SLiCPoetry

Home -parts 1 & 2

noreply@blogger.com (Stuart L Canton) — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 02:51:00 +0000

Home pt.1

Red

orangeyellow

orange

Red

orangeyellow

orange

Boulders and sand

cliffs and

cascading falls of stone

splash color

into the desert sea

Red

orangeyellow

orange

Red

orangeyellow

orange

From a train

surfing on dry tracks

colors rush

swirling past the window

Red

orangeyellow

orange

Red

orangeyellow

orange

Home pt.2

Grandma watches the train rush by

in the photograph

of vanished-forever days

on the wall of her city apartment

Old Letters

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 01:40:00 +0000

recycling trash --
old letters
weigh more

-first appeared in Poetry Now

like Helen

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:14:00 +0000

Through battle,
nor through siege,
is any heart taken.

No contest,
or great feat,
can win another's heart.

For hearts are not like Troy,
who fell
before a thousand ships
who swooned
at blood
upon the dirt
who would not open wide her gate --
save for clever, bold, disguised
men entering in a Trojan
horse

Hearts are more like Helen,
who left of her own will,
and gave to whom she pleased.

CitySong

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 02:00:00 +0000

(to be read to the wailing of a didgeridoo)

Click shick!
the windblown flame of the battered Zippo
fills the doorway of the dark hotel;
My cigarette glows like the last log on the hearth.
I close my eyes --
    my ears
        are taken

Helicopter blades slice the night
circling like vultures,
they put guns to the city's head;
a motorcycles snarls
patrolling its territory;
neon signs hum nonsense
about flickering dreams;

I try to focus on the smoke that
fills my lungs and burns like home.

a Volkswagen on its last leg;
a tow truck wanting to go home;
a fading street lamp buzzes
buzzes buzzes
loud in my ears --

but not louder than my brain
my buzzing screaming brain
I'm trying to set it on fire
another breath
set it on fire on fire fire

radiators boil over;
bats everywhere;
a lost brass horn;

the symphony is constant;
when I run to the back of my eyelids,
the city still sings --
dissonant, mad,
warm like blood;
every night like a final performance:

  desperate and tense

a street sweeper moans and shuffles by

this cigarette is too small to hide behind
when it's burned out I'll head to the diner,
play some Elvis,
wait for the next high

~~~~~

CitySong first appeared
on Medusa's Kitchen

Street Poem #4

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 03:26:00 +0000

flash smokin' the moment

drink personality

shout art

sleeping not

SheMe shot

Downtown Orpheus

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 05:18:00 +0000

A street lamp ignites your golden hair,
and your heels make
music
as they go by.

I wish my smile were
worth the dimes
I found in the alley down the street.

I wish I had the
strength
to wave at you from the curb.

maybe another bottle
of whiskey will get me
close to you,
or maybe enough
Early Times
can take me back to
her;

back to the street corner
back to the
red light
where I turned to look back at her --
and a car took her
away

If I could change that day
If I could change that day
If I could change that
day

but I'm not God;
so here I am:
I carry her ring in my pocket;
I play harmonica to the trees and
concrete;
I wash windows
for a buck

and I wish I had the strength
to wave at you from the curb --
all I need is a
smile

New Reading!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 04:28:00 +0000

Street Poem #1

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 05:01:00 +0000

Drinking juice
under dim lights --
savoring the fruit
of Friday night

After Hours

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 04:53:00 +0000

When the sun's switched off

and the stars flicker on,
glowing like neon,
forming the great
“open late” sign
in the sky,

the doors swing open
to those ready to start their day:
night travellers
ordering fried reminders
of the sun,
gypsies peddling to waitresses,
has been's
and wanna be's
swapping tales
over burnt coffee,
dancers, singers, rock stars
winding up or down,

mad einsteins,
chicken littles,
raging bulls,
murmuring voyagers
from an alternate consciousness,
banished napoleons,
and wilted carnations,
last known survivors,
and wanderers who have seen more than
anyone anywhere
except for the guy in
the third booth on the left
whose waiting for a chicken fried steak.

There's a whole city
getting ready to put the kids
to bed,
and there's a whole world
getting ready
to go bump in the night.

After Hours first appeared

on Medusa's Kitchen

http://medusaskitchen.blogspot.com/

Cafe Jam

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:01:00 +0000

photo by Caitlin Bellah

Slip-slap
Clip-clap

Syncopated beats of feet find they fare
well on the floor

  Three twenty five seventy five and five

Laugh and dash
Scream and smash
Café Jam

This table’s got bass
sportsmen chat
That one’s in 8/16
and fusing like jazz
That table’s versed in blues
the scales mellow the mood
This one’s got high notes

  Four fifty three fifty five fifty

Drum and hum
Echo and flash
Café Jam

A girl now solos
deftly playing her thoughts
loud in a corner
where she finds her place in the mix

  Seven twenty six twenty ten twenty

Jump and slump
Twist and twitch
Café Jam

The lyrics
written fast,
mixed by all --

No they didn’t
Say the square root
Is more than I can
Outrun if you keep to the inside
With Jenny? OMG can you
Play a creature with 4 hp
When your car breaks down
cuz I can’t get to sleep

  Two sixty thirty sixty sorry I’ll fix that

Take and bake
Ping and blend
Café Jam

from the new broadside: Cafe Jam

From Last Call: Cigarette Butts

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:41:00 +0000

They smoulder;
a faint light
fighting to survive
in the gutter.

They all start
fresh and new,
carefully made
by nature and man

Standing tall
with potential--
eager to give themselves
eager for a spark

But they're burned,
inhaled and exhaled,
their use sucked out
till they're just a stub --

Still they burn;
the lust for air continues
till they are flicked aside
and the cherry falls off.

A glorious American Spirit
covered in dirt, ash, and spit;
the flame is not quite gone
but resignation sets in.

People walk by
and step on them
the city tries to
wash them away

no one wants to see
a dying light
or an empty shell

Last Call can be purchased at The Book Collector on 24th st. (between J and K) Sacramento, CA 95814

Doing what we do

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:12:00 +0000

Jimmy Ray West Jr. on didge | SLiC on Words

Haiku published in Joyce Odam's Brevities

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:30:00 +0000

Little cat,

you'll miss that mat

when they change the display

published in Brevities

SLiC on the poet, Wolf

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 01:24:00 +0000

I was interviewed in a documentary on Wolf:

New Poem on Medusa's Kitchen!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 02:42:00 +0000

Hey Everyone, go check out:

Citysong (download)

Wolf reading SLiC's "Home pt.1"

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 20:53:00 +0000

read Home pt. 1

Poetry Now -October

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 23:35:00 +0000

In this months Poetry Now:

Old Letters (download/read)

Poetry Now (download/read)

Rattlesnake #23

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 23:14:00 +0000

Just had two poems published in the new Rattlesnake Review:

15 to Close at Mimi's (read|download)

The Little Rock (read|download)

(p.s. you always find PDFs of published poems under "More SLiC Poetry" on the right)

"Headlining" in the Kitchen

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 04:51:00 +0000

I had "above the fold" space on Medusa's Kitchen the day of my reading on friday! Both are/were awesome!

http://medusaskitchen.blogspot.com/2009/08/let-us-sing-hard-songs.html

Review of SLiC's new chapbook: Last Call

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 19:07:00 +0000

B.L.'s Drive-Bys: A Micro-Review by B.L. Kennedy:

Last Call
by SLiC
slicpoetry.blogspot.com
14 pp, $2

Last Call is a fine collection of poems; small, but unique in their own way. The author, SLiC, has more or less just recently exploded on the Sacramento poetry scene and he seems to have become an overnight sensation, with boadsides at The Book Collector, poetry appearing in theRattlesnake Review, Poetry Now, Medusa’s Kitchen, Brevities,and WTF. The poet likes to think that his style is unique in its blend of influences such as Walt Whitman, Bob Dylan, Charles Bukowski, and Tom Waits. Deeply human, lyrical, and moving, SLiC plays his poetry as close to the heart as a good poker player plays his hand. But I have to ask this: beneath all this influence, beneath all these “American styles”, where exactly is the poet called SLiC? Anybody can imitate the long lines of Walt Whitman or Allen Ginsberg or the faucet-dripping images of Charles Bukowski, or even the lyrical melodies of Tom Waits, but that is all just "influential". What I am looking for is the truth behind the poet’s voice. So yeah, I recommend this chapbook, but understand that it's not the be-all end-all that its author thinks it is. It is just the beginning of a journey in search of the road’s end.

—B.L. Kennedy, Interviewer-in-Residence

pulled from: Medusa's Kitchen

Haiku

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 19:17:00 +0000

Drinking tea
Imagining
A talk with Basho

Featured Reading @ SPC 7:30pm (25 & R)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 05:44:00 +0000

http://www.sacramentopoetrycenter.org/thisweek.htm

Featured Reading

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 20:45:00 +0000

Poetry Unplugged @ Luna’s

5th. Thursday
7.30.09

SLiC
&
Sage

Hosted by

frank andrick

ALL Events No Cover and ALL Ages

8:00 pm.

Open mic precedes and follows the feature

Luna’s Café

1414 16^th. St. Sacramento

916-441-3931

Contact ;
Art Luna - www.lunascafe.com 916-441-3931
frank andrick - 209-727-5179 fandrickfabpub@hotmail.com
Hey poetry people, writers, and artful types - July has a 5^th Thursday so we have a 5^th Poetry Unplugged @ Luna’s of course!! We celebrate two who are having their first feature at Luna’s. SliC who has recently done some broadside self publishing and will debut his new chapbook on thus occasion and Sage who has been a long time contributor to the stage and the spoken word at Luna’s open mic. But this time we get to hear her work in length rather than 5 minute blips. Sooo here is an opportunity to listen to some new, perhaps get some free stuff, enjoy the always tripadacious Luna’s open mic, maybe bring your own work to read, or sit back be entertained and have some FUN at a poetry reading. And oh gosh buy yourself a copy of LA LUNA the Poetry Unplugged anthology.
ART LUNA’s world class and world renowned Liquados await you plus beer, wine, and why not assure a perfect seat by coming early for dinner or snacks? Thanks for taking the time to read this and … please read the bios provided by our feature poets written in their own hand no less. See ya at LUNA‘s . Thank you for your support of the ARTS.
　
　
BIO INFO:
SLiC is a poet who's broken into the Sacramento poetry scene with his unique blend of distinctly American styles reminiscent of the work of Walt Whitman, Bob Dylan, Charles Bukowski, and Tom Waits. Deeply human, lyrical, and moving, his poetry has landed him page time in Rattlesnake Review, Poetry Now, Medusa's Kitchen, Brevities, and WTF. Weekly performances at Luna's Cafe have helped to make him a force in the poetry scene. Pick up SLiC's chaps and broadsides at The Book Collector, Luna's Cafe, and local coffeehouses.
　
Alexandra Sage Reagan was born and partly raised in Sacramento, and partly in the foothills to the northeast. She is currently a student at Sacramento State University and has been an appreciative participant of Jose Montoya’s Poetry Unplugged at Luna’s since the age of fourteen. ‘Sage’, as she is known, has come to learn that the best things in life cost a one drink minimum.. She has been most recently published in WTF?!

Published as part of the main attraction

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:52:00 +0000

Hey readers,

Check out today's post @ Medusa's Kitchen: Lonliness

This poem is part of a chapbook I am working on.

Published by Medusa

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 16:43:00 +0000

Yesterday, I was Today's Little Nip:

Medusa's Kitchen- June 11