THE ROAD
by A Chicken
Chicken.
Road.
The crossing
is within.
There is no
other side.
CREDIT: “Chicken Poetry Reading” cartoon by Doug Savage, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Archives for the month of: June, 2013
DISTANT HILLS
by A Far Side Cow
The distant hills call to me.
Their rolling waves seduce my heart.
Oh, how I want to graze in their lush valleys.
Oh, how I want to run down their green slopes.
Alas, I cannot.
Damn the electric fence!
Damn the electric fence!
CREDIT: Far Side cartoon by Gary Larson, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
“A child who does not play is not a child, but the man who does not play has lost forever the child who lived in him and whom he will miss terribly.” PABLO NERUDA
Illustration: Wall Art in Valparaiso, Chile — photo by Janet Rudolph, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
ODE TO ENCHANTED LIGHT
by Pablo Neruda
Under the trees light
has dropped from the top of the sky,
light
like a green
latticework of branches,
shining
on every leaf,
drifting down like clean
white sand.
A cicada sends
its sawing song
high into the empty air.
The world is
a glass overflowing
with water.
PAINTING: “A Ray of Light,” watercolor by Derek Collins, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Prints available at etsy.com.
ODE TO THE PRESENT
by Pablo Neruda
This
present moment,
smooth
as a wooden slab,
this
immaculate hour,
this day
pure
as a new cup
from the past–
no spider web
exists–
with our fingers,
we caress
the present;we cut it
according to our magnitude
we guide
the unfolding of its blossoms.
It is living,
alive–
it contains
nothing
from the unrepairable past,
from the lost past,
it is our
infant,
growing at
this very moment, adorned with
sand, eating from
our hands.
Grab it.
Don’t let it slip away.
Don’t lose it in dreams
or words.
Clutch it.
Tie it,
and order it
to obey you.
Make it a road,
a bell,
a machine,
a kiss, a book,
a caress.
Take a saw to its delicious
wooden
perfume.
And make a chair;
braid its
back;
test it.
Or then, build
a staircase! Yes, a
staircase.
Climb
into
the present,
step
by step,
press your feet
onto the resinous wood
of this moment,
going up,
going up,
not very high,
just so
you repair
the leaky roof.
Don’t go all the way to heaven.
Reach
for apples,
not the clouds.
Let them
fluff through the sky,
skimming passage,
into the past.You
are
your present,
your own apple.
Pick it from
your tree.
Raise it
in your hand.
It’s gleaming,
rich with stars.
Claim it.
Take a luxurious bite
out of the present,
and whistle along the road
of your destiny.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Pablo Neruda (1904-1973) was the pen name of the Chilean poet, diplomat and politician Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. He chose his pseudonym after Czech poet Jan Neruda. In 1971, Pablo Neruda won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Neruda often wrote in green ink because it was his personal symbol of desire and hope. Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez called him “the greatest poet of the 20th century in any language.” (Source: Wikipedia)
Illustration: “Apple Abstract” by Susana Fernandez, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Congratulations to Fred Voss — whose writing appears in the Silver Birch Press release CHARLES BUKOWSKI EPIC GLOTTIS by Joan Jobe Smith — on winning the 2013 Nerve Cowboy Chapbook Competition with his collection Tooth and Fang and Machine Handle, available fall 2013 from Liquid Paper Press. For ordering information, visit the Nerve Cowboy website.
Photo: Fred Voss by Joan Jobe Smith
On June 27, 2013, Philadelphia Poets, one of Philadelphia’s longest-running literary journals, named Joan Jobe Smith as First Place Winner in the 8th Annual Amy Tritsch Needle Poetry Competion for her poem “Uncle Ray on Christmas Day Long Distance from Hot Springs, Arkansas, Calls to Say.” At a ceremony in Philadelphia, editor Rosemary Cappello, who founded Philadelphia Poets in 1984, read Joan’s winning poem. Find out more at philadelphiastories.org. Congratulations, Joan!
Joan Jobe Smith is the author of the Silver Birch Press release CHARLES BUKOWSKI EPIC GLOTTIS: His Art & His Women (& me), available at Amazon.com.
Photo: Joan Jobe Smith at home with Charles Bukowski.
Congratulations to Ellaraine Lockie, author of the Silver Birch Press poetry release COFFEE HOUSE CONFESSIONS on another stellar review — this one from the literary magazine THE MOM EGG. Excerpts from the review are included below.
THE MOM EGG BOOK REVIEW
by Katie Baker
Coffee shops are considered diverse gathering places, establishments where all walks of life, both young and old, come to read, write, congregate and socialize — and most importantly, get their coffee fix. However, one forgets the importance of the ritual cup when they begin to read Ellaraine Lockie’s chapbook, Coffee House Confessions. The chapbook features poems written in and about coffee houses around the world…
…what makes these poems in this chapbook unique is Lockie’s ability to connect — connect the reader to a place, a person (or people) and to materials through her writing. She creatively takes normal human behavior, mundane human interactions and creates beautifully crafted poems out of the occurrences…
Lockie has a unique talent in being able to observe without intruding, to even play along albeit with subtle humor, and become part of the story without becoming overwhelming to the reader. In the seemingly ordinary details of the coffee houses, we find extraordinary prose, clever and witty…
Her chapbook is refreshing, full of vibrant imagery. Each poem offers a humorous, poignant, and creative escape into the life of the coffee house.
***
Coffee House Confessions by Ellaraine Lockie is available at Amazon.com.
Cover image by Nick Warzin, nickwarzin.com
On the last Sunday of each month, LAVA (Los Angeles Visionaries Association) hosts a Salon in downtown Los Angeles that features formal presentations on cultural and literary topics. On Sunday, June 30th, the Salon will explore Jazz Age Los Angeles with two presentations.
PRESENTATION #1: Martin Turnbull on The Garden of Allah
Martin Turnbull, author of The Garden Of Allah novels will discuss life at the Garden of Allah hotel, including its infamous bungalow courtyard — and the bootleg liquor, fizzy flappers, all-night parties that defined the Jazz Age in Los Angeles. When F. Scott Fitzgerald arrived in L.A. during the mid-1930s with his $1000/week contract at MGM, he settled in at the Garden of Allah. It was also the home-away-from-home for Algonquin Round Table refugees Robert Benchley, Dorothy Parker, George S. Kaufman, Alexander Woollcott, and Donald Ogden Stewart. Martin will punctuate his talk with readings from his first novel in the Garden of Allah series, The Garden On Sunset.
PRESENTATION #2: Marc Chevalier on the Crescent Heights Shopping Center & the Ballyhoo Spirit of the Jazz Age
Marc Chevailer, historian of the Oviatt Building in Los Angeles, will focus on the Crescent Heights Shopping Center, across the street from the Garden of Allah. Built in 1925, this towered, marble-trimmed and mansard-roofed Norman chateau housed Schwab’s Pharmacy and the Crescent Heights Market. It was where Hollywood’s movielanders shopped, schmoozed, strove, and scrounged for generations. While nothing remains of “the chateau that housed Schwab’s,” Marc will describe its halcyon era.
WHERE: Les Noces du Figaro, 618 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA, 90014. (213) 915-8687
WHEN: Sunday, June 30, 2013, noon-2 p.m.
PRICE: Free!
AFTERNOON BREAK
by Peggy Curtis
cat sleeping
the comma
Illustration: “Sleeping cat,” ceramic bowl by Rukaya, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Silver Birch Press 