pink plastic flamingo
standing tall in her current costume
as a green-haired, black-caped witch. Next
attire will honor the Thanksgiving turkey:
beard, wattles and snood complete
with a strap-on felt feathered tail.


—Margaret Ellis Hill
(using a line from the poem, “Here”, by Grace Paley)

_________________

Thanks, Peggy Hill, for the poems today! Her Thanksgiving poem (and the season) inspired the Seed of the Week: Thanksgiving, but let's make it interesting. Send me a Thanksgiving poem and I'll post it; but send me a Thanksgiving etheree, and I'll mail you Katy Brown's new 2009 calendar, Beyond the Hill. What's an etheree? Another Margaret, Margaret Bell, who was featured in yesterday's Kitchen, has sent us four wonderful examples, and I think you can figure out the form from them. (If you can't, I'll explain it to you. Hint: count the syllables in each line.) This Seed of the Week has a deadline, though: to get your free calendar, your etheree(s) must be sent by midnight (e-mailed or postmarked) Monday, November 24. Addresses are below.

A word about forms and other "triggers" for poems: Every poem you write is in a form, even if it's free verse. And every poem you write has a trigger: an image, a thought, a word. If I get an image from inside my head, it's no different than receiving it as an "instruction" from a book or another poet or Medusa's Kitchen; I need to learn how to spin gold from that image. Who cares where it came from? Poets steal shamelessly and endlessly; it's a necessary skill for any artist.

Some people complain that writing to forms or triggers is like stuffing their poem into a girdle, but the truth is, every poem you write should go through some kind of similar "stuffing": some kind of ordering and paring down and organization, rather than just a free-write spilling of words onto the page without any later editing. Similarly with forms: I need to pay attention to the rhythm and order and sounds of every poem I write, whether I'm trying to do a sonnet or an etheree or free verse (which really isn't, after all, all that free; if it is, in my opinion, it becomes too prose-y).

So join in the party and write your responses to triggers, whether they are images or forms or assignments or your grandmother's bustle. Wonderful poems come out of these exercises, which are, in my mind, like playing scales. And you can never get enough exercise, right?


CATS
—Margaret E. Bell, Citrus Heights

In
velvet
slippers they
entered my home
and made me a slave
to their desires and needs.
They commandeered my special
chair, slept in my bed when they pleased
and made me play the role of doorman
in my own home. Sweet creatures these, my cats.

__________________

ETHEREE ON JAZZ
—Margaret E. Bell

Jazz
tiptoes
to our ears
on a tightrope
dripping with sweet sap
from old musical trees
first planted by African
slaves and nurtured by all lovers
of creative sounds that touch our hearts,
surrounding us with rhythmic pulses, sweet.

___________________

TO INSPIRE (AN ETHEREE)
—Margaret E. Bell

To
inspire
another’s
creativeness
is the worthy goal
of all great artists who
understand the importance
of using every talent God
has hidden within each one of us
to be mined like a precious vein of gold.

___________________

REFLECTIONS
—Margaret E. Bell

We
see things
reflected
back to us on
many surfaces,
natural and man-made,
sometimes distorted by the
changing lights and shadows or the
tilting of the frame of mind which holds
our view of life before the lamp of truth.

__________________

Today's LittleNip:

Poetry is the opening and closing of a door, leaving those who look through to guess about what is seen during a moment.

—Carl Sandburg

__________________

—Medusa


SnakeWatch: What's New from Rattlesnake Press:

Rattlesnake Review: Deadline for the current issue (#20) has passed (it was Nov. 15); the issue is currently rattling around in the SnakePit and will be released at The Book Collector reading on December 10, then mailed to contributors and subscribers in mid-December. Next deadline is February 15: send 3-5 poems, smallish art pieces and/or photos (no bio, no cover letter, no simultaneous submissions or previously-published poems) to kathykieth@hotmail.com or P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726. E-mail attachments are preferred, but be sure to include all contact info, including snail address. Meanwhile, the snakes of Medusa are always hungry!

New for November: Now available at The Book Collector, or from the authors, or (soon) through rattlesnakepress.com, or—heck—just write to me and I'll send 'em to you: a new rattlechap from Red Fox Underground Poet Wendy Patrice Williams (Some New Forgetting); a littlesnake broadside from South Lake Tahoe Poet Ray Hadley (Children's Games); our 2009 calendar from Katy Brown (Beyond the Hill: A Poet’s Calendar) as well as Conversations, Vol. 4 of B.L. Kennedy’s Rattlesnake Interview Series, featuring conversations with Luke Breit, Gail Rudd Entrekin, Traci Gourdine, Taylor Graham, Noel Kroeplin, Rob Lozano, Crawdad Nelson, Monika Rose, Will Staple, Mary Zeppa and nila northSun. And don't forget to pick up your copies of B.L. Kennedy's new SpiralChap of his poetry and art, Luna's House of Words, as well as the anthology of poets, art and photos, La Luna: Poetry Unplugged from Luna's Cafe, edited by frank andrick.

Also available (free): littlesnake broadside #46: Snake Secrets: Getting Your Poetry Published in Rattlesnake Press (and lots of other places, besides!): A compendium of ideas for brushing up on your submissions process so as to make editors everywhere more happy, thereby increasing the likelihood of getting your poetry published. Write to me and I'll send you one.

Coming in December: Join us at The Book Collector on Wednesday, December 10, for the release of a new chapbook from Danyen Powell, a littlesnake broadside from Kevin Jones, and a brand-new issue of Rattlesnake Review (#20)! That's at 7:30, 1008 24th St., Sacramento. Refreshments and a read-around will follow; bring your own poems or somebody else's.


Medusa's Weekly Menu:

(Contributors are welcome to cook up something for any and all of these!)

Monday: Weekly NorCal poetry calendar

Tuesday: Seed of the Week: Tuesday is Medusa's day to post poetry triggers such as quotes, forms, photos, memories, jokes—whatever might tickle somebody's muse. Pick up the gauntlet and send in your poetic results; and don't be shy about sending in your own triggers, too! All poems will be posted and a few of them will go into Medusa's Corner of each Rattlesnake Review. Send your work to kathykieth@hotmail.com or P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726. No deadline for SOWs; respond today, tomorrow, or whenever the muse arrives. (Print 'em out, maybe, save 'em for a dry spell?) When you send us work, though, just let us know which "seed" it was that inspired you.

Wednesday (sometimes): HandyStuff Quickies: Resources for the poet, including whatever helps ease the pain of writing and/or publishing: favorite journals to read and/or submit to; books, etc., about writing; organizational tools—you know—HandyStuff! Tell us about your favorite tools.

Thursday: B.L.'s Drive-Bys: Micro-reviews by our irreverent Reviewer-in-Residence, B.L. Kennedy. Send books, CDs, DVDs, etc. to him for possible review (either as a Drive-By or in future issues of Rattlesnake Review) at P.O. Box 160664, Sacramento, CA 95816.

Friday: NorCal weekend poetry calendar

Daily (except Sunday): LittleNips: SnakeFood for the Poetic Soul: Daily munchables for poetic thought, including short paragraphs, quotes, wonky words, silliness, little-known poetry/poet facts, and other inspiration—yet another way to feed our ravenous poetic souls.

And poetry! Every day, poetry from writers near and far and in-between! The Snakes of Medusa are always hungry.......!

_________________

Medusa encourages poets of all ilk and ages to send their POETRY, PHOTOS and ART, as well as announcements of Northern California poetry events, to kathykieth@hotmail.com (or snail ‘em to P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726) for posting on this daily Snake blog. Rights remain with the poets. Previously-published poems are okay for Medusa’s Kitchen, as long as you own the rights. (Please cite publication.) Medusa cannot vouch for the moral fiber of other publications, contests, etc. that she lists, however, so submit to them at your own risk. For more info about the Snake Empire, including guidelines for submitting to or obtaining our publications, click on the link to the right of this column: Rattlesnake Press (rattlesnakepress.com). And be sure to sign up for Snakebytes, our monthly e-newsletter that will keep you up-to-date on all our ophidian chicanery.