reading Sept 18, grass valley, Ca

Purchase tickets at the door:
$5 general, seniors and students
$1 for those under 18. Refreshments included.



Thursday, September 18
The Nevada County Poetry Series presents
nila northSun & Terryl Wheat
7:30PM, $5 general, seniors and students
$1 for those under 18
Refreshments and open-mic included.
The Nevada County Poetry Series continues its tenth year of celebrating poetry by presenting the poets nila northsun and Terryl Wheat. These two writers remind us of what it is for a modern woman to confront the challenges, demands and accepted standards of a world in remission. Bill Gainer says, "northsun and Wheat remind us of the power in saying no to the statuesque, they do it daily – in their work, their art, their lives..."

nila northSun, of Shoshone-Chippewa descent, is the daughter of renowned Native American activist, Adam Fortunate Eagle – one of the more prominent figures in the 1969-1971 Indian takeover of Alcatraz. She is identified with the Native American Renaissance of the 1970s and 1980s; her poem "moving camp too far" remains a sentinel work of the period. northSun has published four volumes of poetry, love at gunpoint; a snake in her mouth; Small Bones, Little Eyes; and Diet Pepsi and Nacho Cheese; and authored After the Drying Up of the Water: A Tribal History, a history of the Paiute-Shoshone tribe. She lives on the Stillwater Indian Reservation in Fallon, Nevada, where she works as a grant writer. nila recently received the Sierra Arts Foundation Literary Award 2008 for her contribution in poetry. Her poems bridge family history and traditional tribal identity with the challenges of being a contemporary American woman.

Terryl Wheat remembers first writing at age twelve. She says, “At fourteen or fifteen I attended my first open-mic and was hopelessly hooked. There was nothing anyone could have done. No amount of math, science or history could have saved me, the poems had me!” Moving to midtown Sacramento brought Terryl to Luna's Cafe where, as she says, “I met many wise old cats that became priceless mentors. Without them I fear what I would be writing now – the thought is unnerving.” For Terryl, it’s not only the poetry, but the learning experiences and characters met along the way. Outside of poetry Terryl climbs rocks and on occasion, after a healthy dose of spirits – maybe a midtown building, she does the trendy yoga thing, plays with kitty cats, likes candle lit dinners, long walks on the beach, is a Leo and open minded. Terryl says. “I have successfully dropped out of City College three times – with the intentions of doing so again...”

Tickets can be purchased at the door for $5 general, seniors and students, and $1 for those under 18. Refreshments and open-mic included. The show will be in Off Center Stage (the Black Box theater, enter from Richardson Street) at the Center for the Arts, 314 W. Main St., Grass Valley, CA. For more information call (530) 432-8196 or (530) 274-8384.


314 West Main Street Grass Valley, California 95945 530 271 7000

golly

I’m falling
Deeper
In love with a man
That says ‘golly’
And blushes
Making his blue eyes
Effervesce
When I approach him
With one nipple exposed

My heart turns
Cartwheels
When he proffers
A dusty seat
Next to him
In his battle lounge
As the minions salute

It doesn’t matter
That I feel faint
From the beating sun
Working in desert storms
I want to be strong
i would do anything
For him
Prove me worthy
Of his love

I’m falling
Deeper
Inevitably
Toward doom
But loving every
Nanosecond.

-snake

ho-sehs run

the grandson
sometimes has 'r's
sometimes doesn't
his 3 word story
told one word at a time
breathlessly
ho-sehs (horses)
run
bite
as he retells the terrifying scene
next door there are 10 horses
wild mustangs 'adopted'
the dominant male corraled
while the females and
new foals roam
the 1 acre around a
small cabin
the owner is not home
a new stallion is allowed free
which aggravates the
corraled one
til he leaps his fences
and they fight
he draws blood
then chases the other horses
round and round they race
kicking up clouds of dust
we hear the thundering hooves
and stand on the deck
they are kicking and biting
screaming horse screams
blood on mare's hindquarters
blood on new stallions neck
around and around they race
what to do what to do?
afraid they will kill each other
we call 911
a half hour later when a cop
patrols by
the horses are just standing
exhausted
he keeps going
and they take off again
and we go indoors

grandson is left with his
3 word story
ho-sehs run bite.

burning man poems# 2

Her walk had lost its bounce
Replaced by a limp
Having stubbed her toe
On a piece of buried rebar
Way out on the playa
Clouds of dust
Added to her thirst
A brackish film coating
Her tongue
She had prepared
Months in advance
Lists for self-sufficiency
But now
No water at hand
Finding a cracker
In her pocket instead
‘I’m thirsty dammit
not hungry!’
the little irony made
her giggle
and she gimped her way
to the lights of terminal city.

i have an interview and review in lumox journal

If you wouldn't mind, please mention this on your blog:

The third issue of the Lummox Journal is now online. I contains two interviews with Nila NorthSun and Patricia Wellingham-Jones, two very diverse poets I might add. Also there are two articles on small press publishing, sort of a past & future look at what is going on; Passion & Danger by Christopher Harter (detailing the Mimeograph and it's place in early small press activities) and Amazon and the POD Wars by W.J. Higginson and Raindog. There are two reviews by John Yamrus and RD of Todd Moore's RELENTLESS and TELL THE CORPSE A STORY & Nila NorthSun's LOVE AT GUNPOINT. A batch of poetry from the likes of Lyn lifshin, A. D. Winans, Marie Lecrivain, Scott Wannberg and others; and a new feature...a "cooking" section of all things, has Athens, GA poet and Chef H. Lamar Thomas grilling up some mouth-watering burger recipes, Southern style! Check it out by going to www.lummoxpress.com and clicking on the LJ 3 picture.

--
Raindog
Word Smith
Get the Raindog Reader (4 books) - A hot beef injection for your soul!
www.lummoxpress.com
www.myspace.com/poetraindog/
http://raindog-theviewfromdownhere.blogspot.com/

burningman panic

panic time

it's that time again
the annual burningman panic
usually occuring a month
to several weeks in advance
the wake up in the middle
of the night
going over lists
packing lists
where did i put
last year's stuff?
what costumes
need to be made?
i don't remember where
i put the solar shower
and where did the rebar go?
what food do i still have to make
and freeze?
how can i fit it all in the car?
what things still need to be bought
and how can i do it with
hardly any money?
fitful sleeps
but right now
the self imposed projects
create more anxiety
than exuberant excitement

i can't imagine how people
with major art projects
or camps handle it
the payoff of a good project
or camp not realized until
actually there
and when it's over
and glitches were minimal

gotta give mega cudos
to those people
you people are amazing.

tourista

a chortle rolled out
from the darkened room
followed by the smell
of chipotle chicken
it was enough to intrigue him
enough to make him brave
despite the obvious carnage
of bird feathers and bird claws
by the side of the small adobe building
his mouth watered
anticipating a cold corona
in the roadside cantina
the noise of children playing
relaxed him as he entered
picking a bench near a rough table
the waitress approached him
with a smile
what would you like?
chicken please
with soup or salad?
soup please
and a cerveza por favor
then she was gone
sunlight cut oblique patterns
in the cool shadows
a couple holding hands across
their table
a family with squirming kids
absorbing the posters and colorful rugs
pinned to the walls
he took a deep easy breath.