Mushrooms

by Neil Gaiman  

THE MUSHROOM HUNTERS 

Science, as you know, my little one, is the study
of the nature and behaviour of the universe.
It’s based on observation, on experiment, and measurement,
and the formulation of laws to describe the facts revealed.

In the old times, they say, the men came already fitted with brains
designed to follow flesh-beasts at a run,
to hurdle blindly into the unknown,
and then to find their way back home when lost
with a slain antelope to carry between them.
Or, on bad hunting days, nothing.

The women, who did not need to run down prey,
had brains that spotted landmarks and made paths between them
left at the thorn bush and across the scree
and look down in the bole of the half-fallen tree,
because sometimes there are mushrooms.

Before the flint club, or flint butcher’s tools,
The first tool of all was a sling for the baby
to keep our hands free
and something to put the berries and the mushrooms in,
the roots and the good leaves, the seeds and the crawlers.
Then a flint pestle to smash, to crush, to grind or break.

And sometimes men chased the beasts
into the deep woods,
and never came back.

Some mushrooms will kill you,
while some will show you gods
and some will feed the hunger in our bellies. Identify.
Others will kill us if we eat them raw,
and kill us again if we cook them once,
but if we boil them up in spring water, and pour the water away,
and then boil them once more, and pour the water away,
only then can we eat them safely. Observe.

Observe childbirth, measure the swell of bellies and the shape of breasts,
and through experience discover how to bring babies safely into the world.

Observe everything.

And the mushroom hunters walk the ways they walk
and watch the world, and see what they observe.
And some of them would thrive and lick their lips,
While others clutched their stomachs and expired.
So laws are made and handed down on what is safe. Formulate.

The tools we make to build our lives:
our clothes, our food, our path home…
all these things we base on observation,
on experiment, on measurement, on truth.

And science, you remember, is the study
of the nature and behaviour of the universe,
based on observation, experiment, and measurement,
and the formulation of laws to describe these facts.

The race continues. An early scientist
drew beasts upon the walls of caves
to show her children, now all fat on mushrooms
and on berries, what would be safe to hunt.

The men go running on after beasts.

The scientists walk more slowly, over to the brow of the hill
and down to the water’s edge and past the place where the red clay runs.
They are carrying their babies in the slings they made,
freeing their hands to pick the mushrooms.

Photograph by Molly Walsh / Academy of American Poets

Pomegranate by Kevin Pilkington

Pomegranate

Kevin Pilkington


A woman walks by the bench I’m sitting on
with her dog that looks part Lab, part Buick,
stops and asks if I would like to dance.
I smile, tell her of course I do. We decide
on a waltz that she begins to hum.

We spin and sway across the street in between
parked cars and I can tell she realizes
she chose a man who understands the rhythm
of sand, the boundaries of thought. We glide
and Fred and Ginger might come to mind or
a breeze filled with the scent of flowers of your choice.
Coffee stops flowing as a waitress stares out the window
of a diner while I lead my partner back across the street.

When we come to the end of our dance,
we compliment each other and to repay the favor
I tell her to be careful since the world comes to an end
three blocks to the east of where we stand. Then
I remind her as long as there is a ’59 Cadillac parked
somewhere in a backyard between here and Boise
she will dance again.

As she leaves content with her dog, its tail wagging
like gossip, I am convinced now more than ever
that I once held hundreds of roses in my hands
the first time I cut open a pomegranate.

link to poem

H.D. "The Walls Do Not Fall"

The following excerpt is Section 15 of “The Walls Do Not Fall” which is included in H.D.’s Collected Poems, 1912-1944:

Too old to be useful

(whether in years of experience,

we are the same lot)
not old enough to be dead,

we are the keepers of the secret,
the carriers, the spinners

of the rare intangible thread
that binds all humanity

to ancient wisdom,
to antiquity;

our joy is unique, to us,
grape, knife, cup, wheat

are symbols in eternity,
and every concrete object

has abstract value, is timeless
in the dream parallel

whose relative sigil has not changed
since Nineveh and Babel.

"Plot" by Elizabeth Willis

Plot

Elizabeth Willis

The second stage is sleeplessness.

At first there was worry.

The third stage is “ordinary people.”

The fourth: what to do.

The first stage is chaos.

The second is invention.

The steam engine. The napkin.

The picnic table. Money.

First you were walking across a bridge.

Then you were flying.

Then you were sweeping the floor.

First comes love.

Then nausea.

First pleasure.

Just a little pinch.

First the pupa, then the wings.

Wordlessness. Night.

The first thing is labor.

The second, we don’t know.

First comes water.

Then air.

A hurricane. A sigh.

Abigail. Norma. Laquisha.

Molly. Sylvia. Roxanne.

Temperance. Emma. Delilah.

Daphne. Wilhelmina. Georgette.

Landfall. Rubble.

The first stage was childhood.

The second stage was Beatrice.

The first stage was Beatrice.

The second stage was hell.

First the city, then the forest.

The second stage was Virgil.

The third stage was expurgated.

The fourth went unnoticed.

The last stage was a letter.

A single meaningless hum.

What came first the money launderers or the flatterers.

What came first the Catherine wheel or the icebox.

In the beginning a voice.

In the beginning paramecia.

First carbon.

Then electricity.

Then shoes.

In the beginning a tree.

Before the house, a cave.

Before the cave, a swamp.

Before the swamp, a desert.

The garden was in the middle.

Between the sidewalk and the street.

In the beginning soup.

Then tables. The stock market.

Things on four legs.

In the beginning I was frightened.

Then the darkness told a joke.

Which came first the river or the bank.

Which came first the priest or the undertaker.

Which came first crime or punishment.

Which came first the firemen or the cops.

Which came first conquest or discovery.

The fork or the spoon.

The point or the lineup.

The FBI or the CIA.

Which came first gravity or grace.

Which came first cotton or wool.

Which came first the slaver or the ship.

Which came first the ankle or the wing.

The hummingbird or the frog.

Puberty or ideology.

Which came first memory or forgiveness.

Which came first prohibition or women’s suffrage.

Coffee or tea.

What came first yes or no.

What comes first silver or gold.

Porcelain or silk.

Pen or paper.

What came first Kyoto or Dresden.

What came first the renaissance or the reformation.

What would you rather be a rabbit or a duck.

Who is more powerful Mephistopheles or Marguerite.

Who’s it going to be me or you.

What would you rather do burn or drown.

In the beginning I was invincible.

In the middle I came apart.

First there was a library then there was a café.

Then there was a wall of glass.

Which came first The Melancholy of Departure or The Double Dream of Spring.

Which came first repression or resistance.

Grammar or syntax.

The siren or the gunshot.

Which came first granite or marble.

The army or the drone.

The whistling or the blackbird.

Which came first sugar or rum. Pineapple or bananas.

The senate or the corporation.

Was the story half-empty or half-full.

What feels better pity or anger.

What scares you more life or death.

What describes you best, the steam in the engine or a penny on the tracks.

What were you thinking, a whimper or a bang.

What would you choose, a sandwich or a phone call.

What did you expect, a question or an answer.

A piano or a clock.

Take all the time you want.

Elizabeth Willis is the author of “Alive: New and Selected Poems,” a finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize.

One Billion Rising Budapest Raffle!

OBR Budapest Saturday night!

(english scroll down)

Mit csinálsz szombat este?
Gyere, találkozz velünk a Barrio Del Tango bárban Pesten!

Akik még nem ismerik a Break the Chain táncot, Szántó Nikolett autóversenyző vezetésével részt vehetnek az estet megelőző táncpróbán 7-től.

Az este 8-kor ismerkedéssel és tombolajegy árusítással kezdődik. Bombera Kriszta segítségével bemutatjuk vendégeinket, a három női és nőket segítő civil szervezetet. A Break the Chain táncot Arany Timi énekkíséretében táncolhatjuk el, az est elején, majd újra a végén.

Az „Open Mic” -szabad mikrofon részben slamköltők és feministák szólnak hozzánk. Házigazdáink, a Barrio del Tango művészei, Tímea és Simon tangóbemutatót tartanak nekünk, majd a Tilos Rádió (női) DJ-je, Sanyi Tilos zenéjére táncolhatunk a lenti parketten. Ő felelt a történelmi pesti Women’s March zenei hátteréért is. A fenti studióban az iskolateremtő Brezina Kinga tart NIA táncórát. Ha még sosem próbáltad, most biztos beleszeretsz ebbe a mozgásformába!

Mire a hangulat a tetőfokára hág, Zsuzsó Shererah Sárközy hastáncosnő előadását is megnézhetjük. Az értékes művészeti tombolanyereményeket az est végén sorsoljuk ki. Ha eljössz, úgy tudod támogatni a nők kizsákmányolása és a nők elleni erőszak elleni küzdelmet, hogy közben energiával és jókedvvel telítődsz.

https://www.facebook.com/events/465202520270111/

Támogathatsz és táncolhatsz az Est a Kizsákmányolás Ellen rendezvényen  február 18-án, vagy támogatásodat elutalhatod az alábbi bankszámlákra is:

Józan Babák : Magnet Bank 16200216-17085906-000000000

JÓL-LÉT Alapítvány : Magnet Bank HU48 16200151-18528549-00000000

Magyar Női Érdekérvényesítő Szövetség (Női Érdek) : Unicredit Bank HU32 10918001- 00000019-84720012

#riseinsolidarity #1billionrising #womensmarch

What are you doing Saturday night?

We hope to see you at the Barrio Del Tango.

For those who want to learn or practice first-time the the Break the Chain dance, rehearsal starts at 7 pm with Nikolett Szántó, the motorcar drift champion.

The evening’s program will start at 8 pm with mingling and raffle tickets. We will introduce our three women’s right NGOs with the help of Kriszta Bombera. The community dance performance of Break the Chain comes right after this to the live performance by singer Timi Arany.

There will be an Open Mic and slam poets and feminists will perform. Our hosts for the evening at Barrio del tango, Tímea and Simon, will present a tango performance. The guest (woman) DJ, Sanyi Tilos, will run our dance floor. (She was responsible for the music of the historic Women’s March in Budapest earlier this year.) Upstairs will be a NIA dance session. (If you haven’t tried it, our awesome instructor, Kinga Brezina will make you fall in love with it.)

Later in the night the belly dancers , Zsuzsó Shererah Sárközy’s group and guest, will perform for us! She might even teach us a few moves! The winners of the prestigous art object raffle will be announced right before the event closes with another Break the Chain dance.

If you can't join us Saturday night, you can donate directly: Write "One Billion Rising" on bank transfer.

Józan Babák : Magnet Bank 16200216-17085906-000000000

JÓL-LÉT Alapítvány : Magnet Bank HU48 16200151-18528549-00000000

Magyar Női Érdekérvényesítő Szövetség (Női Érdek) : Unicredit Bank HU32 10918001- 00000019-84720012

#riseinsolidarity #1billionrising #womensmarch

One Billion Rising Budapest 2017

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Join us on Feb. 18th! The evening’s program will start with mingling and raffle tickets. We will introduce our three women’s right NGOs. While they will speak briefly in Hungarian, all three speak English as well and look forward to discussing their work with you. Slam poets will perform. And our hosts for the evening at Barrio del tango will present a tango performance. The guest DJ, Sanyi Tilos will run our dance floor. Upstairs will be a NIA dance session. If you haven’t tried it, our awesome instructor will make you fall in love with it. Later in the night the belly dancers will perform for us!

And what can you win in the raffle? Art! Dance lesson vouchers! The change to commission an original artwork! Autographed books (in English and Hungarian), Wine, and more!

It’s cold outside. Come to the One Billion Rising Anti-Exploitation Ball and keep the marching energy hot! 

https://www.facebook.com/events/465202520270111/

#1billionrising #womensmarch #sistermarch #riseinsolidarity

Meet our Beneficiaries

The One Billion Rising Budapest 2017 campaign supports three nonprofits working to end the exploitation of women:

Józan Babák--which helps pregnant women and women with young children become substance abuse free (many of their clients are prostituted women or exited women)

JÓL-LÉT Alapítvány--which works to support women’s rights in the workplace

Női Érdek, the Hungarian Women’s Lobby--which strives to build a feminist culture and defend women’s rights

Representatives from these organizations will be available at the ball to answer further questions.

https://www.facebook.com/events/465202520270111/

#Budapest #1billionrising #riseinsolidarity #sistermarch

One Billion Rising Budapest Fundraiser

Dear Friends,

Please join us February 18th, 2017 for the One Billion Rising Anti-Exploitation Ball: an evening of dance with all proceeds donated to local women’s rights groups. The evening is hosted by Barrio Del Tango, with a guest DJ.

While Budapest is famous for many things including its nightlife, it is also famous for its exploitative sex industry. The One Billion Rising Budapest 2017 campaign supports three nonprofits working to end the exploitation of women. The first, Józan Babák, helps pregnant women and women with young children become substance abuse free (many of their clients are prostituted women or exited women). The second nonprofit is JÓL-LÉT Alapítvány, which works to support women’s rights in the workplace. And the third is Női Érdek, the Hungarian Women’s Lobby, which strives to build a feminist culture and defend women’s rights. Representatives from these organizations will be available at the ball to answer further questions.

One Billion Rising Budapest is seeking donations to ensure that these NGOs can continue to carry out their work in Hungary and to help exploited women rebuild their lives. You can donate and dance at the Anti-Exploitation Ball on February 18th, or you can transfer funds directly (even from abroad) to these accounts:

• Józan Babák: Magnet Bank 16200216-17085906
• JOL-LET Alapíitvany: Magnet Bank HU48 1620 0151 1852 8549 0000 0000
• Magyar Női Érdekérvényesítő Szövetség (Női Érdek): Unicredit Bank, Hungary HU32 1091 8001 0000 0019 8472 0012

Please note “One Billion Rising” on transfer.

With thanks,
Janet Kelley, One Billion Rising Organizer and Hungarian Women’s Lobby Volunteer

For more information about One Billion Rising, a global campaign to stop violence against women: http://www.onebillionrising.org/

Join our Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/465202520270111/

One Billion Rising Anti-Exploitation Ball:
February 18th, 2017. 8 pm – 12 am
Barrio Del Tango
1053 Budapest, Irányi utca 18-20
No formal dress required! Come dressed to dance!
Entrance to the party is free. Cash bar.

#riseinsolidarity #onebilionrising

Winter Sundays

THOSE WINTER SUNDAYS

Robert Hayden, 1913 - 1980


Sundays too my father got up early

and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold, 

then with cracked hands that ached 

from labor in the weekday weather made 

banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him. 

I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking. 

When the rooms were warm, he’d call, 

and slowly I would rise and dress, 

fearing the chronic angers of that house, 

Speaking indifferently to him, 

who had driven out the cold 

and polished my good shoes as well. 

What did I know, what did I know 

of love’s austere and lonely offices?