I See Her Now

A poem that will be in Red Riding Hood's Sister.

"I See Her Now" was published in Switchgrass Review Vol 2, 2016 (Coastal Bend Wellness Foundation and Texas A&M Corpus Christi).

In February 2018 it will come out in Janet Kuypers' cc&d magazine. It was recently posted online in her Scars TV:
 http://scars.tv/cgi-bin/framesmain.pl?writers 

I See Her Now

I see her now in a dark house,

dressing without the light so she won't disturb him

so she can feel her hands on the jeans 

and the soft cotton of the tee shirt

as if she were blind.

I see her bathing in the tub 

where she has painted a mermaid with flowing hair.

Her own hair floats around her in shampoo and froth

but she opens her eyes to the sting of soap

afraid he will enter and push her under.

She will not leave.

Every day she looks at the windows

if I had to I could leap through

I must remember to keep my arms over my face

The basement has no exit but the stairs.

He found her there as she loaded the washer.

He put hands to her throat his fingers were light.

There were no marks when he took them down

She wonders if it happened.

At night they press close. I see them lying at ease

breath as soft as dark through the summer window.

His hate stirs--she feels it flow toward her

green through the night air

She does not move.  Better that he not know I know

She dreams she is dancing with a radioactive man

he is dying green shining

and because she holds him close

soft breathing to the music fallout

she too will die

and still she will not leave.

She sits on the side of the bed 

her legs start running they chatter like teeth

He says to her in the emergency room

blood on her face and his face white

We cannot go on like this I will give you a divorce

He stands over her in suit and tie

only his cuff is bloody

Her head hurts when she moves it

No she says no

I see her in the garden gathering tomatoes

scarlet in the colander and beans green translucent at the edges.

She looks toward the house. She will have to go in soon.

Her mind is full of fog her thoughts dodge in the mist

He is waiting for his supper I will have to go in soon

Red Riding Hood's Sister accepted for publication

I just heard from Steven Schroeder at Virtual Artists Collective that their press is going to publish my second poetry collection, Red Riding Hood's Sister.  So that's exciting!

Now I need to start thinking about places to read it.  Festivals, book stores, women's centers.  My summer trip next year is going to be more about going places to read than hanging out in the forest! 

And workshops, I've got some workshop ideas too.  Lots of things to think about.

Here's a poem from it.  (It was published this last winter in Rat's Ass Review)

Carny

Why these memories 

of punk mermaids

at the all night carnival,

copper nipple rings

turning green from corrosive air?

The barker rasped the night with insults,

the Stones blared eight track

static fizzy on car

radio, shaggy heads

bounced to the music bingo

and she said no and no and no.

But she must have said yes

sometime, some spring

break, some wild

party night

yes to Jack Daniels and crawfish 

red on carny sticks, yes

to lying down under bleachers

yes to her torn heart.

Places to Read Poetry in Austin

I'm back in Texas from a year spent mostly in Oklahoma preparing a house for sale and two summers on the road.  Now the big question, how often to drive into Austin for its fabulous readings and open mics?  It's an hour and a half each way, driving back in the dark dodging the deer, but I want to be part of the community of poetry.

Sunday I attended a small open mic, Recycled Reads, on Burnet Road in Austin.  I'd never been there before, and it was fun to get to know Louise Gail Richardson and Ralph Hausser better.  Thom Woodruff I knew pretty well and having been keeping up with on Facebook, but it was great to see him again.  Excellent writing, small group, reading together around a table. This Sunday was narrative writing (though we really could read whatever we wanted). Two other Sundays are poetry, I think, and one Sunday there's not a group.

Tuesday I went in to Austin again for the Just This writing group at the Austin Zen Center. It meets at 7:30, and people sign up to attend through Meet-up.  I'm a co-leader with Donna Birdwell and Kim Mosley.

We wrote to the prompt:

The world isn't the way I want it to be.
The world is just as it is.
What am I going to do about it?

We read the questions in a circle, each person taking a line, a little like what people do in a musical round, going round the circle several times.  That worked great.  I wish we had a recording of it.  Then we did our usual short meditation, twenty minutes of writing, and sharing what we wrote.  The responses, as usual echoed each other in some themes and brought out new ideas.  I love to hear what people come up with.  Some of the responses will be posted on the Just This site later this week.  justthis.austinzencenter.org

I was going to go in to Austin again tonight because several people whose poetry I love read tonight at the New World Deli for the Austin Poetry Society (Cindy Huyser, Gordon Magill, & Brady Peterson are among the group of featured readers) but I couldn't face the drive again so soon.  So I rested and swam with my hound dog Rex and began to feel more human.  Marie Cossa hosts that reading.  There are often songwriters and poets accompanied by music at the reading, and a lot of people have supper.  It's once a month the 4th Thursday of the month 7 PM.

Saturday, though, I'll go to the Georgetown public library for Poetry Aloud, the group that used to meet at Cianfrani's on the square.  It meets the 2nd and 4th Saturdays at 12:30 in the afternoon. (not quite so far for me and daylight)   Mike and Joyce Gullickson are hosting.  Or is it Mike Jones?  Joyce sent me the e mail.  Leaving aside the Just This writers, the group in Georgetown is my home group, though I've been gone so much that they might be surprised to hear that.  The theme will be Homeless, but people don't have to write to the prompt.  The group usually reads poetry but we have at least one songwriter, Ron Kewin, and a couple of people write memoir.  I feel very at home with these kind folks.

And when I'm in town I always try to make Bookwoman on North Larmar in Austin on the second Thursday evenings of the month--about 7 PM.  Fantastic poets! A big group that reads round robin one poem at a time after a featured reader. Sometimes they might have 30 or more people there, though some come just to listen. A lot of energy in that reading.  Cindy Huyser hosts it.

And festivals are coming up in October--Waco Wordfest and the Georgetown Poetry Festival.  More about the later.

Publication Links

Other publications I am associated with

Just This (Zen arts magazine and writing group at the Austin Zen Center):  justthis.austinzencenter.org

Just This primarily publishes poetry, essays, and visual art by the members of its
writing group, the Austin Zen Center, and associated Soto Zen centers, but will consider
submissions from others. Its weekly writing group writes to a prompt each Tuesday at 
the Austin Zen Center, Austin, Texas, and is open to the public through Meet-up. I
am a co-leader of the group and a co-editor of the blog format magazine.

All Roads Will Lead You Home (journal for Virtual Artists Collective):
vacpoetry.org/journal

All Roads welcomes poetry, visual art, music, and reviews.  It is a magazine of poetry
and poetics, which welcomes mixed genre.  It welcomes submissions all year round
from anyone, not just members of the collective. I am a member of the editorial
advisory committee.

Crosstimbers: A Multicultural and Interdisciplinary Journal (University of Science 
and Arts of Oklahoma)  
crosstimbers.usao.edu

Crosstimbers published its last issue in 2013, completing 12 years of publication.  
Writing and art from it can be accessed at the website.  It is no longer accepting 
submissions. I was its Poetry Editor for the 12 years and in its later years its Poetry 
and Fiction Editor.

Upcoming readings-Fall 2017

I'm back from my time on the road and am doing some readings here.


October 7        6PM       Bahai Center, Austin in group of featured readers, Autumn Reading

October 14    10 AM      Georgetown Poetry Festival  Texas Poetry Calendar 2018 Reading

October 28    4 PM         The Twig, San Antonio  Texas Poetry Calendar 2018 Reading

December 2   4 PM        Malvern Bookstore, Austin  Texas Poetry Calendar 2018 Reading
  

Ghost Poetry Reading, Angst Gallery, Vancouver WA Oct. 8, 2014 video Tiffany Schramm

Black Finalist for Writers' League of Texas 2013/2014 Book Awards

I just heard Black was selected as a Finalist in Poetry in the Writers' League of Texas 2013/2014 awards.  That feels great!  Submissions were accepted from current and former Texas writers.

I recognized the name of one of the other finalists, Sarah Cortez, who writes poems about her life as a police officer in Houston (maybe another South Texas town by now, not sure).  I love her poetry, so I feel I'm in good company.