Meditations on And Then 16 / Bernie Tuchman

Meditations on And Then 16 Dear Everyone, Bernie Tuchman wrote the following medition on And Then 16. Everyone's piece is written about. Robert Meditations on And Then 16 Shelley Haven (front and back covers) Shrouded mysteries firmly planted and ethereal guardians And Then between these forbidding ends the fruit full-borne promise Revealed Tracy Phillips seduction without conquest being in touch at long last Eva Qin body fear hungry spirits demand repossession Ahmed Abdullah the dream is no less real in the cold light of loss, but neither is it boundless Johannah Segers dancing into the night Luis Benitez coup de grace: the power to kill without judgment Rosalie Calabrese where was I? only Robert remembers Walter Bateman love poem: before words were processed, mounting intensity in the scrawled revisions Safiya Bandele in the life that is not being restrained is all life and in that life, the pain, fresh loss of what is missing Anonymous and so the nightmare ends the power to forget, paying tribute to cruelty Pramila Venkateswaran seek shock without awe reclaiming dignity, a rueful necessity Donald Lev severed members lost connections phantom pain: nostalgia Arnold Sachar kaleidoscope shards turn against our will: sharp-edged clarity in patterns not of choice not revolution but revulsion propels soul into alternative space Dorothy August the fierce modesty of now, and then, fire George Jochnowitz obesity: repression and rebellion internalized third rail of American politics watch out Michelle, Barack's triangulating, eating grease in Iowa see: http://weaselzippers.us/2011/06/28/obama-orders-nine-mountains-of-greasy-food-during-lunch-stop-in-iowa/ Carletta Joy Walker p. 18 soul space seeking free vastness letting go falling to the stars attracted by the force of levity finding the point: no return Noah Baen In the beginning was the picture. without words forlorn like fugitive stalks gathering to form meaning Howard Pflanzer predators: behind their soulless staring eyes real eyes well trained on joy stick video games families proud of their skill and their service Marlene Nadle there is no release without remorse no scale of just deserts comes natural to set right the balance for wrongs inflicted / suffered in mutual violations only attending to all the cries can rest the vengeful crow in mourning's peace Eleni Begetis Anastos visions not to be seen: need far away and unaddressed George Snedeker bereft of grief the unseen child looks on outside the circle of self-destroying life M. S. Voros young life: nourished receptive innocence rewarded must find a container absorbing abundance the container: avoidance banishing confusion unwanted reception forming the adult: the person bound by limits which cannot be seen yet still: innocent wonder awakens to marvel in new connections Kato Laszlo Roth self-knowledge: irrepressible secret of black humor, elixir of life Ashley Roth (without reflection) straight up terrific! Patricia Dahlman hanging out in self reflection Gerald Williams odors' ascent unbidden exposes penetrable subject of being: wants and fears Eli Cohen p. 30 I sing of bodies electric charged by induction into an army seeking self-mastery solo performers conspiring as one kinetic-harmonic choir Nancy Ross child the watcher leaking tears clouds your clear crystal vision, you will not show disappointment Rafael Colon Morales the prince of whales cavorts Myrna Nieves dream power bubbles into being alternative universes richer than our own, mysteries the source of understanding Jess Amortell A tatter of tangled towels careworn. For life: One more cycle Peter Wolff "Embracing in the darkness" "Hoping for nothing" "And learn to love your fright" holding onto each other withholding nothing as we let go, an act of faith the only way through Margaret Yard p. 36, 1 and in us all a cosmic jest gestating deity perfect blossom bursting confinement needing us bearers suffering creation to see in ourselves God's missing attribute: omnisentience all we know is pain and imperfection naissance interruptus Margaret Yard p. 36, 2 thinking of Arnie within ourselves the better world where re-born Arnie belongs Peter N. Nevraumont neither dreams nor art, archetypes happen: thanks for the memories Fredy Roncalla vivid connections memory-musculature of artists makes happy accidents happen Raluca Soreanu OK, no magic wings but dreams keep us flying against the infirmities and niceties Rula Kaliroi lounging, yet springing taut alive in every direction pivoting points of self sculpted inflection D. H. Melhem in rushing sprays a fledgling leaps to fly or die: Iguazu falls Ralph Nazareth Hear, O Israel the sounds of Silence Michael Szpakowski and Christopher McHugh What I know about art and its use: art is the presence that draws me in conjures image in me for me moving, surprising and changing "me" an active tool generating meaning and motive I am appreciated by art I know I need art and (unlike stuff) the more the better blessed be the source Reflections on Colchis: -- And Then image: I see mud and stone becoming wall made in place to confine to protect to control -- Online image: I see just what I was looking for: my new screensaver Michael Malinowitz long apart still connecting Veronica Jones rap roun' world 'cause people fight dead power Rosario Casatellanos longing: a palm tree Stephanie Hart innocence, life's phoenix many times burnt resurrects unnoticed breathing in life its very presence only revealed when once again all is lost the cycle repeats Robert Roth p. 51 a wicked tease love's surest intimacy Renee E. Neely two women withering as gods blow smoke rings sit ! rooted on their front porch a pale mist hovers then falls plotting their escape on gulls facing west two haikus reconstruct William Gordon (and worst of the tortures the unanswered question: how could people let this all happen?) Enforcers of discipline: prison guards tyrants and raters of bonds Act without mercy in defense of the credo: Domination Brings Order Just Power Prevails Evil in context: Society's Bulwark Well worth the Price For the Sake of the Children (rebellious in spirit, the first to be crushed) Outside of these safe walls No one is living Disrupting the quiet means Crossing the Line Order beats chaos No matter the cost (for you to decide: which side are you on?) Martha Globus-Rodriguez we are all whole who share one now separated by avoidance giving up to the not free to be all of the space to which we are entitled Paidemoyo Chideya now is not the time now is the only time both are true every moment a choice self-respect in the balance attend intend and release to be alive appreciate becoming whole Now Michael Henry bare trees branches extend, respectfully interlacing til spring bursts forth, leaves jostling for light's sustenance, crowding out the sun Maricella Vera Sanabria and from the terror a need for order words of the father compelling respect see us through the raging storm Diana Festa will, the maker of meaning, remembers past treasures ploughs on through seas of loss Eli Cohen p. 59 and suddenly there is no line and boundless being fills all voids no other side, just belief in time (a moment) shaken to earth, quaking belief (the suspension of disbelief) collapses back into terror firma Helen Rosen you can't know who you are til you find out who you miss Arlene King ego moves projecting ahead without perspective the wake is someone else's problem Carletta Joy Walker p. 60 collage: the aftermath Kihyun Lee I know who I am my core is not hidden the purpose of being is ceaselessly working carrying family forward and upward mother knows her own worth by success of the children fulfilling the task: the rise of the family there's only one path so easy to fail to fall out of grace in a life of devotion my pain is unhidden with sorrow-resolve again I am climbing my failure behind me I carry my mother I carry my purpose forward and upward my pride is unbroken Robert Roth p. 62 Proudly I labor bear my own being expel my self from an unchosen womb Ripped loose unattached unhealed I tremble Nothing we came from has ever departed Jim Story entangling knot no sword could cut through from mother to son cord strengthens its will Kasim Omar Jerome the wish is the fulfillment Carol Jochnowitz in a restaurant drunk creep wants a fight with big man passes mocking sex slur note to man's wife adrenaline pumps not his pussy can't get away with it kill him / break him / scream rage! make a scene or, just get up and leave What should he do? What should she do? How would you rise to the occasion? Louis Servedio-Morales experience cannot drown innocence it floats surfaces through pools of awareness in life we trust our only attraction Richard Kostelanetz life smarts sting Tom Savage life used well enough for wry remembrance no need for do-overs no time for repeats Mike Vozick Is this a joke? Who decides? And Then? David Mills p. 67 how they hypnotize Gene Brown environmentalists lament the fruit of unconstrained growth sour grapes see:Sour grapes mean vine needs a drastic pruning http://www.thenownews.com/Sour+grapes+mean+vine+needs+drastic+pruning/5070094/story.html#ixzz1Ro9tcmm8 Milton E. Polsky buses full of eco-tourists endangering the species Oliver Ogulnick and where did they move when they got old? (remember, old people really don't like winter) Anthony Thomas de la Puente I moved to 89 Christopher St. in 1966 after returning from grad school in Chicago. I had grown up in Coney Island. And Christopher St. felt like I was living directly on the Midway (minus the Wonder Wheel and other rides). My apartment was up one flight in the back. My neighbor with the front apartment was Marie, whose Italian family had lived in the Village since she was born. She was probably in her mid-70's -- a little older than I am now. She had lived in her present tiny apartment for more than fifty years, and raised children there. I was envious: she was paying less than $50 a month, while my sublet was costing me over $90. On nice days Marie would sit outside on the street, watching a changed world passing her by without notice. One day her apartment door broke at the hinge. The exposed iron was stamped with a date in the 1860s. I remember in my legendary Village the rise of the psychedelic counter-culture (Flower Power), equal in its intense energy to the rising heat of pre-Stonewall gay life. There was a store whose name was A Fly Can't Bird, But a Bird Can Fly. I believe that I saw Timothy Leary once give a talk there. (If not there, it was close-by.) I have just tried to find a trace of this early venture in hippie capitalism, without success. But Google revealed to me the source of the name: Cottleston, cottleston, cottleston pie, A fly can't bird, but a bird can fly. Ask me a riddle and I reply, Cottleston, cottleston, cottleston pie. - Winnie the Pooh David Gurin speeding in our service metered hurt, untended wounds release resentful rage those within hearing will not be spared Marvin W. Schwartz p. 70 as cavity widens rot deepens troubles Jens O. Magnussen acrobats of complexity in promiscuous disequilibrium tumble through common space ignored and observed you are the show William Seaton Does fancy rise in avian mimicry to fly and dive, and then, in reprise, sing possession of dawn's memories? "The truth's required to make a warp and woof with which the mind may weave a high-borne tale to lift itself and all the world besides." Suzanne Ironbiter letting go what you want and need to hold in mirrored stillness reflecting not desire but "choice": what is left absent the option of having everlasting present the scathing sweetness etching loss imprint mirrored on two souls Barbara Habenstreit on the edge before tide reclaims water's domain: a question Mariano Del Rosario Where I'm coming from: Art is the answer to: "What is the question?" the path of escape from certainty defying closure (the refuge offered by every system) the question germinating yet another new inside (underside) from where we grasp ourselves as we were surrounding limits now contained yet know we cannot know the unexpressed being (still) to be born and then ... release life-promise: an emergency waiting to happen as art The Art Scene: shopping for what I need in the fashion-mart not impossible not promising Victor Wallis in common voice spirits unite to break the chains lift every voice and sing we shall overcome (but, never forget: the horst wessel song) In solidarity yes but also hear new strains: critical voices In differing note and key resounds a greater music beyond harmony Alma Karmina Eidus Kastan money fizzing bubbles up (you can see bubbles in the picture replace the dot over each i) and away! Rosemary Drescher nightmare's lullaby: the cradle will rock Jasper Aquino sick of waiting the cure is you David Mills p. 82 Middle Earth Transit Authority meet you at the last stop META-euphoria Tatiana Susol sometimes you lose what you want so you can have what you can't imagine Robert Roth p. 83 know thyself both wisely and too well Robert Roth p. 86 Complacent Humor, muse of aggression never innocent and rarely fully conscious acts out unexamined underpinnings -- the template of conventional discourse. Revealing the props: a spoiler. Unamused, the empire strikes back: Can't you take a joke? Robert Roth p. 87 we forget what we cannot use, deny what we need not to know and then it happens worlds collapse, drown us blow us away and what remains self-medicates joy the fix sings off madness and pain and tells all we need to know to go on Vincent J. Tomeo giving up not even a choice core being missing nothing down in darkness working with what works the poet howls Andrea Cauthen each name a boundary that must be trespassed to own one self Art Gatti aligned with the universe purpose propelled self reaches and finds the vanishing point Ana Lopez-Betancourt how much is life worth to suffer pain and disfigurement loss after loss and know that others close others must give and give and give for your life to go on? how much is life without an outside Meaning, a program to save the world, to carry forth the word, worth? simple repetitive normal life how much is it worth? that spirit-force which will not suffer indignity of comforting departure but blindly holds self in place how much? everything The Sticker Dude for the win fuck the world lickety split in no time like the present before you know it is no more David Neiditch thorny fingers groping for the light of life Joel Shatzky walls are monuments to hopelessness vanity as security closed within walls pressure builds fear-aggression cannot be contained the enemies outside are found within and must be eliminated and cannot be eliminated to breathe, spirits rebel however long until death grip, the encroaching wall, weakens and crumbles the question is: how will we live in its ruins? Marlene Terwilliger in place of place born again in acceptance owning one's own prior orders trusting gut wit to knit balance anew but knowing to embrace once more unarm, loosening hold unfold nets widening sentience and in play in each other's renewal discover grace suffusing all densities becoming the way Marvin W. Schwartz (inside back cover) determined to own himself in a world that seeks to possess him