Public Agency Lawsuit to Seize $21,000 Home from Rightful Purchaser near Sacramento, California... In the rustic, antique wood-built town of Locke, California, founded from 1912 to 1920s, the Locke Management Association (LMA), a thirteen (13) member board put in place in 2003 to maintain, preserve and manage the town is prioritizing its limited $60,000 operating budget to attempt to undo a recent property purchase that occurred. The buyer, Martha Esch, struck a deal to purchase one of the town’s dilapidated properties with seller, Dona LaBlanc for a $21,000 purchase price. The LMA claims both women circumvented the agency’s rules in order to complete the sale. The property was previously

The Historical Guild Theater in Oak Park was alive with poetry, fashions and music for Ladies Night Out this past Saturday night, April 2, 2011. Award winning local poet and community leader Terry Moore hosted the sold out event as a benefit for the Center for Families and Fathers Sacramento. The Emcee for the evening was Petri Hawkins-Byrd, is best known as the bailiff on the television show Judge Judy. Hawkins-Byrd did a wonderful job keeping the audience laughing and the show moving with jokes, heart-felt commentary on the poetry and light-hearted introductions for the wide variety of local talent recruited by Moore for the occasion. The ladies night theme of the evening started off w

It’s always amazing to see the real power of words. The words — the way they can fill a room with sound and fury and electricity, all from someone speaking a certain way. All from poetry. The New Dimensions Learning Academy on 35th and Broadway hosts such talents and was graced by the presence of the award-winning “Queen of New York,” Tantra Zawadi, who performed some of her spoken word Saturday. The academy holds an open mic night every last Saturday of the month, and this particular night multiple artists hit the stage with rhythmic energy, syllabic enigmas and profound social commentary. “I feel like this is a place that I can come to live, you know?” attendee Maurice Sanders, 21, s

Clive Matson is more than a legendary Beat poet. He's a little bit younger than the Beats, and a lot more honest and raw, which he'll tell you himself. He's a nature lover, a teacher and a father. And on Monday, June 15, he will be teaching a free public workshop entitled "Let the Crazy Child Inside Write" at the Sacramento Poetry Center. Poets Q.R. Hand and H.D. Moe will also be reading at the event, which begins at 6 p.m. Matson plans to read from his heralded 1966 poetry collection Mainline to the Heart, along with some more recent works. When Mainline was published, it was described by one reviewer as "more edgy than the Beats," a critique Matson agrees with. "I'm carried away eith

 Let me paint my pain In colors and hues Beautifully depicted By shapes and lines Of verses that are cunningly crafted by rhymes, in my lit forget it, I need to paint my pain or write words with no restraint or limits, pushing their edge and pulling them from my head or psyche lovely, is the acrylic sonnet how glorious the tinted ballad bouquet that’s balmy or fragranced by a hint of  rose in the shadows of pink hearts pierced by the strains of poverty and brown breached injustice smears lavished by black and white tears veneered, in order to protect it I have to paint my pain! Using written speech Or talk that will speak Uplift the spirit of humanity Prick the co

Tap! Tap! Tap!, Tapping of the muse Who leads the anthem, in poem Conductor, instructor of odes they form such a sweet, symphony Crescendos, of his verse cymbals Are crashing and banging, beat bodes Each line reveals, epiphany As solos goes, in minor’s prose sharp toots, of the poetry flute cresting the grandest, finale O! sweet, the poesy symphony He bows gratitude, verbally  

Mason jar in hand chasing, bug’s light wee While giggle bubbles pop! around their heads Pretty girls three, they run and play so free Summer nights creatures of flight, try to flee Caught in the web of memories, instead Mason jar in hand chasing, bug’s light wee Carpets of grass feel cool to their bare feet Feeling dewy and slippy, as they tread Pretty girls three, they run and play so free Snatched weeds put in. Quick! They try as one flees Within that moment, spans the eyes with dread Mason jar in hand chasing, bug’s light wee “Let’s take them in and take care.” All agree. Try to hold the minute, that instant dead Pretty girls three, they run and play so free  

I Watch a Leaf I watch a leaf, bound in a tiny pool Dismal flora, unmindful it is dead Autumnal wind, used as pushing tool This parking lot puddle, bumping its edge I watch the leaf; dried, brown, crescent crumble While its friends, they twist and roll they are free Scent of shop donuts, build tummies grumble Winds slash and lash my skin, howling a plea I watch a leaf, the leaf of my shared grief Who doesn’t want to die, meet brevity From time no relief, life span, living brief Out of grasp or my hands, longevity Honor all seasons, vanity, false belief Walk away from composting of, this leaf     Foggy is ths Bridge Foggy is this bridge, its seamed with soft lights Thick is the m

Patrick Grizzell is a local poet and musician. He plays the guitar and sings with three different groups: The Liz Ryder Band, Junkyard Burlesque and Mandolin Avenue. Grizzell is also the one of the founders of The Sacramento Poetry Center, which has been around since 1979. He has published books of poetry, 13 Poems, Chicken Months, Dark Music: Selected Poems and Stories and others. Bob Dylan, Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen have been major sources of musical inspiration for Grizzell but those who hear him play live can agree that he has a sound of his own. Grizzell will be performing at Luna's cafe with Junkyard Burlesque on Jan. 9. He will be reading poetry at Time Tested Books on Jan. 18 to