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Newsletters Bern Porter Collection of Contemporary Letters

7-2001

Bern Porter International: Volume 5 Number 12 (July 1, 2001) Bern Porter International: Volume 5 Number 12 (July 1, 2001)

Bern Porter

Sheila Holtz

Natasha Bernstein

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Recommended Citation Recommended Citation Porter, Bern; Holtz, Sheila; and Bernstein, Natasha, "Bern Porter International: Volume 5 Number 12 (July 1, 2001)" (2001). Newsletters. 41. https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/porter_newsletters/41

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IJt�n f)o�ttt Jntt�nat ional . .

A Literary Newsletter and Bulletin of the Institute of Advanced Thinking

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POSTFLUXPOSTBOOKLET NR.28

Grote Nleuwedljkstraat 41.1 2800 Mechelen -

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Various Ma1\-artists/networkeJs & _Mr Luce

Autumn Palumbo P.O. Box 17

Clallam Bay, WA 98326

Slim Fast Blood

Country radio music yowled as a grocery cart rattled down

the aisle of breakfast cereals. Carol's turquoise eyes veered to the

left. Stacked among cans of Slim Fast, flavors also varied in

different blood types. "Finally, they've answered our prayers, "

she mused.

Her bony fingers coiled around the aluminum can of her favorite:

Type AB. Labels such as lOOo/o FRESH NON-COAGULATED

TASTE and PLASMA FREE advertised the diet shake as a vampire's

beverage of delight.

After draining her obnoxious sister-in-law, she needed to shed

pounds off her "chunky" frame. Carol tossed four more cans into her

cart of soggy packages of rare hamburger and flaky garlic cloves.

Her eager whistling headed towards the cash register.

the group shGws concern for the

Steve Forbes revealed aili!r the �� December Bush economic forum, � "we are going to get as much as we can as fast as we can.''

well-being of every shg e memhtr. Sheila Holtz

There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening

that is translated through you into action,

and because there is only one of you in all of time,

this expression is unique.

And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium,

and be lost.

The world will not have it.

It is not your business to determine how good it is,

nor how valuable, nor how it compares with other expressions.

It is your business to keep it yours, clearly and directly,

to keep the channel open.

You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work.

You have to keep open and aware directly to the urge that

motivates you.

Keep the channel open ...

Martha Graham

to Agnes DeMille

in "Dance to the Piper"

submitted by Katherine Donithome

I asked God if it was okay to be melodramatic

and she said yes

I asked her if it was okay to be short

and she said it sure is

I asked her if I could wear nail polish

or not wear nail polish

and she said honey

she calls me that sometimes

she said you can do just exactly

what you want to

Thanks God I said

And is it even okay if I dont paragraph

my letters

Sweetcakes God said

who knows where she picked that up

what I'm telling you is

Yes Yes Yes

The Needed Word

Always it is there And then lost.

Between the night and the veil Of whitening morning light And then again In the shadows of dusk.

We pursue it,

Riding pale horses Among the aspen trees. Or as rider and ridden, Last centaurs among Elm and oak.

We seek it as diggers In one more cave, Where bats flutter And hang upside down. Seeking the one last gospel, Not found Seeking the needed word, Needed.

- Kaylin Haught

from In the Palm of.Your Hand: The Poet's Portable Workshop, by Steve Kowit, Tilbury

House Publishers, Gardiner ME, 1995

submitted by

Katherine Donithorne

Eugene ¥cCarthy

body, cruvible, emerges from the.

washed by vision, phoenix risen

ressurrected and perfected

in our love. The dream has come agian

has come again . . •

work, study, meditation • • • The life of a forest-dweller,

oblate • • • th er e is no art in this, only worship,

om saraswate naniah, "White as the snow or the moon, •or

lcunda flowers, obeisance to you • • • " and the power creatrix:

mahashakti, " ightier t han • the sound of many waters,

migh•tier than the brea"lcers of the sea • • • "

TO TH.c; ivIATRIX OF CREATION from whence tne manifest world

takes birth. to tne core of my being to the center of the

universe, which is my being, which is the expansion and

contraction 8li of energy, consciousness, bliss, pulsation

of bliss(pulsation of bliss ) ( pmlsation of bliss ) SPANDA!

the earth eartheartheartheart om guru om

Let us not be divided by the varieties of our exp e r i e nc e . Wh�re ever you go, there we are. w Let us now speak with our strong collective voice.

The Dream Goes Jn and �n.

JAIN IVIILLENIEAL BLESSING ( N�okar Man•-..} ra) I bow before the accomplished souls before me and s eek their �X��/iit�t/ enlightenment and blessings for the

fulfillment of my soul and the general good of all souls.

OM GURU OM. Om Ganaesb aya Namah.// om Ekatandtaya vidmahe

Vakratundaya � dimahi. Tanna Danti prachodaayat// om//

we are th fellahin, the keepers of the z I , l JI&�

vestal fires we haTe kept the flame of knowledge aliTe

in the darkness now the day is bright. we have gone down

into the shadow caves of knowledge to discern the forms that

danced on the walls Mtt spirit-mez;, bird spirits, � bison

-spirits, dear and bear spiri ts�

spiri ts of celestial beings 1

1 nymphs, sylphs, satyrs, pan, faeries, sprites

§ § §

Arise ye fella fellahin! Know it: Let us know our own

divinity True love never dies. J

the earth eartheartheartheart

,Natasha Bernstein § from On the Road in the Twenty-first Century

§ §

oin guru om

PIGEON DROPPINGS

BEYOND DENIAL

I agree to accept your application of intimidation. Anything less would deny your

existence. Denial of my existence is my own means of survivial. An interaction of

distradion, through addition and substraction.

IDENTITY

Howling through my ears the wind blows away the memories, that the pouring rain

washes into oblivion. Leaning against a tree I make my final plea for safety by

supergluing my hand to its bark. Only moments later did the tree uproot, like a tooth

extracted by a young child. Embedded in its skin is my identity. Oddly enough, I do not

mourn its loss, but the fact that it did not uproot me as well. Now I have to find

something else to cling to.

STEPS

Each step I take is one more than I really need. I was always told not to take anything

that doesn't belong to me. Ifl give you my steps, is that not a fair exchange. Or are my

steps not equal to yours? Do I have to take more or less to make them the same. I

wonder if we will ever move forward, or merely stand here comparing the size of our feet· - . . . . ---

PIGEON DROPPINGS (RANDOM THOUGHTS BY A RANDOM PERSON)

Jeff Johnson 11138 North Mission

'Clare, Mi 48617

I I BERN PORTER INTERNATIONAL

-. ,

50 Salmond Street, Belfast, MAINE 04915 USA Sheila Holtz & Natasha Bernstein

EDITORS ---I '

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