Unsolicited Survey Unsolicited Survey
Have you been there? If so, can you describe the shape of the shadows? When you entered, did anyone greet you? Did the moss hug your foot or a jay screech in your ear? Were you afraid you would not get back? Did they ring a bell? How many times, and what did it sound like? Did a horse bow its head by the side of a road? Did a single feather lie at the clearing? Did a green wave cascade into a grove? Did the flavor of light infect your sleep? Did a toad leap from the dust onto a twig? Did deer turn in terror as you passed? Did a doe lick your hand and find you wanting? Did you behold a flower that cannot fade? Was the sky so empty that you fell upward? Did the needles of a pine tickle your nose? Did you sniff the ghost of the cedars of Lebanon? Did you follow a petal blown to the edge of the sea? Did you wake with a sheet twisted around your throat? Did you call out? Did you kneel at a blade of grass or at the mound of an anthill? Did you ask for a way in or a way out? Did a bough sway imperceptibly? Did you rest your hand on the shoulder of a god? Did you open a piece of fruit and offer a portion of it to the sun? How long did it take to finish, and were you satisfied? Did a fly sip some water from a stone? Did you touch the haze on a plum, its blue cloud? Did you rub its skin until it lost its bloom? Did the day burn in a crow's eye? Were the stars so clear another heaven appeared behind them? Did you hear the wind consoling the leaves? Did you look inside the cap of a mushroom, and part the curtain of disbelief?
Dec 22, 2000 / Books & the Arts / Phillis Levin
A Tale of Two Venonas A Tale of Two Venonas
A review of The Venona Secrets: Exposing Soviet Espionage and America's Traitors, by Herbert Romerstein and Eric Breindel.
Dec 22, 2000 / Books & the Arts / Stephen Schwartz
Speak, Memory! Speak, Memory!
A review of Cherry, by Mary Karr; On Writing, by Stephen King; and Ghost Light, by Frank Rich.
Dec 22, 2000 / Books & the Arts / Dan Wakefield
The Last Edwardian The Last Edwardian
A review of The Hill Bachelors, by William Trevor.
Dec 22, 2000 / Books & the Arts / Eric Weinberger
The Fish in the Window The Fish in the Window
"The fish are in the fishman's window," the grain Is in the hall, "the hunter shouts as the pheasant falls." That shout rises from deep in Adam's chest. The great trawlers pull in the shining bodies. Horses' teeth rip night from sleepy day. We are all like Nebuchadnezzar on his knees. Because the greedy soul gained its teeth in the womb, More than one twin died in the safest place; We fell into the doctor's hands with haunted eyes. We inherited much when we inherited teeth. We will never have one whole day of peace. An old horse will die or a house will burn. Each evening we reach for our neighbor's food. Each night we crawl into imaginary beds; Each midnight we visit the darkness with Saturn. We can go on sitting in the Meeting House, But the greedy one in us will still survive. One cry from the crow contains a thousand more.
Dec 15, 2000 / Books & the Arts / Robert Bly
Economics for Children Economics for Children
We're sorry, but we do not have permission to present this article on our website. It is an excerpt from Upside Down: A Primer for the Looking-Glass World (Metropolitan). © ...
Dec 14, 2000 / Books & the Arts / Eduardo Galeano
Chokehold on the World Chokehold on the World
Are sanctions ethical--or an ill-used weapon of mass destruction?
Dec 14, 2000 / Books & the Arts / Joy Gordon
Double Enmity Double Enmity
Noah Isenberg reviews Communazis, by Alexander Stephan.
Dec 14, 2000 / Books & the Arts / Noah Isenberg
Girls, Interrupted Girls, Interrupted
Chris Kraus reviews Cool for You, by Eileen Myles.
Dec 14, 2000 / Books & the Arts / Chris Kraus
Ce N’est Pas un Président Ce N’est Pas un Président
All I want is the truth. Just gimme some truth. --John Lennon Florida's electoral mishegoss lends itself to the exploration of an issu...
Dec 7, 2000 / Books & the Arts / Eric Alterman