Wednesday, June 27, 2018

full moon: So Kind Is the Moon




https://act.moveon.org/event/families-belong-together/search/




Es tan amable la luna


La luna llena se cuela
por entre las rejas de la cárcel
de niños
para recoger sus sollozos
en su delantal de luz
y llevárselos a sus padres
en cárcel de adultos
y traerles lamentos y bendiciones
de sus madres, sus padres
a los niños.
Es tan amable la luna
que no niega su luz
ni a los malvados traficantes de angustia.
Es tan amable la luna.



---------------© Rafael Jesús González 2018

             
 
https://act.moveon.org/event/families-belong-together/search/



So Kind Is the Moon


The full moon slips
through the bars of the jail
of the children
to gather their sobs
in her apron of light
& carry them to their parents
in the jail for adults
& bring the laments & blessings
of their mothers & fathers
back to the children.
The moon is so kind
that it does not deny its light
even to the evil dealers in anguish.
So kind is the moon.



---------© Rafael Jesús González 2018




https://act.moveon.org/event/families-belong-together/search/



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Sunday, June 24, 2018

riverbabble 33


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Disappearing by Lola Chivallek


riverbabble 33

Summer Issue



Poetry


Nancy Flynn:
          First Line of Defense: A Cento
         Continuing Questions of Vast Moment

Rafael Jesús González:
           Bendición para viaje interior / Blessing for the Inner Journey
           En el festival de jazz, Nueva Orleáns / At jazz Fest, New Orleans

Anita Pulier:
           Failed Reunion
           My Friend

Janet Reed:
          Elegy to the Boulevard Voltaire
          Sistine Family

Anita Sagastegui:
           This is a Picture
           Coquelicot / Poppy

d.n.simmers:
           My brother, my eyes
           heart of the City Festival 2017 Reading

Ken Weisner:
          Letter to My Wife
          Rescuing the Bee

Bruce Bagnell:    A Knockout Babe

Amy Neill Bebergal:    Disappearing Spoon

Wayne Burke:    The Minutemen

Lucille Lang Day:    Almost Mugged in Lucca

Jeannette DesBoine:    Gifted

Grace Marie Grafton:    Adjure

KJ Hannah Greenberg:    Succor

Miriam N. Kotzin:    Nevertheless Monet Sings Country

Naomi Lowinsky:    Fire

Matt McGee:    Spicoli's Ghost

Megan Denese Mealor:    Cemetery Birds

Edward Mycue:    New-Found Fire—slack(n) / slack ('n)

James B Nicola:    skunk

Anne Paterson:    Dignity

Gregory Owen Pearse:    Blossoming

Lee Rossi:    Tranquility

B.L.P. Simmons:    Make Me a Stone

Sandra Storey:    News from the Big Island

Anne Whitehouse:    Protest Poem

Fiction

Lester L. Weil:
          Mabel's
          The 365th Day

Travis Hedge Coke:    Ceded Reach

Ken Poyner:    In Sympathy

Mitchell Toews:    Nothing to Lose

Scot Walker:    La Mer

Flash Fiction

Jon Sindell:
          That's Iyerny!
          You Win Again

jd daniels:    Eventide

Roy Dorman:    First Date With A Contract Killer

Jake W. Ford:    The River

Richard Loranger:    Earth Punk

Chuck Taylor :    Burning Off

Essay

Jim Ross:    Searching for Daddy

Scot Walker:    Poof

Cover

Disappearing by Lola Chivallek 
 
 
And thou hast left me alone for ever in the dark ways of my bitterness: 
and with a kiss of ashes hast thou kissed my mouth.

                                        JAMES JOYCE, Ulysses, Oxen of the Sun, 18537-18539.

 


| Submissions | Contact Us | Archives | BLOGS
 
~

Pandemonium Press

2nd printing available 
from
the publisher: pandemoniumpress@gmail.com
_________________________________

Leila Rae, editor
riverbabble
http://iceflow.com/riverbabble/Welcome.html-




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Thursday, June 21, 2018

Cancer - Summer Solstice


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Our prayer for the Summer Solstice is for our healing. The very worst in the U.S. national character holds sway: contempt for justice, for the democracy of which we boast, for the truth itself, for the Earth. Racism, sheer cruelty, madness governs us. The nation suffers an illness of the soul that threatens life itself.


But also there is hope in the resistance that rises from what is best in the people: compassion, respect for justice, for democracy, a reverence for truth, for the Earth, for life. Herein lie our hopes for healing. The light of love must prevail.


 *     *    *  

Nuesto rezo para el solsticio veraniego es por nuestro sanar. Lo peor en el carácter nacional estadounidense domina: desprecio por la justicia, por la democracia de la cual hacemos alarde, por la verdad mera, por la Tierra. El racismo, la absoluta crueldad, la locura nos gobiernan. La nación sufre una enfermedad del alma que amenaza a la vida misma. 

Pero también hay esperanza en la resistencia que surge de lo que es lo mejor en el pueblo: la compasión, el respeto a la justicia, veneración por la verdad, por la Tierra, la vida. En esto están nuestras esperanzas de sanar. La luz del amar tiene que tiunfar.



Summer Solstice & Cancer



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Cáncer


 

El cangrejo anhela,
después del largo día,
arrancar del cielo
esa moneda de plata fría
que es la luna.
---Sus ojos son cuentas de rubí
---y en las entrañas
---guarda un perla sensitiva
que anhela llevar muy hondo,
---------------------muy hondo
al punto cardinal del agua,
---al fondo primordial del mar.




--------------© Rafael Jesús González 2018




-----------Cancer



The crab longs,
after the long day,
to tear from the sky
that coin of cold silver
that is the moon.
-----Its eyes are ruby beads
-----& in its entrails
-----it keeps a sensitive pearl
which it longs to carry very deep,
----------------------------very deep
to the cardinal point of the waters,
---the primordial depths of the sea.




----------------------© Rafael Jesús González 2018

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Thursday, June 14, 2018

Poets for Puerto Rico, Friday June 22


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    Friday, June 22

Poets for Puerto Rico: ¡El Grito de la Bahía! Join us for a night of poetry and music benefiting the Puerto Rican artist community in San Juan! 

 
Poets confirmed: #PoetsforPuertoRico founder Willie Perdomo, Aya de León, Rico Pabón, Berkeley Poet Laureate Rafael Jesús González, Sandra García Rivera, Tongo Eisen-Martin, Paul Flores, L7, Susana Praver-Pérez, Tony Aldarondo, Fish Vargas, Raina León, Vylma V, Ilia Correa, Julia y Jesus Cepeda, Art3mis Prime, ¡y más! In collaboration with Litside Collective.

Plus, LIVE MUSIC by CaliGente, a Bay Area group blending hip-hop lyrics and island rhythms! And DJ GLO will be throwing down tropical tunes! 


Friday, June 22 at 7:30pm
BUY TICKETS $15 Adv. / $20 Door 


 





The #PoetsforPuertoRico movement is gaining national traction. Thus far, events have been launched in NYC, Philadelphia, and now the Bay Area! A movement of stateside Puerto Rican poets, created in response to Hurricane Maria, our goals are to amplify the needs of the island and to send our community a message: Sometimes poetry is about more than the poetry. 
Proceeds from this event will support hurricane preparedness for The Poet’s Passage – a living museum of poetry, art center, café, gift store, and local craft studio for local and visiting poets in Old San Juan, founded by poet, artist, and creative director Lady Lee Andrews.
With the recent news revealing the overwhelming loss of life related to Hurricane Maria, and the neglect of government and the media to accurately reflect the devastation, I know that many of us are already suffering from “disaster fatigue,” and/or the general exhaustion of supporting our communities to live with dignity. But we will persevere, and be unrelenting in spreading the word. Thank you so much for your support we hope you will join us in helping to spread the word about this amazing event for this important cause.
As stories and news continue to be unearthed, we poets will reflect the resilience, and dignity of our pueblo.
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Important links:
The Poet’s Passage: https://www.poetspassage.com/home-poets-passage-old-san-juan-puerto-rico.php
The Poet’s Passage Go Fund Me: https://www.gofundme.com/PassageVsMaria
Poets for Puerto Rico: https://www.facebook.com/pg/PoetsforPuertoRico/about/




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Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Federico García Lorca 6/5/1898 - 8/19/1936



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---------Sevilla de las Escobas

-------------------------a Federico García Lorca

Cuidado Sevilla que vas a perder el alma;
la Taberna de las Escobas ya está cerrada.

Hay sólo ecos en la solera
y donde corrían los finos,
amontillados y olorosos
está un ángel, piel de escarcha
con un copón de sollozos.

Cuidado Sevilla mía, Sevilla de los gitanos
que en el rincón de guitarras
sólo hay papeles floreados.

Lope con elegante ademán bebe su solera fina
dando la espalda a Byron y Béquer
que se disputen el amor de La Giralda.
Cervantes y Dumas discuten en laberintos de sueños
el hecho que la taberna fue violada por sus dueños.

(En el portón del Patio de las Naranjos
los santos de piedra guardan
sus silencios almidonados.)

El cardenal arzobispo trata de ocultar
bajo su casulla de oro
el tiritar de pericos y la luz de su tesoro.

¡Ay! hija de La Giralda, Sevilla enamorada,
la Taberna de las Escobas ya está cerrada;
un azulejo malhecho lo hace de epitafio oscuro
donde un barbero burlón se mira fumando un puro.

Allá en el Cortijo de Frías los condes cantan borrachos
y en el puente de San Telmo el río se cruza de brazos
mientras al pie de la Torre del Oro
se enamoran los muchachos.

¡Ay! Sevilla de naranjos, de aceitunas y claveles
ni bulerías ni soleares podrán cambiarte la suerte.

(En la sala capitular al centro de la cabeza
tengo un concilio de duendes
para canonizar la taberna.)



 
-----------------------------------------------© Rafael Jesús González 2018





-----------Seville of the Brooms

---------------------------to Federico García Lorca

Take care, Seville, or you will lose your soul;
the Tavern of the Brooms is now closed.

There are only echoes in the cellars
& where ran the finos,
amontillados & olorosos
there is an angel, skin of frost
holding a goblet of sighs.

Take care my Seville, Seville of the gypsies
for in the corner of the guitars
there are only flowered papers.

Lope with elegant demeanor drinks his fine sherry
turning his back on Byron & Béquer
who dispute their love of La Giralda.
Cervantes & Dumas discuss in labyrinths of dreams
the fact that its owners violated the tavern.

(On the gate of the Patio of the Oranges
the stone saints keep
their starched silence.)

The Cardinal Archbishop tries to hide
under his chasuble of gold
the tittering of parrots & the light of his treasure.

Oh, daughter of La Giralda, enamored Seville,
the Tavern of the Brooms is now closed;
an ill-made tile stands for dark epitaph
where a mocking cigar-smoking barber looks at himself.

There in the Cortijo de Frías the counts sing drunkenly
& on the bridge of San Telmo the river crosses its arms
while at the foot of the Tower of the Gold
the boys fall in love.

Oh, Seville of oranges, of olives, & of carnations
not bulerías nor soleares will be able to change your fate.

(In the chapter chamber in the center of my head
I hold a council of gnomes
to make the tavern a saint.)


--------------------------------------------------© Rafael Jesús González 2018



 
 
 
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