TOP HITS
Being a list of earlier
articles, reviews and
poems called up
most often by
our readers.

NEW TITLES
Birdsong by the Season
"You get up at some
ungodly hour when all
sane folk are abed
so you can slosh about
in the icy wetlands
seeking the call of
the tufted titmouse."

Nights in the Pink Motel
"You and I would not
necessarily think that
the Naval Institute Press,
specializing in books on
you-know-what
could come up with
a page-turner on
freaky diplomacy in
the Middle East, but
they do and
it's here. "

Don't Leave Hungry
"Lovers with stars in their eyes are turning the stars
Into babies, lovers reading the instructions in comic books
Are turning out babies according to the instructions; this
Progression is said by demographers to be geometric and
Accelerating the rate of its acceleration."

The 1935 Labor Day Hurricane
"No soldiers armed
with machine guns,
looking at everyone
as potential 'looters.'
No militia driving
away the people
who arrived to help
the rest of us."

Samuel Johnson
"Perhaps DeMaria
hasn't done his homework.
Several commentators
have suggested that Johnson
suffered from Tourette's Syndrome,
with its involuntary
movements, shouts, obscenities
and twitches."

Flying Across America
"The presence of
female airline employees
aboard commercial planes
could serve notice
to the nonflying public
that if flying was
safe for young women,
it must be safe for all."

Lanterns on the Prairie
"The audience,
according to one writer,
hissed, shrieked, and whistled.
The photographs of
plump German singers in
headdress and buckskin
is enough to chill
a good music-lover's heart."

With an Iron Pen
"Tires are for burning.
Gas is for tears.
R. D. is for Reserve Duty.
And a soldier is a soldier.
M.O.O.N. is moon.
W.H.I.T.E. is white.
And T.H.A.T.'S that.
Terror. Terrible."

Great Reviews of the Past
Travels with My Chicken
"Think of a pet who,
will wake you,
a living alarm clock,
at five or so
in the morning, and
will repeat his song until
you guillotine the little bastard
and fry him
up for lunch."

LETTERS
High Fashion and Geezers:
Cosmetic Opportunities at RALPH

MORE LETTERS
Carl Jung

EVEN MORE LETTERS
Cryptic Letters of the Month
Laying on Arms
[For Love of Two Queens]

ARTICLE
Jacob Bronowski and Nagasaki
"The shadows behind me
were the skeletons of
the Mitsubishi factory buildings,
pushed backwards and sideways
as if by a giant hand.
What I had thought to be
broken rocks was
a concrete power house with
its roof punched in."

READINGS
The Garambulla
"These big tree-cactus
produced a little dark red
berry called garambulla.
When ripe, this berry
had an unforgettably
delicious flavor.
Lowelito said that
it was not only
the sunlight but also
the view of the city
that went into the making
of that unique flavor."

Secret Foods
"My pleasure in them
is subtle and voluptuous
and quite inexplicable.
I can only write
how they are prepared."

POETRY
Song of Praise
Bless, Wickedness, the marvel of the plane, a lump of black steel
carried along swift currents of air, its greased belly laden
with brilliant metallic eggs, joyous Easter for the children of Belgrade.

Psychic Healers
"Once she fell asleep in a session. I did not
wake her. Compliant, complacent, I allowed her to dream
her own Jungian dreams --- dark men in four o'clock shadow;
a red hibiscus opening; anima, animus."

The Attic, the House
"Here Aunt Vivian
looks like a balloon.
She popped. She's dead.
The picture stays on, though,
her stretched thin smile
survived her all this while,
became her legacy."

Great Poems of the Past
What I Did Not Tell Anyone
"That my body felt stolen.
That I felt like Russia during all the wars
troops tramping over me on their way to Moscow.
That he didn't say anything
That the baby fell asleep.
That I wanted to sleep alone."

THE OFFICIAL RALPH
Paradox-of-the-Month

GENERAL INDEX
All the back-issues of RALPH,
including titles of books under review,
along with author, subject, and publisher,
plus links to readings, articles, and poems
that have appeared on-line
since 1994.

A PITHY SAMPLE
of our most notorious reviews
as collected in the hard-copy
"FOLIO"

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