BRIEF REVIEWS
Peter Coyote, The 60's, New Mexico, Atomic Bombs;
Annie Dillard, Jane Goodall, Alice Walker on Women's Travel

THE WEEKLY RALPH
"In West Point, there are words which have overt
(or not-so-overt) sexual overtones. A roommate is called
a 'wife.' To study is to 'bone' (a 'file boner'
being an overly conscientious cadet). A cadet officer
is called 'a make,' and 'to skin'
is to be reported for delinquency."

ARTICLES
Letter from Uppland
"Well, they are all very polite, these Swedes,
and I think they are kindly, sympathetic to the
mentally challenged. They are aware that we
monolingual Americans belong in that category."

READINGS
Malraux, Nehru, Gandhi, and Elephants
"Japan has many reasons to be sad,
and elephants are almost unknown there, I don't know why.
So in order to revive the smiles of yesterday, I wanted
to take an elephant with me. But I was prevented from doing so."

Violet Pearls at the Hippodrome
"I would see a fluorescent chalk and blinking landscapes streaked with showers;
it always rained, even when the sun shone brightly, even in apartments.
At times, an asteroid in flames would shoot across
the drawing room of a baroness without her seeming to be surprised.
I liked that rain, that restless anxiety which played on the wall."

POETRY
Head of a White Woman Winking
"She has one good bumblebee
which she leads about town
on a leash of clover.
It's as big as a Saint Bernard
but also extremely fragile."

Me viene, hay dias
"There comes over me some days an urge, abundant, political,
an impulse to kiss passion itself on both cheeks,
and from somewhere deep down that urge overwhelms me
to stroke, flagrantly, with consent or by force,
whoever detests me..."

LETTERS
"Your reviewer Lolita Lark is a cruel
stupid, insensitive bitch."