Setting Angels Free

Tom Goff

MY SHORTS

rain-gutter the sunbeams
downthigh. Revulsed by his British
officer guide on Gibraltar, Patton
wrote of “a skinny old fart in shorts.”
Knee knobs bare to the solstice scorch,
I expose in their moral shortcomings
my Gandhi shins. These brevities
blaspheme when donned by men
in Baghdad. I bet that “old fart”
Colonel Bogey was tough as
a Gibraltar bearded vulture. Hot item,
I khaki along the alleys in the knee pants
my mama done told me No.

—Tom Goff, Carmichael

__________________

Thanks, Tom! Our Historian-in-Residence, Tom Goff, is an instructional assistant in the Reading and Writing Center at Folsom Lake College. He is the author of two previous poetry chapbooks, and of poetry book reviews and other articles in such periodicals as Rattlesnake Review, Poetry Now, and Jacket Magazine. A professional trumpet player, Tom is married to poet and artist Nora Laila Staklis.

Next Wednesday, May 13, Rattlesnake Press will be releasing Tom's newest chapbook, Sinfonietta, at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, at 7:30 PM. Join us to celebrate this beautiful offering of his; Nora contributed one of her art pieces for the cover. And watch for Tom's poetry and ongoing articles about California poets of the past in each issue of Rattlesnake Review.

Tom also sent us this little ditty, about which he says: I was reading a good translation of Michelangelo's poems by John Frederick Nims, and the idea for these companion poems came. There are just enough images of the rediscovered statue online that I think I prefer it to its replacement.


TWO MICHELANGELO SCULPTURES
—Tom Goff


I. The Risen Christ (1519-20) in the church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, Rome

I am the second creation. Risen Christ
set free, nude white, from marble. But, unpleased
to claim me, he shaped me no proud half-Hercules,
my maker. That was my ruined brother, brawn
typhoon-rippling his sailor frame. Slim dawn,
its lightshaft liquid quicksilver, sculpts my form:
just musculature enough to boast no worm
corrupts one plunged into Hell yet Earth-born twice.
No doubt less loved, I thank my maker still
for sculpting with his great integrity
my taut yet dimly glimmering crystal skin.
But what of the motives of those who could install
me here, with all their shamefaced piety?
They trick me in loincloth—as if my loins could sin.


II. The Risen Christ (c. 1516) in the church of San Vincenzo Martire, Bassano di Sutri—the recently rediscovered first version of the statue speaking above

You who believe my whole achievement small,
reflect how often I fashioned an artwork twice:
rueful the day I noticed—oh, chills of ice
rubbed over my skin!—this angry blackened vein
creep up my risen Christ’s white face. In vain
the love, the chisel, the labor, the hammer. Spent,
drained, wasted—no brag now how the intent,
the intellect sparks a life immured in marble
to strain for perfect release. But that sweet Face!
The poised, pure calm of the naked sacred Statue
lightly embracing His Cross. This was no rummage
item, no remainder. With poor grace
I gave Him away. In this church, gazing at you,
He beams great pain serenely. Give Him some homage.

__________________

OF CLOUD YOU AND CLOUD ME
IS THE ONE CLOUD MADE
—Tom Goff

The rain clouds make amorphous paragraphs
in westerly unending student essays
I feel obliged to correct; but can’t. What paths
they float, these crowded ranks and banks of strays,
their own blown destiny decides. But you
and I, not being such airy tumbleweeds,
can lead or follow, plot where we’re going to.
Of our free will and partnered love and needs
is the why-we-drift. But if we should confuse
sky-boundaries, each disintegrate into the other,
how shall we return to form? What mist renews
its frazzled lace, what nimbus outlives rogue weather?

There’s a knowing that no dissolving can veil or evade:
of cloud you and cloud me is the one cloud made.

Tom Goff and Nora Laila Staklis

__________________

Today's LittleNip:

I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.

—Michelangelo
__________________


—Medusa



SnakeWatch: What's New from Rattlesnake Press:

Rattlesnake Review: The latest Snake (RR21) is now available (free) at The Book Collector, or send me four bux and I'll mail you one. Next deadline is May 15 for RR22: 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; let us know if your submission is for the Review or for Medusa, or for either one, and please—only one submission per issue.

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. Pick up a copy at The Book Collector or write to me and I'll send you one. Free!

WTF!: Join us on Thursday, May 21 at Luna's Cafe, 1414 16th St., Sacramento for the unveiling of the second issue of WTF, the free quarterly journal from Poetry Unplugged at Luna's Cafe that is edited by frank andrick. Next deadline, for issue #3, is July 15. Submission guidelines are the same as for the Snake, but send your poems, photos, smallish art or prose pieces (500 words or less) to fandrickfabpub@hotmail.com (attachments preferred) or, if you’re snailing, to P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726. And be forewarned: this publication is for adults only, so you must be over 18 years of age to submit. Copies of the first issue are at The Book Collector, or send me two bux and I'll mail you one.

ALSO COMING IN MAY: Join us Weds., May 13 for a new rattlechap, Sinfonietta, from Tom Goff; Vol. 5 of Conversations, the Rattlesnake Interview Series by B.L. Kennedy; and the inauguration of a new series, Rattlesnake LittleBooks, with Shorts: Quatrains and Epigrams by Iven Lourie. That’s at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, 7:30 PM. Free!


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, or any other day!): 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.

Lost? How Can I Be Lost?

FOR A SEARCH DOG
—Taylor Graham, Placerville

Lost as the lady we were looking for—
even with map and compass
I was lost in green, the Blue Ridge blooming
over footprints, sign of passage.

Then you brightened
with a whiff of scent from dogwood-
drifting hillside through seed-head grasses
lofting like prayer on June convection,

human heat of breath and heart-
beat. From hollows in a downdraft pool
you chased thunderheads
that drew scent up, hammered it

on the sky’s anvil, aimed it
back to earth. With a lilt of nose
you caught it, followed it
to that lady lost.

__________________

HOW WE GOT HERE
—Taylor Graham

For azimuth, the eight-
point buck’s weathered antlers,
shed seasons ago, here

where hellebore and lupine
over-bloom the marsh-meanderings
of creek, with monkeyflower,

columbine. Time like snow-
melt takes the slow
way down. As if weightless,

a yellow warbler floats on willow
thicket. We’ve stripped
off packs and boots, our map

that’s useless. How long
since our ten toes rooted
in mud of a mountain meadow, fifty

miles from the evening news,
two time-zones north
of gas pumps on old Route 66,

every city limit marker, every notion
of being lost so far from
anywhere.

_________________

LOST IN THE LOW DOWN
—Chrys Mollett, Angels Camp

A thirst for local adventure—
and a seething desire to practice some wild living
sends me out into the neighborhood
Thinking like a bloodthirsty cat

Crawling under bushes
Scratching my arms, tearing a sleeve—
Nipping at leaves and what berries I can find.
Wildness is down low in these parts.

I straggle home, drooling experience,
To civilized friends around the living room
Grooving to great music on the stereo
Snacking on chips and drinks.

I'm like prey blinded in their headlamps
Struck dumb in the crosshairs
I pour a bath deep enough to drown in
And take my wild needs underwater.

___________________

Thanks to our intrepid poets who braved the "lost" today for our Seed of the Week: When I Was Lost, and to Katy Brown who unearthed today's photos.


Poetry Night at Bistro 33 in Davis tonight!

Tonight, Poetry Night at Bistro 33 will feature Rick Campbell, the winner of a Pushcart Prize, an NEA Fellowship in Poetry, and two fellowships from the Florida Arts Council. He has published a number of poetry books, including The Traveler's Companion, A Day's Work, and Setting the World in Order—a winner of the Walt McDonald Prize. He has also published his poetry and essays in The Georgia Review, The Florida Review, and The Prairie Schooner, among many others. His latest book of poetry, Dixmont, was published in November, 2007. Rick now serves as the director of Anhinga Press and the Anhinga Press Prize in Poetry, and teaches English at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee. He lives with his wife and daughter in Gadsden County, Florida, so obviously this is a big trip for him.

Rick is a friend and publisher of Julia Levine, the outstanding local poet who was featured at Poetry Night last year. Join us if you can, and come early to grab a spot on the open mic list (which usually fills up by 9 PM). Poetry Night at Bistro 33, 226 F St., Davis, hosted by Andy Jones with help from Brad Henderson, occurs on the first and third Wednesday of every month at 9 PM with an open microphone segment at 10 PM. Bob Blake from the UC Davis Department of Spanish will commence tonight's Open Mic with a guitar performance.

__________________

The first step is to lose the way.
—Galway Kinnell


LOST? HOW CAN I BE LOST WHEN
I'VE GOT THE THOMAS GUIDE
RIGHT HERE?
—Kevin Jones, Fair Oaks

Was a Geography
Minor for a while
In college.

Had to leave
The program though.
Two reasons:

Could never
Get the maps folded
Back up quite right,

And then there was
The nasty rumor—
Totally untrue—

That I had
Once stopped
To ask directions.

__________________

Today's LittleNip:

HIKING MARIN HEADLANDS
—Claire J. Baker, Pinole

Fog at cliff edge
blots out the ocean.
Blowing beside our boots
sun-bright poppies
like wet silk.

Poppies at 34th and T, Sacramento
Photo by Katy Brown

__________________


—Medusa



SnakeWatch: What's New from Rattlesnake Press:

Rattlesnake Review: The latest Snake (RR21) is now available (free) at The Book Collector, or send me four bux and I'll mail you one. Next deadline is May 15 for RR22: 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; let us know if your submission is for the Review or for Medusa, or for either one, and please—only one submission per issue.

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. Pick up a copy at The Book Collector or write to me and I'll send you one. Free!

WTF!: Join us on Thursday, May 21 at Luna's Cafe, 1414 16th St., Sacramento for the unveiling of the second issue of WTF, the free quarterly journal from Poetry Unplugged at Luna's Cafe that is edited by frank andrick. Next deadline, for issue #3, is July 15. Submission guidelines are the same as for the Snake, but send your poems, photos, smallish art or prose pieces (500 words or less) to fandrickfabpub@hotmail.com (attachments preferred) or, if you’re snailing, to P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726. And be forewarned: this publication is for adults only, so you must be over 18 years of age to submit. Copies of the first issue are at The Book Collector, or send me two bux and I'll mail you one.

ALSO COMING IN MAY: Join us Weds., May 13 for a new rattlechap, Sinfonietta, from Tom Goff; Vol. 5 of Conversations, the Rattlesnake Interview Series by B.L. Kennedy; and the inauguration of a new series, Rattlesnake LittleBooks, with Shorts: Quatrains and Epigrams by Iven Lourie. That’s at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, 7:30 PM. Free!


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, or any other day!): 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.

Without A Map

Lights
Photo by D.R. Wagner, Elk Grove

THE FOOL IN THE FOREST
—William Bronk

Descending once from an unfamiliar hill
on what we thought was the only path until
we came to a place we never saw before
we stopped,
and, hesitating, took a few steps more
and stopped again.
Here, finding ourselves on unexpected ground,
we picked some withering berries that we found,
and seeing each other in fading and sallow light,
we counted the number of hours there were till night.
We knew we needed once again to inure
ourselves to a faltering world. We had been too sure
of the rightness of this path to go back now
or pretend we were wiser than the woods allow.
We'd meant to go down. At least this way led down
and led, no doubt, to some place nearer town.

__________________

Thanks to D.R. Wagner for the captivating photo! Today's Seed of the Week is When I Was Lost, and these poems by William Bronk capture the mood, I think. (Sam and I just came out of a few years of lost-ness; oddly enough, we ended up IN the woods, not out of them...)

Should you want to computer-listen to frank andrick’s Pomo Literati radio program in which he interviewed Bob Stanley and Kathy Kieth, you can use the following address: http://www.kusf-archives.com/2009/04/kusf-041909-6-8-pm-pomo-literati-dj.html/. Be forewarned that it’s a two-hour show of which we are just a part; to find us, you’ll need to fast-forward a bit. Or enjoy frank’s other offerings!


Publishing Workshop in Marin County:

•••Sat. (5/16), 9 AM-Noon: Poetry Publishing Workshop with CB ('Lyn) Follett, Rebecca Foust, and Susan Terris at Falkirk Cultural Center in Marin County. This workshop will give tips and strategies for getting your poems published in journals and magazines: handling submissions without wasting writing time; the value (or not) of poetry contests; the do's and don'ts of cover letters; tracking submissions; choosing the right places to submit; and dealing with rejections. Bring your current cover letters for advice. If time permits, the workshop will close with a brief discussion about how to position yourself for the next challenge—publishing your book or chapbook of poems. Info: Susan Terris: SDT11@aol.com/ or Rebecca Foust, PO Box 399, Ross, CA 94957 (www.rebeccafoust.com).

__________________

THE WOODS, NEW YORK
—William Bronk

I walk through city streets as once through woods
without the benefit of map or plan.
Failing to get to places when I should,
I learn a twisted pathway through the land.
Or lost, with nothing near to set me right,
where brick facades are similar as trees,
I walk along and suddenly come to a quite
familiar, remembered place, surprised and pleased.
This is a city the world will always remember
as one remembers Babylon or Thebes.
In the distant summer that follows our last November
the sifting screens and the shovels will fail to perceive
its being in me. I walked here once toward dark
and felt the wind come up across the park.

__________________

IN NAVAJO COUNTRY
—William Bronk

To live in a hogan under a hovering sky
is to live in a universe hogan-shaped,
or having hogans in it to give it shape,
earth-covered hovels, holes having a wall
to heave the back of the heart against, or hide
the head, to black the heavens overhead,
a block and a shapening in the windy vast.
This could be said of other houses too.

How is it possible for this to be so
is that the universe as known-unknown
has no discernible shape and not much
in it. We give it the limits and shape we need
it to have. What we want is a here with meaning, more
than a vague void moving with weightless balls
or the distant view of a glitter of gritty dust.
We housel the universe to have it here.

We do wrong: using houses or whole
blocks of houses, or other devious
enclosed volumes, ingenious inventions of space
to have us here, has limits. We deceive
ourselves, but not for long. We only avoid
the empty vastness, leaving it there unfilled,
unknown, unlimited. Where is here
when nowhere in a place of no discernible shape?

__________________

THE SUMMER AIRS
—William Bronk

and even before that, there was such a one,
and he did thus and so.

It was much the same. It needed such deep
concentration, so many hands

he thought that if they ever let go
all this would be lost. And it was lost.

They lost it. It was a long time.
And before him also, there was one.

Who can remember the final losses?
Earth vagues the firmest bones interred.

See, here, where we are always,
in a particular, no particular time

where the summer airs flow past and over
as the congregations in air of birds.

__________________

THERE IS AN IGNORANT SILENCE
IN THE CENTER OF THINGS
—William Bronk

What am I saying? What have I got to say?
As though I knew. But I don't. I look around
almost in a sort of despair for anything
I know. For anything. Some mislaid bit.
I must have had it somewhere, somewhere here.
Nothing. There is silence here. Were there people, once?
They must have all gone off. No, there are still
people, still a few. But the sound is off.
If we could talk, could hear each other speak,
could we piece something, could we learn and teach, could we know?

Hopeless. Off in the distance, busyness.
Something building or coming down. Cries.
Clamor. Fuss at the edges. What? Here,
at the center—it is the center?—only the sound
of silence, that mocking sound. Awful. Once,
before this, I stood in an actual ruin, a street
no longer a street, in a town no longer a town,
and felt the central, strong suck of it, not
understanding what I felt: the heart of things.
This nothing. This full silence. To not know.

__________________

Today's LittleNip:

Poetry is the journal of a sea animal living on land, wanting to fly in the air.

—Carl Sandburg

__________________


—Medusa



SnakeWatch: What's New from Rattlesnake Press:

Rattlesnake Review: The latest Snake (RR21) is now available (free) at The Book Collector, or send me four bux and I'll mail you one. Next deadline is May 15 for RR22: 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; let us know if your submission is for the Review or for Medusa, or for either one, and please—only one submission per issue.

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. Pick up a copy at The Book Collector or write to me and I'll send you one. Free!

WTF!: Join us on Thursday, May 21 at Luna's Cafe, 1414 16th St., Sacramento for the unveiling of the second issue of WTF, the free quarterly journal from Poetry Unplugged at Luna's Cafe that is edited by frank andrick. Next deadline, for issue #3, is July 15. Submission guidelines are the same as for the Snake, but send your poems, photos, smallish art or prose pieces (500 words or less) to fandrickfabpub@hotmail.com (attachments preferred) or, if you’re snailing, to P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726. And be forewarned: this publication is for adults only, so you must be over 18 years of age to submit. Copies of the first issue are at The Book Collector, or send me two bux and I'll mail you one.

ALSO COMING IN MAY: Join us Weds., May 13 for a new rattlechap, Sinfonietta, from Tom Goff; Vol. 5 of Conversations, the Rattlesnake Interview Series by B.L. Kennedy; and the inauguration of a new series, Rattlesnake LittleBooks, with Shorts: Quatrains and Epigrams by Iven Lourie. That’s at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, 7:30 PM. Free!


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, or any other day!): 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.

Breathe-Out Poetry

Photo by Claire J. Baker

AT LAST
—Claire J. Baker, Pinole

After Emily D.
chamomile tea
her poems for thee
and for me
After thirty three
sips of eternity
now at last I see
"New Englandly."

__________________

AFTER RUMI
—Claire J. Baker

If a nightingale
sings & pleases you
it is only fair

that one night
you sing
for the nightingale.

__________________

AFTER SIMON SAYS
—Claire J. Baker

Well, tap my head
and rub my belly—
I nearly brushed
with KY Jelly.

_________________

This week in NorCal poetry:

•••Monday (5/4), 7:30 PM: Sacramento Poetry Center hosts its annual high school poetry contest reading, featuring the original work of many of the Sacramento area’s aspiring poetic talents who have entered their work in the contest that the Sacramento Poetry Center sponsors. HQ for the Arts, 25th & R Sts., Sacramento.

•••Thursday (5/7), 8 PM: Poetry Unplugged at Luna's Cafe (1414 16th St., Sacramento) presents featured readers with open mic before and after. Free.

•••Saturday (5/9), 2 PM: Open Mic will be held at the Barnes & Noble Bookstore on Sunrise Boulevard in Citrus Heights. Margaret Bell of Citrus Heights Area Poets writes: There will be nothing else on the program except poetry readings and anything else poets choose to discuss. COME SHARE!

•••Sat. (5/9) 1:30-3:30 PM: A reading of Volume 6, Number 2, of the Central Valley poetry quarterly, Song of the San Joaquin, will be held in the downstairs theater of the McHenry Museum, 1402 “I” Street, Modesto. Poets will read their own poems. The reading is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. There will be an "open mike" following the presentation. The quarterly will be for sale and information on subscriptions and submissions will be available. Information can also be found by contacting Cleo Griffith at cleor36@yahoo.com/ or (209) 577-5366 or PO Box 1161, Modesto, CA 95353-1161.

•••Sat. (5/9), 10 AM-5 PM: Stockton Arts and Multicultural Celebration at Weber Point, Stockton. Free community event featuring artistic, cultural and ethnic traditions in music, dance, theatre and visual art. Activities for all ages; food and beverages available. Volunteers needed: contact Dean Gorby at 209-933-7030 (x2304) or Robert Rojas, 209-430-5117. Info: playmulticultural.com/.

__________________

MY JOSEPH
—Allegra Silberstein, Davis

We envied you, the youngest,
as if you had been singled out
for a coat of many colors.
We said Mom spoiled you.

We were wrong.
Love made you strong.
You grew to manhood with courage
enough to hold at bay

the gnawing years that would
chew upon the heart remorselessly,
the way packs of wild dogs
devour the downed lamb.

You stayed with Mom and Dad—
held back the dark
that folded in on the farm,
holding fast to our mother.

You stayed to tend the fields,
to mind the cattle and we were free
to leave: to embroider our garments
with threads of red and gold.

You stayed,
steadfast in your faded coat.

_________________

HAIKU
—Allegra Silberstein, Davis

Sun breaks through the fog.
See, on that brown thorny stem
a rosebud opens.

The swallows have left.
Our barn seems lonelier now—
only dust motes fly.

Swollen purple buds
open on the apple tree—
look, white butterflies.

Summer sun lifts the
tender flower faces
the summer showers bent.

Delta breeze humming
orange blossoms fall to earth
whispers light the night

Morning light opens
the chrysanthemum petals.
I am wet with dew.
(Published in Yolo Crow, 2007)

owl cries in the night
yellow eyes light the darkness:
forgetful new moon

between orange clouds
a cluster of crows circling
calling out return

Photo by Claire J. Baker

__________________

Today's LittleNip:

Breathe-in experience,
breathe-out poetry.

~Muriel Rukeyser

__________________


—Medusa



SnakeWatch: What's New from Rattlesnake Press:

Rattlesnake Review: The latest Snake (RR21) is now available (free) at The Book Collector, or send me four bux and I'll mail you one. Next deadline is May 15 for RR22: 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; let us know if your submission is for the Review or for Medusa, or for either one, and please—only one submission per issue.

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. Pick up a copy at The Book Collector or write to me and I'll send you one. Free!

WTF!: Join us on Thursday, May 21 at Luna's Cafe, 1414 16th St., Sacramento for the unveiling of the second issue of WTF, the free quarterly journal from Poetry Unplugged at Luna's Cafe that is edited by frank andrick. Next deadline, for issue #3, is July 15. Submission guidelines are the same as for the Snake, but send your poems, photos, smallish art or prose pieces (500 words or less) to fandrickfabpub@hotmail.com (attachments preferred) or, if you’re snailing, to P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726. And be forewarned: this publication is for adults only, so you must be over 18 years of age to submit. Copies of the first issue are at The Book Collector, or send me two bux and I'll mail you one.

ALSO COMING IN MAY: Join us Weds., May 13 for a new rattlechap, Sinfonietta, from Tom Goff; Vol. 5 of Conversations, the Rattlesnake Interview Series by B.L. Kennedy; and the inauguration of a new series, Rattlesnake LittleBooks, with Shorts: Quatrains and Epigrams by Iven Lourie. That’s at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, 7:30 PM. Free!


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, or any other day!): 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.

Prelude To A Test

Poppies on White Rock Road
Photo by Katy Brown, Davis

MYSTICISM FOR BEGINNERS
—Adam Zagajewski

The day was mild, the light was generous.
The German on the café terrace
held a small book on his lap.
I caught sight of the title:
Mysticism for Beginners.
Suddenly I understood that the swallows
patrolling the streets of Montepulciano
with their shrill whistles,
and the hushed talk of timid travelers
from Easter, so-called Central Europe,
and the white herons standing—yesterday? the day before?—
like nuns in fields of rice,
and the dusk, slow and systematic,
erasing the outlines of medieval houses,
and olive trees on little hills,
abandoned to the wind and heat,
and the head of the Unknown Princess
that I saw and admired in the Louvre,
and stained-glass windows like butterfly wings
sprinkled with pollen,
and the little nightingale practicing
its speech beside the highway,
and any journey, any kind of trip,
are only mysticism for beginners,
the elementary course, prelude
to a test that's been
postponed.


(translated from the Polish by Clare Cavanagh)

__________________


—Medusa

Coming Up To Breathe

Sophia Stirdivant

PADRE NUESTRO
—Sophia Stirdivant, Loomis

I didn’t say the Lord’s prayer
when I listened to mass through speakers outside a crowded church
in the plaza of Tlaquepaque
Or when
I watched streams of holy water wash away the clean sins
of babies at a baptism in Leon.
I didn’t say it because
I didn’t know how
in Spanish.
So my lips sat
together
and I on the polished pew
Looking like a sinner/foreigner/atheist

But I found a solution
to help myself—
Invite a native Spanish speaker
to my bed.
He said it out loud
as I wrote it down,
and at the end, “la tentacion” that’s you—he told me
“todo mal”—that’s you I answered back
Two sinners in one bed
We ended with a cognate:
Amen.
"Time"
Time, time,
It goes on by,
doesn't pause, doesn't rewind,
it pushes forward, shoves in line,
leaves the room
without saying
goodbye.

__________________

Thanks, Sophia! Sophia Stirdivant is an EFL teacher who spends her time between California, U.S.A., and Jalisco, Mexico. She graduated from UC Riverside in 2006 with a degree in Anthropology and minors in Creative Writing and Dance. She plans to attend grad school when she figures out what is worth spending her (or whoever’s) money on. She has no boyfriend, no babies, nor pets. But she does have gray hair and two married parents. Viva Mexico.

__________________

GUADALAJARA
—Sophia Stirdivant

From the roof I can see everything.
How the unholy streets cross
Like the blue one glows above
The Gothic Expiatorio.
The weed man,
but not the plastic bag of weed he hides in his sock.
Who comes banging on our door from time to time.
Making me glad I’m me and not him.
And then there’s the Cathedral.
Making us all glad we are us.
I sometimes look beyond it all and let the palm trees trick me into
thinking I’m in L.A.,
to feel home.
But the flat roofs and hanging clothes let me know I’m here.
Living my little-girl fantasy.
That took a woman to complete.

__________________

DEEP
—Sophia Stirdivant

I want to be like a whale,
watched.
And only come up to
breathe.

__________________

CASA MANGO
—Sophia Stirdivant

I do not know how to spend
My first day without you
Like that one
when you tried to leave me before
in my mango house
My only desire now, besides seeing you
Is to see the ocean
and then come back home
But I can’t do either,
It’s far too cold a day for that.

__________________

CASA MANGO 3
—Sophia Stirdivant

You tell me you miss that mango house
but what you really miss is
being free
trapped on that hill
me,
your humid escape
Before I moved and
your wife returned
now,
we’re both trapped,
but this time, on flat land.

__________________

CASA MANGO 4
—Sophia Stirdivant

Laying on the ocean
We discovered
The same reason we moved here
comes in waves
and crashes before us
But
nothing means more
than your own child
And I can't understand
'cause I have not yet to see
something greater
than what’s in front of me.

__________________

Today's LittleNip:

This one takes his lesson from the thorn; that one from the flower.

—Stephen Dobyns

__________________


—Medusa



SnakeWatch: What's New from Rattlesnake Press:

Rattlesnake Review: The latest Snake (RR21) is now available (free) at The Book Collector, or send me four bux and I'll mail you one. Next deadline is May 15 for RR22: 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; let us know if your submission is for the Review or for Medusa, or for either one, and please—only one submission per issue.

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. Pick up a copy at The Book Collector or write to me and I'll send you one. Free!

WTF!: Join us on Thursday, May 21 at Luna's Cafe, 1414 16th St., Sacramento for the unveiling of the second issue of WTF, the free quarterly journal from Poetry Unplugged at Luna's Cafe that is edited by frank andrick. Next deadline, for issue #3, is July 15. Submission guidelines are the same as for the Snake, but send your poems, photos, smallish art or prose pieces (500 words or less) to fandrickfabpub@hotmail.com (attachments preferred) or, if you’re snailing, to P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726. And be forewarned: this publication is for adults only, so you must be over 18 years of age to submit. Copies of the first issue are at The Book Collector, or send me two bux and I'll mail you one.

ALSO COMING IN MAY: Join us Weds., May 13 for a new rattlechap, Sinfonietta, from Tom Goff; Vol. 5 of Conversations, the Rattlesnake Interview Series by B.L. Kennedy; and the inauguration of a new series, Rattlesnake LittleBooks, with Shorts: Quatrains and Epigrams by Iven Lourie. That’s at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, 7:30 PM. Free!


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, or any other day!): 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.

A Rainy May Day

Photo by Frank Dixon Graham, Sacramento

RAIN CLOUDS
—Janet Butler, Alameda

A tumble of smoky clouds coils
and loops and twists and rolls the gusty winds,
a fat snake gliding gray currents
on invisible panes that hold the beast in.

A sudden crack of sky eyes
that gleam then close—
a shudder, then, to wakefulness. Remembrance:
it came to drink stray milky wisps
and bloat to bursting.

Rain.

_________________

BIRDS OF A FEATHER
—Janet Butler

A café au lait under a Berkeley sun
students like birds fluttering a spring-speckled patio
a bustle of wings, a shimmy to settle
and nibble with sly indifference
whatever morsel of oblique desire
falls nearby.

_________________

ROUGH WINDS
—Janet Butler

Harsh winds fatigue a flag
flapping on rough airs
that strain an anchor poled to earth.
Winds crash through cluttered streets
and churn a flood of airy brilliance
into dervishes of light,
sweeping grey winter days
into night.

__________________

DARK SEAS
—Janet Butler

The sound is faint, but grows
with silence.
A swish of silk as waters
froth and ruffle moon bleached shores,
white sands that hem a sea heavy with summer.
Its warm waters cool to a late night freshness
under a black sky
another sea washing distant shores
that wait us.

__________________

First Annual Poetry Quench a hit!

JoAnn Anglin writes: [On Thursday] we passed out many—maybe 65-75—poems while set up in front of La Raza Galeria Posada. People walking by were first a little startled, then charmed to receive a free poem. Not so many wanted a drink of water. A few stopped to chat. Besides Graciela Ramirez and me, Zheyla and Natalia came by to share poems and visit. Local writer Becca Costello brought a collection of Hafiz poems and read from it. Overall, this was easy and fun and would be a good thing to repeat next year. Fortunately the weather held up.

We owe special thanks to Richard Hansen [owner of The Book Collector on 24th St.] who put together little packets with POETRY QUENCH labels, and containing several of the Poems-For-All mini-booklets he is famous for. My set contained poems by Albert Garcia, Xico Gonzales, Jose Montoya, Jack Spicer, Ted Joans and Sor Juana.

La Raza Galeria Posada Bookstore and Gallery made for a most gracious host of this event.


This weekend in NorCal poetry:

•••Monday (5/4), 7:30 PM: Sacramento Poetry Center hosts its annual high school poetry contest reading, featuring the original work of many of the Sacramento area’s aspiring poetic talents who have entered their work in the contest that the Sacramento Poetry Center sponsors. HQ for the Arts, 25th & R Sts., Sacramento.

__________________

Geese fly upstream
Garbled honks bounce off water
Feather-trapped voices

*****

The great blue heron
up to his knees in the creek
Minnows for breakfast

*****

Square grid of round holes
green silk eucalyptus bark
Woodpecker pattern

*****

Candles on the black pine
Cottonwood flickers new leaves
Vultures circle above


—Patricia Wellingham-Jones, Tehama

__________________

Today's LittleNip:

A writer is someone who can make a riddle out of an answer.

~Karl Kraus

__________________


—Medusa



SnakeWatch: What's New from Rattlesnake Press:

Rattlesnake Review: The latest Snake (RR21) is now available (free) at The Book Collector, or send me four bux and I'll mail you one. Next deadline is May 15 for RR22: 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; let us know if your submission is for the Review or for Medusa, or for either one, and please—only one submission per issue.

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. Pick up a copy at The Book Collector or write to me and I'll send you one. Free!

WTF!: Join us on Thursday, May 21 at Luna's Cafe, 1414 16th St., Sacramento for the unveiling of the second issue of WTF, the free quarterly journal from Poetry Unplugged at Luna's Cafe that is edited by frank andrick. Next deadline, for issue #3, is July 15. Submission guidelines are the same as for the Snake, but send your poems, photos, smallish art or prose pieces (500 words or less) to fandrickfabpub@hotmail.com (attachments preferred) or, if you’re snailing, to P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726. And be forewarned: this publication is for adults only, so you must be over 18 years of age to submit. Copies of the first issue are at The Book Collector, or send me two bux and I'll mail you one.

ALSO COMING IN MAY: Join us Weds., May 13 for a new rattlechap, Sinfonietta, from Tom Goff; Vol. 5 of Conversations, the Rattlesnake Interview Series by B.L. Kennedy; and the inauguration of a new series, Rattlesnake LittleBooks, with Shorts: Quatrains and Epigrams by Iven Lourie. That’s at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, 7:30 PM. Free!


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, or any other day!): 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.