Full moon: Wolf Moon

-
---------------------Luna del lobo


Se le llama luna del lobo
a la primera luna llena de este año,
-----su más grande.
Así le llaman los indios
porque en las noches frías de invierno
los lobos hambrientos le aúllan a la luna llena,
no porque vuelva a algunos hombres en lobos.
Sabemos que los hombres pueden ser lobos
sin que la luna esté llena.
Los reconocemos bajo sus togas,
-----presiden en las cortes más altas;
llevan nudos de seda alrededor del pescuezo
-----en los concilios del gobierno,
----------la industria, las finanzas.
Se alimentan de otros hombres, mujeres, niños;
la codicia y el poder los hacen voraces —
-----por esto los reconocemos.

-----No hay porque culpar a la luna;
-----inmensa & brillante, sólo vigila.



------------------------© Rafael Jesús González 2010








------------------Wolf Moon


It is called Wolf Moon,
this year's first full moon,
-----its biggest.
The Indians call it so
because on cold winter nights,
hungry wolves howl at the full moon,
not because it turns some men into wolves.
We know men can be wolves
without the moon being full.
We recognize them beneath their robes;
-----they preside in the highest courts;
they wear silk nooses about their necks
-----in the councils of government,
----------industry, finance.
They feed upon other men, women, children;
greed & power make them voracious —
-----by this we know them.

----------No need to blame the moon;
----------huge & bright, she only watches.




----------------------© Rafael Jesús González 2010
- -

La musa lunática/The Lunatic Muse now on Amazon.com

-
Pandemonium Press announces that La musa lunática/The Lunatic Muse is now on Amazon.com ($10)

"La musa lunática / The Lunatic Muse, Rafael Jesús González's long awaited collection of moon poems, fulfills its promise of beauty and poignancy. Rafael Jesús González is the master of the imagist lyric; the poems are both brilliant and immediate. And, we find in its metaphoric language a deep love of the Earth that can sustain many readings. La musa lunática / The Lunatic Muse is a careful bilingual edition, which allows readers of Spanish and/or English to enjoy and appreciate it."






La editora Pandemonium Press anuncia que La musa lunática / The Lunatic Muse se encuentra en Amazon.com ($10 us)

"La musa lunática / The Lunatic Muse, la esperada colección de poemas lunares de Rafael Jesús González cumple con su promesa de belleza y fuerza conmovedora. Rafael Jesús González es maestro de la lírica imaginista; los poemas son ambos brillantes e inmediatos. Y encontramos en su lenguaje metafórico un amor profundo a la Tierra que sustenta muchas lecturas. La musa lunática / The Lunatic Muse es una edición bilingüe esmerada que permite al lector de español y/o inglés gozar y apreciarla."
-

Acquarius

-


------------Acuario

A Acuario,
---el airoso,
------fijo en su servicio,
lo vigila Urano desde lejos;
Saturno le pesa como plomo
y su luz como granate ardiente
destella en el cántaro de amatista
que carga Acuario,
----sus tobillos, sus pantorrillas
----bañados en el aire fijo
----de sus ideales luminosos.



---------© Rafael Jesús González 2010




-------------Aquarius

Aquarius,
---the graceful,
------at ease in his service,
is watched by Uranus from afar;
Saturn weighs on him like lead
& its light like a burning garnet
bounces sparks on the amethyst jar
that Aquarius carries,
----his ankles, his calves
----bathed in the fixed air
----of his luminous ideals.



----------© Rafael Jesús González 2010
---

Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929–April 4, 1968)

-

-
Martin Luther King Jr.
by Yousul Karsh

----------After the Lecture

---------------------------for Martin Luther King Jr.



A woman said I was not polite
to the opposition,
that I was harsh
and did not encourage
discourse.

Perhaps if I were Christ,
I could say, “Forgive them
----for they know not what they do.”
Or the queen, and apologize
for stubbing my executioner’s toes.

But only if I knew
the executioners
----were mine only.

What courtesy have I the right to give
to them who break the bones,
----the souls of my brothers,
------------------my sisters;
deny bread, books
----to the hungry,
----the children;
--------medicine, healing
--------to the sick;
roofs to the homeless;

who spoil the oceans,
----lay waste the forests
--------and the deserts,
violate the land?

Affability on the lips
of outrage
is a sin and blasphemy
----I’ll not be guilty of.



----------© Rafael Jesús González 2010






--------Después del Discurso

------------------------a Martin Luther King Jr.



Una mujer me dijo que no fui cortés
con la oposición,
que fui duro
y que no animé
discusión.

Tal vez si fuera Cristo,
pudiera decir — Perdónalos
----que no saben lo que hacen. —
O la reina, y disculparme
por haber pisarle el pie a mi verdugo.

Pero solamente si supiera
que los verdugos
fueran solamente míos.

¿Qué cortesía tengo el derecho a darles
a los que quiebran los huesos
----y las almas de mis hermanos,
--------------------mis hermanas;
les niegan el pan, los libros
----a los hambrientos,
----a los niños;
--------la medicina, el sanar
--------a los enfermos;
techos a los desamparados;

que estropean los mares,
----que destruyen los bosques
--------y los desiertos,
violan la tierra?

Afabilidad en los labios
de la furia justa
es pecado y blasfemia
----de la cual no seré culpable.



---------© Rafael Jesús González 2010

Martin Luther King Jr.
by Tony Spina

-
-

Poetry Reading, Sunday, January 24

-

Poetry Reading
Sunday, January 24
3:00-6:00 PM

Theme: Branches & Blossoms, Circles, Cycles & Seasons,
Gods & Goddesses, Heroes & Earth Mothers.

Featured Poets:

Rafael Jesús González

H. D. Moe

Howard Dyckoff

at

Jamie Erfurdt Art Studio & Gallery

1966 Unversity Ave., Berkeley, CA 94704


Jamie Erfurdt


Sunday art receptions occur weekly, from 3:00 to 6:00 PM.

We often have music jams.
Bring musical instruments & voices to receptions.

Also open other hours & by appointment, contact Jamie Erfurdt:

510-849-1312 home

421-2912 cell

jamieerf@pacbell.net

-

Choose Your Weapon

Choose Your Weapon: Fighting Nonviolently

The United World College-USA, Río Gallinas School, and the Las Vegas Peace & Justice Center will be hosting a conference, January 17th and 18th, 2010, at the United World College campus, Montesuma, New Mexico. The conference, offered free of charge, will highlight the strategic use of nonviolent action.

The Choose Your Weapon Conference will include workshops and performances for all ages that celebrate and teach the application of nonviolent tactics to fight oppression and injustice. The conference will use the framework created by Dr. Gene Sharp of the Albert Einstein Institution, a nonprofit advancing the study and use of strategic nonviolent action in conflicts throughout the world. Dr. Sharp, who has identified close to 200 strategies of nonviolent actions that have been used throughout history, says that "Nonviolent action is a means of combat, as is war . . . Nonviolent action is just what it says: action which is nonviolent, not inaction. This technique consists, not simply of words, but of active protest, noncooperation, and intervention. Overwhelmingly, it is a group or mass action.”





January 17 & 18, 2010


Sunday, January 17, 2010

7:00 pm, United World College-USA Kluge Auditorium

Minnijean Brown-Trickey: Little Rock Nine, World Protests: Music, Art, Performance



Monday, January 18, 2010

9:00 am -4:00 pm, United World College-USA Kluge Auditorium

30 Workshops, Performances, Speakers, Stories, Nonviolence Trainings, Music, Films and Activism

Sponsored by: Río Gallinas School, United World College-USA,
and the Las Vegas Peace & Justice Center


All events will be held on the campus of the United World College-USA in Montezuma, New Mexico. On-line pre-registration is recommended. The conference will be offered free of charge. Cafeteria lunches will be available at a cost of $6 for the first 200 to register. Businesses and individuals who would like to financially support this effort may contribute on-line, or may call 505-454-4228. To register and seek conference information please click registration link. Registration will also take place on-site.

Direct Action

-
-

12th Night

-
------Pensamientos durante una Jornada

------------------------1

Supe que tendría que llevar oro.
Cuando lo trajeron de mi tesorería
aun yo me maravillé de él.
Me había llegado de un suplicante real,
un pequeño cofre engastado con soles y leones.
Ni él sabía del todo lo costoso que es:
el metal luce con el sudor de esclavos,
su belleza pesada con sangre.
(Había soñado yo que en algún otro mundo
se le llamaba el excremento de los dioses.)
Tenía que ser la medida incorruptible del precio.

------------------------2

Una vez que supe que iba,
supe lo que traería;
el cofrecito de olíbano estaba sobre la mesa,
blanco incienso macho, gotas en forma de pezones,
traído por un viajero de Hadramaut.
Al mirar al cielo
la tres lágrimas que había puesto en el brasero
despidieron su aroma.
Olía amargamente dulce,
esta coagulada sangre de árboles.
Este humo sacro a los ritos de Isis,
esta costosa resina preciosa a Hero.

-------------------------3

Por cada venir hay un ir,
aun para las estrellas.
El uno no más asombrante que el otro,
el uno es para celebrarse tanto como el otro,
y mandé por la mirra,
morena y amarga y costosa,
traída a través largas distancias por un amigo.
(Dijo que en algún lugar se la alimentaban a las vacas
para que les fluyeran rica la leche,)
incienso para los dioses,
ungüento para los muertos.


[De los apuntes de un mercader de Galilea tarde en el reino de Herodes el Grande: “El censo ha sido bueno para el negocio, alabado sea el Señor Dios. Los precios son altos y nadie pregunta de donde viene el dinero. Hoy un artesano villano compró una de mis mulas mejores: una cajita de oro; dos mantas gruesas de lana: una libra de incienso; y pan de trigo, higos desecados, tres botas de vino (para un viaje largo dijo): una libra de mirra.”]

© Rafael Jesús González 2010

(riverbabble, número 3, invierno 2002;
derechos reservados del autor.)

Andrea Mantegna 1495-1505

--------Thoughts on a Journey


---------------------1

I knew I had to take gold.
When it was brought from my treasury,
even I marveled at it.
It had come from a royal suppliant,
a small coffer chased in lions & suns.
Even he did not fully know how costly it is:
the metal shines with the sweat of slaves,
its beauty weighed by blood.
(I had dreamt that in another world
it is called the excrement of gods.)
It had to be the incorruptible measure of cost.

--------------------2

Once I knew I was going,
I knew what I would bring;
the casket of olibanum stood on the table,
white male frankincense, breast-shaped drops,
brought by a traveler from Hadramaut.
As I gazed at the sky
the three tears I had placed in the brazier
gave up their scent.
It smelled bitterly sweet, this clotted blood of trees,
This smoke holy to the rites of Isis,
this costly gum precious to Horus.

--------------------3

For every coming there is a going,
even for stars.
One is no more astounding than the other,
one is to be celebrated even as the other,
& I sent for the myrrh,
brown & bitter & costly,
brought long distances by a friend.
(He said that somewhere it is fed cows
to make their milk flow rich,)
incense for the gods,
unguent for the dead.


[From the records of a Galilean merchant late in the reign of Herod the Great: “The census has been good for trade, praise the Lord God. Prices are high and no one asks where the money comes from. Today a clownish craftsman bought one of my good mules: a gold box; two thick wool blankets: a pound of frankincense; and wheat-bread, dried figs, three goat-skins of wine (for a long trip, he said): one pound of myrrh.”]

© Rafael Jesús González 2010

(riverbabble, issue 3, winter 2002;
author's copyrights.)

JanBrueghel 1598-60

-