Medusa's Kitchen: Nobody is Ever Missing

unappeasable Henry sulked.

I see his point,—a trying to put things over.

they could do it made Henry wicked & away.

But he should have come out and talked.

once did seem on Henry's side.

Then came a departure.

Thereafter nothing fell out as it might or ought.

open for all the world to see, survived.

wonder the world can bear & be.

all at the top, and I sang.

and empty grows every bed.

Today, John Allyn Berryman (originally John Allyn Smith) would've been 93 years old. Go to www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15206 to hear him read.

I’m a honeydew melon, didn’t you know?

in the melon field. They didn’t know.

singing abracadabra. I made myself up.

for scrubbing pots. They didn’t know.

you come back up, azure eyes in the melon field.

on the dresser, how secret it was.

I come from a place of secret lavender.

I’m a honeydew melon, didn’t you know?

(from an afternoon of writing with Susan Wooldridge)

Thanks, Jane! Jane Blue took yesterday's Medusa challenge; now it's your turn. What is the secret of life? Send Medusa your "secrets of life" poems, art and/or photography by midnight next Monday, October 29, and I'll send you a free copy of Kate Wells' new rattlechap, Spiral, or whatever other rattlechap you're missing. That's kathykieth@hotmail.com or P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726.

While we wait, here's one from David Humphreys:

granite for lasting awhile, eroding headstone.

Thanks, David!

two feet off, banded, but then he gave &

it seems, and is, clear to me we are brothers.

I wish the rabbit & the 'coons could be friends,

and that rabbit doesn't trust me.

& more, & weeping, sleepless, in all them time

Henry could not make good.

the little cough somewhere, an odour, a chime.

would fail to blur the still profiled reproach of. Ghastly,

with open eyes, he attends, blind.

All the bells say: too late. This is not for tears;

thinking.

and hide the pieces, where they may be found.

He knows: he went over everyone, & nobody's missing.

Often he reckons, in the dawn, them up.

Nobody is ever missing.

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).

Journals: The latest issue of Rattlesnake Review (#15) is available for free at The Book Collector, 1008 24th St., Sacramento, or send $2 to P.O. Box 762, Pollock Pines, CA 95726. Next deadline is November 15. The two journals for youngsters, Snakelets and Vyper, are on hiatus; no deadlines this Fall.

New in October: Rattlesnake Press celebrated Sacramento Poetry Month on Wednesday, October 10 with the release of Spiral, a rattlechap by Kate Wells; Autumn on My Mind, a free littlesnake broadside by Mary Field; and #5 in the free Rattlesnake Interview Series by B.L. Kennedy, this one featuring Sacramento Poet Laureate Julia Connor. Also released that night was Conversations, Volume One of the Rattlesnake Interview Anthology Series (a collection of B.L.'s conversations with eleven Sacramento poets), as well as a free broadside tribute to poet/publisher Ben L. Hiatt, commissioned by Rattlesnake Press and designed by Richard Hansen from poetry by B.L. Kennedy and artwork by Patrick Grizzell. All of these are available at The Book Collector, 100 24th St., Sacramento, or from rattlesnakepress.com, or write to kathykieth@hotmail.com/.

Coming in November: The Snake is proud to announce the release of Among Neighbors, a rattlechap from Taylor Graham; Home is Where You Hang Your Wings, a littlesnake broadside from frank andrick; and A Poet's Book of Days, a perpetual calendar featuring the poetry and photography of Katy Brown. Come celebrate the release of all of these on Wednesday, November 14, 7:30 PM at The Book Collector.