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

A Talk With Governor George Ryan A Talk With Governor George Ryan

The governor issued a moratorium on executions in Illinois a year ago, after investigative-reporting students and their professor saved an innocent man from the death chamber.

Dec 22, 2000 / Feature / Bruce Shapiro

Powell Will Make Heard the Voice of the Common Man… Powell Will Make Heard the Voice of the Common Man…

Some reasons (personal and political) for applauding Colin Powell's new appointment.

Dec 19, 2000 / Column / Robert Scheer

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

Prince Al Prince Al

Al Gore will be playing a special political role in the future.

Dec 15, 2000 / David Corn

The God That Failed The God That Failed

The Supreme Court was determined to make George W. Bush the winner of the election.

Dec 14, 2000 / Herman Schwartz

On Late-Term Presidential Travels On Late-Term Presidential Travels

Dec 14, 2000 / Column / Calvin Trillin

Free Time for a Free People Free Time for a Free People

There's a growing movement to add livable hours to calls for a living wage.

Dec 14, 2000 / Feature / Arthur Waskow

No Honeymoon No Honeymoon

The election reveals a deep need for voting reform.

Dec 14, 2000 / The Editors