The Shock of Minor Changes

Taylor Graham writes: Loved Homer Christensen's poem [see yesterday's post]. It got me going, writing that is. Medusa may be up to the gorge in election and not even want to think about it [today], but she can have this one if she wants:

AFTER ELECTION
—Taylor Graham, Somerset

I stood in line early
to cast my hopes into an eyeless box.

Back home, in the field we keep trying
to reclaim from thicket, I pull up
manzanita sprouts, one after another,
toss them in a pile for burning.

I’ll do this again in two
years, four years, six. They always
come back—the same shoots or new
ones from an old bad root.

In our field, November is greening
the annual grasses. I can hope.

_______________________

Thanks, TG! At least the ads will be over, now...

Tonight:

•••Weds. (11/8), 7:30 PM: Rattlesnake Press presents Jane Blue at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento to celebrate the release of her new poetry chapbook, Turf Daisies and Dandelions. Also premiering that night will be a littlesnake broadside, Connections, from Cleo Fellers Kocol. Refreshments and a read-around will follow; bring your own poems or somebody else's. Be there!

•••Also tonight, 10-midnight: After the rattle-read, head over to Mics and Moods at Capitol Garage, 1500 K St., Sac. Info: 916-492-9336.

•••Also tonight (11/8), 8 PM: Or bag it all and go over to Davis: The Second Wednesday Reading Series of the MA program at UC-Davis presents the poetry and fiction of writers Michael Clearwater and Reema Rajbanshi. Café Roma (3rd & University Sts., downtown Davis).


Poets Lane News from Cynthia Bryant:

A short update on The Gift of Words: Poems for the Iraqi People:

I have received poetry from fifteen of our fifty United States, one from a soldier in Iraq, one poet from Nigeria, Africa, and over 100 poets altogether. I have gotten poems from eight-year-old poets and poets in their eighties. The numbers grow every day and the poems get better every day. So send in your poem, and please don't forget to include your name/email, city, state, country (and age if you like). Send poems to: Gift of Words, c/o Cynthia Bryant, Poet Laureate of Pleasanton, PO Box 520, Pleasanton, CA 94566 or PoetsLane@comcast.net.

The deadline for the poems has been changed to May 2007, but the potluck/reading will be held on Sunday, December 3, 1-4 PM at Century House, 2401 Santa Rita Rd. (between Mohr and Stoneridge), Pleasanton. $5. Special guests, entertainment and Iraqi music will fill the afternoon along with the heartfelt poems written for the Iraqi People that will be read by local poets and in some cases by the poet who wrote the poem. Please bring your favorite food to share, and one wrapped (no Christmas wrapping, please) book of poetry, used or new to exchange in a special gift-giving event. There will be wonderful door prizes to be won as well. Beverages, eating utensils, napkins, plates and cups will all be provided.

Also: Poet’s Lane needs your poems for November! Anyone, any age, anywhere may submit poetry to PoetsLane@comcast.net for www.poetslane.com. The themes are Freedom, War and Giving Thanks. Send your poems to Cynthia at PoetsLane@comcast.net.

________________________

FASCICLE
—A.R. Ammons

There's a rift of days sunny (not too windy, not
too cold) between leaf- and snowfall when
raking works: away on a weekend, you could

miss it and rain could sog everything slick-flat
or gusts could leave no leaf not lifting
off the ground: stick

around the house, a big sheet ready, a strong-caned
rake strung tight, and catch the sun
just when it stills the air dry: that's likely

to be before some cold front frost-furring
the saw-edged leaves glistened brittle, clouds
tightening the horizon: then the white leaves fly.

_______________________

FIRST COLD
—A.R. Ammons

Well, the white asters
are wide open (there's
even a chicory
blossom ot two
left on a big weed)

but it's too cold
for the bees to come:
every now and then
a snowflake
streaks

out of the hanging gray,
winter's first whitening:
white on white let it be,
then, flake
to petal—to hold for a

minute or so: meanwhile,
golden bees are milling at
the door, to pour
out should that other
gold, the sun, break in.

_________________________

SENTIMENT
—A.R. Ammons

All things that live die but even
rivers dry up or roll
out of their beds and rising lands

sometimes remove seas and ranges
snow tops all year wear down eventually:
the earth, of course, itself came

into being and must in time be cindered:
think of the shock, though, meanwhile,
of the minor changes, a friend in an

accident, being late to your son's
soccer match, a leaning tree in a
yard an old house has moved away from.

_______________________

—Medusa

Medusa encourages poets of all ilk and ages to send their poetry, photos and art, and announcements of Northern California poetry events to kathykieth@hotmail.com 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.)

Throw the Bums Out!

POLITICIANS IN MY FRIDGE
—Homer Christensen, Folsom

I look around in the dim light for something new

(Actually, I’ll settle for anything edible,
but I still hold out hope).

“Oh, shoot, has this gone bad?
And this? It cost a fortune...”

Things smell bad under a downy cover,
and I muck about, rearrange,
and shut the door in disgust.

I don’t have the courage to throw anything out.

_______________________

Thanks, Homer, for the Election Day poem! Don't forget to vote! :-)

Speaking of throwing things out, the Moving Experience triggers all sorts of poetry:

MOVING UNDER THE BLANKET
—Kathy Kieth, Fair Oaks

We bought an anaconda
of a quilt: moving house
has us startled: we are
being dismantled
box by box: replaced by

the generic—new art, new walls,
new bedding: a stiff sky-blue
monster-quilt that is not yet
broken in: huge, down-filled

explosion of a blue anaconda
that swallows us every night
as we try to move our legs:
try to get our bearings:
try to get away…

_______________________

Pat Pashby replies:

A MOVING MOMENT
—Patricia A. Pashby, Sacramento

She cries—
never again
will I do this for you—
sorting, packing, tossing treasures.
He smiles.


Thanks, Pat! Look for Patricia Pashby's littlesnake broadside, Potpourri, at The Book Collector—or SASE me and I'll send you one.
_______________________

Calendar Updates:

Some additions to this week's calendar:

•••Wednesday (11/8), 8 PM: The Second Wednesday Reading Series of the MA program at UC-Davis presents the poetry and fiction of writers Michael Clearwater and Reema Rajbanshi. Café Roma (3rd & University Sts., downtown Davis).

•••Sat. (11/11), 4 PM: Manzanita writers and friends of Manzanita writers (all editions) are invited to read their work at Hein & Co. book store in Jackson, located off of Hwy 49 in downtown Jackson on Main Street. (It's across from the cooking store.) Hein & Co. is one of the treasures of the Mother Lode. A great bookstore! Manzanita Editor Monika Rose says: bring your books and maybe Wolf will sell them for you on consignment. Info: 209-754-0577 (Monika) or 209-223-9076 (Wolf Hein).

•••Sacramento Poet and Rattlechapper Susan Kelly-DeWitt and her son, Michael Kelly-DeWitt, will have their art in a one-night show coming up Saturday, November 11. The show will be held at Acacia Hall, 2354 Forrest, Sac. (at the corner of Forrest and Del Paso Boulevard) from 5-8 PM.


Calendar Correx:

Yesterday I said that Clark Ashton Smith would be performing at The Book Collector on Sunday (11/12), 4-6 PM; clearly, this is impossible, since he's dead. Instead, it is Donald Sydney-Fryer who will be performing from Clark Ashton Smith's Four Fables. The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sac. Free.

More disturbing is the confusion about the Bistro 33 reading in Davis. I received a note from Somebody saying it was happening this week (tonight), and Poetry Now has it listed as tonight, also. But Rae Gourirand sent out an e-mail saying it was next week; I wrote to her, and she claims she double-checked it, and that it is, indeed, happening on the 14th (NEXT Tuesday). The host is Andy Jones: aojones@ucdavis.edu. I recommend you go straight to him...


So what's up with the Snake?

Today you should have the November Snakebytes (Late-bytes, this month) in your e-mail box. In it, you will note:

•••Reading tomorrow night at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sac.: Jane Blue (Turf Daisies and Dandelions), with a littlesnake broadside (Connections) from Cleo Fellers Kocol. 7:30 PM.

•••Also premiering tomorrow: the latest Snakelets, the free journal of poetry from youngsters ages 0-12. Next deadline is February 1.

•••Coming later in November: the latest issue of VYPER, the free poetry journal from young people ages 13-19.

•••December's releases will be Spiralchap #6: Poems in Two Voices from Joe and Susan Finkleman (two-voice poetry by the two of them, plus art from Joe), and littlesnake broadside #29 from Sacramento Poetry Center President Bob Stanley. Wednesday, December 13 will be the official release/reading date for these authors.

•••And the next deadline for the free poetry journal from adults, Rattlesnake Review (#12—an even dozen!) is coming up SOON—it's Wednesday, November 15. Send 3-5 poems, name and address, e-mail preferred, no bio/cover letter/previously-pubbed/simultaneous submits. Send art, too, and photos and doodles, and reviews—especially mini-reviews of books and workshops and events (maybe you want to query first on those, though...).

•••And the ever-PMS-ing Medusa is always hungry; the daily blog has a ravenous appetite for poetry, Nor-Cal and otherwise. Lately I've been lax on the photo/drawing posts, but I bet I could remember how, if you sent me one...

By the way, if you're not receiving the monthly Snakebytes e-mail and would like to, e-mail me at kathykieth@hotmail.com.

_______________________

October has passed, but here's a Fall poem from David Humphreys, whose Poets Corner reading series in Stockton will present devin davis this Sunday (11/12) at the Barnes & Noble in Weberstown Mall, 7 PM:

THE FIREMAN'S WIFE AND ERNEST HEMINGWAY
—David Humphreys, Stockton

October is everyone’s favorite month
with temperatures in the seventies,
not too hot or too cold.
Went to Fort Bragg over the weekend,
our girls' soccer team had a tournament.
Won two games on Saturday.
Saturday night went to the beach
and did a bonfire with marshmallows,
a beautiful happy bunch of kids.
Parents are great too, love soccer, watching
their kids play well, everything about it.
They hate it when we lose.
Sunday morning we won the first game,
two to zero. That got us into the final.
The other team got a goal in
the first half. One of our girls had a shot
hit the cross bar but it didn’t go in. They
played very hard but in the end
the other team won it one-zero. Too bad,
maybe next time. It was a long drive home
through the dark forest past the moonlit lake.
Don’t think we forgot anything.

________________________

—Medusa

Medusa encourages poets of all ilk and ages to send their poetry, photos and art, and announcements of Northern California poetry events to kathykieth@hotmail.com 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.)

The Forms of my Vanity

ENCOUNTER
—Czeslow Milosz

We were riding through frozen fields in a wagon at dawn.
A red wing rose in the darkness.

And suddenly a hare ran across the road.
One of us pointed to it with his hand.

That was long ago. Today neither of them is alive,
Not the hare, nor the man who made the gesture.

O my love, where are they, where are they going
The flash of a hand, streak of movement, rustle of pebbles.
I ask not out of sorrow, but in wonder.

(translated by Czeslaw Milosz and Lillian Vallee)

________________________

Big week:

•••Tonight (Monday, 11/6), 7:30 PM: The Sacramento Poetry Center features Don Rice at HQ for the Arts, 25th & R Sts., Sac.

•••Also tonight, 7:30 PM: The Other Voice poetry reading series presents Tom Goff and Nora Laila Staklis at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis on 27074 Patwin Road, Davis. James Lee Jobe will be your host. Call 530-750-3514 for details. This is a free event, and after the featured poets there will be an open mic. For bios, poems, directions, and a map, check out http://uupoetry.blogspot.com

•••Also tonight, 8 PM: The Moody Blues Poetry Series presents Crystal Mitchell and Jim Lanier at A Taste of Laguna (Southern cuisine) at 9080 Laguna Main in Laguna. $5, hosted by Ms. LaRue, music by DJ Barney B.

•••Weds. (11/8), 7:30 PM: Rattlesnake Press presents Jane Blue at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento to celebrate the release of her new poetry chapbook, Turf Daisies and Dandelions. Also premiering that night will be a littlesnake broadside, Connections, from Cleo Fellers Kocol. Refreshments and a read-around will follow; bring your own poems or somebody else's. More info: kathykieth@hotmail.com

•••Also Weds., 10-midnight: Mics and Moods at Capitol Garage, 1500 K St., Sac. Info: 916-492-9336.

•••Thursday (11/9), 8 PM: Vibe Sessions at Cobbler Inn, 3520 Stockton Blvd., Sac. (next to Colonial Theater). Hosted by Flo Real, $5.

•••Also Thurs., 8 PM: Poetry Unplugged presents Andy Jones and special guests. Open mic before/after. Luna's Cafe, 1414 16th St., Sac. Free. Info: 916-441-3931.

•••Saturday (11/11), 3-5 PM: Patricity's In Spirit & Truth Series features Big Eazi E (Born 2 B Poet) and poetess-singer Mouthpiece, plus open mic. Note new location: 61 Yuence Smoked BBQ & Grill, 9657 Folsom Blvd., Sac. (off Bradshaw). Free. Info: 916-361-2014.

•••Also Saturday, 8 PM: Poems-For-All Second Saturday Series presents Stephen Kessler at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sac. Stephen Kessler is a poet, prose writer, translator and editor whose most recent books include Written in Water: The Prose Poems of Luis Cernuda (translation, City Lights), winner of 2004 Lambda Literary Award; Tell It to the Rabbis and After Modigliani (poems, Creative Arts); Save Twilight: Selected Poems of Julio Cortazar (translation, City Lights); Aphorisms by César Vallejo (translation, Green Integer); and major contributions to The Essential Neruda (City Lights) and the Selected Poems of Jorge Luis Borges (Penguin). His essays, criticism and journalism have appeared widely in the independent and alternative press of Northern California, especially Poetry Flash, where he is a contributing editor. He is also the editor of The Redwood Coast Review. Free. Info: 916-442-9295.

•••Also Saturday, 10 AM-4 PM: Writers’ Forum is proud to present the 3rd Annual Northern California Authors Fair, “A Salute to Veterans”, at the Mount Shasta Mall in Redding. Published authors in Northern California and the public are invited to this free event. Meet authors. Talk about writing. Books will be available for sale and author-signings. Enter the free Opening Sentence Writing Contest (four age categories, children to seniors; prizes for 1st Place Winners). Last year, over 50 authors participated in the Fair, covering many genres. Info: 530-241-1045 or visit online at www.writers-forum.net

•••Also Saturday, 2 PM: Reading from the poetry quarterly, Song of the San Joaquin, in the McHenry Museum, 1402 "I" Street, Modesto. Poets will read their own work. Light refreshments will be served. Song of the San Joaquin is published by the Poets of the San Joaquin, a Modesto-based chapter of the California Federation of Chaparral Poets, Inc. Info: Cleo Griffith, 209-543-1776, cleor36@yahoo.com.

•••Sunday (11/12), 4-6 PM: Donald Sydney-Fryer will be performing from Clark Ashton Smith's Four Fables. The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sac. Free.

•••Also Sunday, 2:30-4:30 PM: Poets on the Ridge in Paradise, CA will hold their monthly open mic at Juice & Java, 7067 Skyway, Paradise. Info: 530-872-9633. Free; all ages are welcome to come read their poems.

•••Also Sunday, 7 PM: Poets Corner presents devin davis at Barnes & Noble in Weberstown Mall, Pacific Avenue and March Lane, Stockton.

________________________

TO THE HARBORMASTER
—Frank O'Hara

I wanted to be sure to reach you;
though my ship was on the way it got caught
in some moorings. I am always tying up
and then deciding to depart. In storms and
at sunset, with the metallic coils of the tide
around my fathomless arms, I am unable
to understand the forms of my vanity
or I am hard alee with my Polish rudder
in my hand and the sun sinking. To
you I offer my hull and the tattered cordage
of my will. The terrible channels where
the wind drives me against the brown lips
of the reeds are not all behind me. Yet
I trust the sanity of my vessel; and
if it sinks, it may well be in answer
to the reasoning of the eternal voices,
the waves which have kept me from reaching you.

_______________________

—Medusa

Medusa encourages poets of all ilk and ages to send their poetry, photos and art, and announcements of Northern California poetry events to kathykieth@hotmail.com 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.)

The Tall Forest Towers

LIGHTS OUT
—Edward Thomas

I have come to the borders of sleep,
The unfathomable deep
Forest where all must lose
Their way, however straight,
Or winding, soon or late;
They cannot choose.

Many a road and track
That, since the dawn's first crack,
Up to the forest brink,
Deceived the travellers,
Suddenly now blurs,
And in they sink.

Here love ends,
Despair, ambition ends;
All pleasure and all trouble,
Although most sweet or bitter,
Here ends in sleep that is sweeter
Than tasks most noble.

There is not any book
Or face of dearest look
That I would not turn from now
To go into the unknown
I must enter, and leave, alone,
I know not how.

The tall forest towers;
Its cloudy foliage lowers
Ahead, shelf above shelf;
Its silence I hear and obey
That I may lose my way
And myself.

_______________________

—Medusa

Medusa encourages poets of all ilk and ages to send their poetry, photos and art, and announcements of Northern California poetry events to kathykieth@hotmail.com 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.)

And Want It Not Too Late

THE OWL
—Edward Thomas

Downhill I came, hungry, and yet not starved;
Cold, yet had heat within me that was proof
Against the North wind; tired, yet so that rest
Had seemed the sweetest thing under a roof.

Then at the inn I had food, fire, and rest,
Knowing how hungry, cold, and tired was I.
All of the night was quite barred out except
An owl's cry, a most melancholy cry

Shaken out long and clear upon the hill,
No merry note, nor cause of merriment,
But one telling me plain what I escaped
And others could not, that night, as in I went.

And salted was my food, and my repose,
Salted and sobered, too, by the bird's voice
Speaking for all who lay under the stars,
Soldiers and poor, unable to rejoice.

________________________

Coming Monday: The Other Voice

The Other Voice poetry reading series presents Tom Goff and Nora Laila Staklis this Monday (11/6) at 7:30 PM at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis on 27074 Patwin Road, Davis. James Lee Jobe will be your host. Call 530-750-3514 for details. This is a free event, and after the featured poets there will be an open mic. For bios, poems, directions, and a map, check out http://uupoetry.blogspot.com

________________________

ADLESTROP
—Edward Thomas

Yes. I remember Adlestrop—
The name, because one afternoon
Of hear the express-train drew up there
Unwontedly. It was late June.

The steam hissed. Someone cleared his throat.
No one left and no one came
On the bare platform. What I saw
Was Adlestrop—only the name

And willows, willow-herb, and grass,
And meadowsweet, and haycocks dry,
No whit less still and lonely fair
Than the high cloudlets in the sky.

And for that minute a blackbird sang
Close by, and round him, mistier,
Farther and farther, all the birds
Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.

_______________________

AND YOU, HELEN
—Edward Thomas

And you, Helen, what should I give you?
So many things I would give you
Had I an infinite great store
Offered me and I stood before
To choose. I would give you youth,
All kinds of loveliness and truth,
A clear eye as good as mine,
Lands, waters, flowers, wine,
As many children as your heart
Might wish for, a far better art
Than mine can be, all you have lost
Upon the travelling waters tossed,
Or give to me. If I could choose
Freely in that great treasure-house
Anything from any shelf,
I would give you back yourself,
And power to discriminate
What you want and want it not too late,
Many fair days free from care
And heart to enjoy both foul and fair,
And myself, too, if I could find
Where it lay hidden and it proved kind.

________________________

—Medusa

Medusa encourages poets of all ilk and ages to send their poetry, photos and art, and announcements of Northern California poetry events to kathykieth@hotmail.com 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.)

The Glass-Wool of Incessant Melody

GLASS
—Miroslav Holub

Li Po was glass.
Kant was glass.

We observe ourselves like transparent
sea anemones.
We see the dark purple heart
beating,
we see the grey lungs, wings
rising and falling,
we see the oligochaetic
worms of thought
gnawing under the cap.

Linnaeus was glass.
Mozart was glass.
Franz Josef was glass.

In the transparent belly
we see the tubular moon,
and behind the crystalline mouth
the swallowed words.

A prisoner is glass,
a policeman is glass,
sixty glass robots
reside in the castle.

Behind the swallowed words
we see the glass-wool
of incessant melody.

Only the dead
draw the curtain
from within.

(translated from the Czech by David Young and Dana Habova)

_______________________

This weekend:

•••Sat/Sun (11/4-5): "The Beat Generation and Beyond" at the John Natsoulas Art Gallery in Davis and the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento. Performances by Peter Selz, Michael McClure, Diane di Prima and George Herms. Guided Crocker Art Museum tour of photos by Allen Ginsberg. Optional $50 lunch on Friday (today). Co-sponsored by UC Davis Technocultural Studies. More details:
http://www.natsoulas.com/html/beatweb/beat.html.

•••Saturday (11/4), 11 AM: Escritores del Nuevo Sol's monthly writing workshop and potluck. La Raza Galeria Posada, $5. [I think today's Sacramento Bee lists the gallery's old address; call 916-456-5323 or JoAnn Anglin at 916-451-1372 for the new one.]

•••Sunday (11/5), 6 PM. PoemSpirits presents Josh McKinney from CSUS. Series co-facilitator Tom Goff will also present a brief overview of the work of Marie Ponsot, who refers to poetry as “passionate speech; language on a rampage.” Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento, 2425 Sierra Blvd., 2 blocks north of Fair Oaks Blvd, between Howe and Fulton Avenues. UUSS Foyer/Lounge. Free; Snacks available. info: Tom Goff or Nora Staklis, 916-481-3312, or JoAnn Anglin, 916-451-1372. Open mic: All are invited to bring a poem of your own or another’s to read.

•••Monday (Nov. 6), 7:30 PM: The Sacramento Poetry Center features Don Rice at HQ for the Arts, 25th & R Sts., Sac.

_______________________

Get ready for the Moobie!

I Began to Speak is a film by The Archives Group. Produced, written and directed by B.L. Kennedy, with photography, editing and design by Linda Thorell, I Began to Speak is a documentry of the history of poetry in the city of Sacramento from approximately 1960 to 2006. It features some 41 area poets who tell the story of the evolution of a single poetry community in their own voices, including, among others, frank andrick, B.L. Kennedy, Linda Thorell, Arthur Butler, Ann Menebroker, Neeli Cherkovski, Joyce Odam, Crawdad Nelson, Mary Mackey, Bill Gainer, Bill Carr, Eugene B. Redmond, Terry Moore, Doug Blazek, D.R. Wagner, Dennis Schmitz, Jose Montoya, Estaban Villa, Pat Grizzell, Chris Olander, Todd Cirillo, Rhony Bhopla, Richard Hansen, Terryl & Eric, Julia Connor, Joyce Odam, Kathy Kieth, Jane Blue, and Gene Bloom, to name but a few of the poets who tell the story of a very rich community. The movie will be premiered on Wednesday, December 6, at 7 PM at the Crest Theatre, 1013 K Street, Sacramento, CA. Advance tickets now on sale at the Crest Theatre (916-442-5189) or sid@thecrest.com, or at the theatre box office. Tickets are $10. Limited seating. This will be the only showing of a unique and very special film in 2006. The movie was funded in part by an ArtScapes Grant from the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission, and was filmed with equipment from Access Sacramento.

_______________________

MAN CURSING THE SEA
—Miroslav Holub

Someone
just climbed to the top of the cliffs
and began to curse the sea.

Dumb water, stupid pregnant water,
slow, slimy copy of the sky,
you peddler between sun and moon,
pettifogging pawnbroker of shells,
soluble, loud-mouthed bull,
fertilizing the rocks with your blood,
suicidal sword
dashed to bits on the headland,
hydra, hydrolyziing the night,
breathing salty clouds of silence,
spreading jelly wings
in vain, in vain,
gorgon, devouring its own body,

water, you absurd flat skull of water—

And so he cursed the sea for a spell,
it licked his footprints in the sand
like a wounded dog.

And then he came down
and patted
the tiny immense stormy mirror of the sea.

There you go, water, he said,
and went his way.

(translated by Stuart Friebert and Dana Habova)

_________________________

LOVE
—Miroslav Holub

Two thousand cigarettes.
A hundred miles
from wall to wall.
An eternity and a half of vigils
blanker than snow.

Tons of words
old as the tracks
of a platypus in the sand.

A hundred books we didn't write.
A hundred pyramids we didn't build.

Sweepings.
Dust.

Bitter
as the beginning of the world.

Believe me when I say
it was beautiful.

(translated by George Theiner)

_____________________________

—Medusa

Medusa encourages poets of all ilk and ages to send their poetry, photos and art, and announcements of Northern California poetry events to kathykieth@hotmail.com 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.)

Yippee—and Yikes!

DANCE THE NIGHT
—Cleo Fellers Kocol, Roseville

A dry dust morning,
horizon lost,
people disoriented,
cut off from the day,
the world a flower dead-headed,
bare stalks sticking up
like a forest without
a canopy—
tree trunks
standing after a fire…

When the ice melts and
oceans rise, and temperatures
soar... No, no,
bury the thought,
bury it deep.
Pretend.
Ignore the day, dance
the night, dance again.

______________________

Thanks, Cleo! Rattlesnake Press be releasing Cleo Fellers Kocol's new littlesnake broadside, Connections, next Wednesday, November 8 at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, at 7:30 PM. Also being released that evening is Turf Daisies and Dandelions, a new chapbook from Sacramento Poet Jane Blue. Be there!

Here we are, back again from a week of sorcery. Sometimes witches (and pigs) DO fly; after only two weeks on this wonky real estate market, we got an offer on our house that we couldn't—well, didn't—refuse. Yippee—and yikes! And no, we have absolutely NO house in mind yet, so the Snake will be officially homeless in 43 days (if you don't count our trailer in Coos Bay).

So things will be a bit chaotic here for the next few weeks. Please have patience with us as we move The Den...

Seems like a good day for a little whimsey:

POEM
—Frank O'Hara

Lana Turner has collapsed!
I was trotting along and suddenly
it started raining and snowing
and you said it was hailing
but hailing hits you on the head
hard so it was really snowing and
raining and I was in such a hurry
to meet you but the traffic
was acting exactly like the sky
and suddenly I see a headline
LANA TURNER HAS COLLAPSED!
There is no snow in Hollywood
There is no rain in California
I have been to lots of parties
and acted perfectly disgraceful
but I never actually collapsed
oh Lana Turner we love you get up

______________________

—Medusa

Medusa encourages poets of all ilk and ages to send their poetry, photos and art, and announcements of Northern California poetry events to kathykieth@hotmail.com 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.)