Greetings!

It's time to say goodbye, as the blog goes on vacation for the summer. Before we go, we would like to extend a few helpful tips to those of you who are embarking on summer adventures.

Top Ten Rules To Remember While On Vacation:

1) Don't marry that guy Fabio who just bought you six shots of Grappa.

2) For the gentlemen-- don't buy random girls six shots of Grappa.

3) Don't drink the water.

4) We mean it--don't drink the water.

5) Wax...need we say more?

6) Try to grasp some of the language...we would hate to have you ask for a second helping of polla instead of pollo.

7) Don't speak to creepy, old men on the train.

8) No hitchhiking...have you people seen Hostel????

9) Don't bet your passport in a back-alley poker game (that would be really stupid).

10) Did we mention don't drink the water?????

Culture Corner

Growing up in a beach town one becomes familiar with the lovely extreme sport of surfing. The culture that surrounds the pastime is often negatively stereotyped, conjuring images of the ignorant slacker who only wants to connect with nature. However, within this ever-growing surfing society, many different types of people are involved in the lifestyle today. Business men and stay-at-home mothers alike share in this wild ride on the sea.

The first written account of surfing comes from the Europeans in 1767. While they set out to conquest and colonize, they noticed people in Tahiti riding waves on long pieces of wood. The surfing that these European men were witnessing was an integral part of Polynesian society, incorporated into many aspects of everyday Tahitian life. In fact, they decided on who their chiefs would be based on surfing ability. The chief got a board made form the best piece of wood and a private section of beach to surf on. As well, many religious practices and myths revolved around surfing.

The traditions of surfing may have started in the Polynesian Islands, but the culture associated with surfing in modern times began in the early twentieth century. During the 1950s and 1960s, surfing became infused into ocean shore societies of America, especially California. One only has to look to popular music of the time to know that surfing was becoming trendy. With bands like The Beach Boys becoming popular and singing about surfing, it was inevitable for there to be an increase of interest in the sport. And so, the shore lines became crowded with surfers searching for awesome waves to ride. Other popular surf music includes Dick Dale and the Del-Tones, Surfaris, and Surf Punks. All of these bands helped create a niche for the culture to spread, and the universal appeal of music brought the idea of surfing to places with no shoreline. Surfing grew more popular with every subsequent generation until today where it has become a major sport with its own internationally recognizable superstars like Laird Hamilton.

Aside from a boost in popularity, the spread of surf music ushered in the spread of surf language. Many new words to describe surfing experience were amended to everyday speech. The most well-known jargon derived from surf culture is the now overused “dude.” Though the word is no longer exclusively used in surfing terms, there are other words that tend to be strictly surfer. Some of these words include “tubular,” “gnarly,” and “hang five/ten.” “Tubular” comes from a desirable type of hollow wave, that is shaped like a tube. “Gnarly” means heavy or intense waves or situations. “Hang five/ten” is the act of placing either five or ten toes over the edge of the nose of your board as you ride a wave. These terms however, have become just as banal over time with recitation in surfer movies or by mockers of the sport. There are other more uncommon surf terms which still maintain a zest to them. Some uncommon surfing terms are “shorepound” (a dangerous condition where waves break in a wall in shallow water), “hodad” (an insulting term for people who are posing as real surfers), and “sponger” (another term for bodyboarder).

Though surfing has become a sport shared by all walks of life, there is a lot of animosity within the surfing community. Even though there is a lot of land bordering the ocean, there are very few surf spots that always have decent waves. This causes “localism.” Many surfers claim their ocean territory and refuse to let others ride in their area. Some beach towns despise people who venture down to the beach for a day or two and waste the locals’ space and time, often being unfamiliar with custom and decorum regarding the sport. Though it would be fair if everyone received an opportunity to surf, most surfers breathe to ride waves and scorn those who attempt to take their space, especially if they consider the intruders’ surfing ability to be inferior to their own. This disdain has even been incorporated into the music, and can be heard in songs like “Locals Only” by the Surf Punks.

Today, the culture has become so popular that even surf fashion is being marketed. Though some are proud of the recognition surfing is getting, many consider it to be a stomp on the culture they love, cheapening it by selling a mere hollow idea of surfing without explaining its importance in culture. With stores like Hollister Co. and Abercrombie and Fitch making surfer clothes trendy, the uniqueness of the surfer lifestyle diminishes and some feel, like the language, may become played out. There are many surfers against the commercialization of the sport because they believe marketing surfing removes the carefree attitude that is associated with it. Those who surf purely for enjoyment; and not to win money or gain fame, are called “Soul Surfers.” These men and women live to surf and their goal is to be in harmony with life. They believe that one should surf solely to surf, not to be fashionable or profitable. Thus, forcing the surf culture at society through clothing companies and television shows like The O.C. and Baywatch takes away from the core belief of surfing. People can now walk into a clothing store, without having any knowledge of the sport, and dress as if they were surfers.

Regardless of whether the popularity boom is a curse or a well deserved recognition, one thing can certainly be said of surfing: it permeates our culture like the water it lives off of. In our music, our fashion, our language and of course, our pastime, surfing and surf culture is a major part of modern life.

- Dominique Gauvard

Boylan Brief #99

Home Brewed Biofuel

Most of us have already heard about the environmental havoc being wreaked by the recent surge in the popularity of purportedly "green" biofuels, most notably corn-based ethanol. Between the increased carbon emissions caused by the deforestation that occurs to clear fields for fuel corn, and the hunger epidemic that is the result of corn being used for fuel instead of food, the touting of corn-based ethanol as a petroleum alternative seems to be more of an environmental travesty than a step in the right direction.

A new company hopes drivers will kick the oil habit by brewing ethanol at home that won't spike food prices or eat up acres of the Amazon. The "MicroFueler", unveiled Thursday by E-Fuel corporation, is a machine that allows homeowners to make their own ethanol, which they can then pump directly into their cars. The unit sells for $10,000 and resembles a gasoline station pump and nozzle. It ferments fuel from sugar, the price of which is historically cheap, and thus avoids the Achilles heel of today's U.S. ethanol system -- reliance on corn -- which has been blamed for helping to spike global food prices. E-Fuels says it will link customers to cheap surplus sugar supplies, including inedible sugar from Mexico that sells at a fraction of the price.

Despite the steep upfront cost of the machine, buyers would see a return on their investment quickly. It is estimated that, assuming average gasoline prices of $3.60 per gallon, the MicroFueler will pay for itself in less than two years for a two-car family that drives about 34,500 miles a year. The unit makes up to 35 gallons (132 liters) of 100 percent ethanol per week. For more thoughts on and predictions about the green energy market and sustainable living, visit http://monbiot.com/

-Ingrid Feeney
Source: Reuters

Man, hiccupping for 15 months, hopes surgery will cure his condition

A 24 year-old musician, Chris Sands living in Lincoln, United Kingdom, has had a peculiar, enduring condition, which has unfortunately, imposed a halt upon his singing career. Sands has been hiccupping for 15 months; the hiccups sometimes occur as often as every two seconds and even while he is asleep. The hiccups apparently started in September of 2006, disappeared for a while, and then reappeared in February 2007 and have not stopped since then. Sands has only been able to perform as back-up singer for the band, Ebullient, four times since his hiccups reappeared. He has commented that the hiccups really put a strain on simply living daily life—sleeping, eating, and talking become difficult tasks to accomplish. Sands has tried all sorts of remedies, ranging from hypnosis to yoga, with no luck. He attributes the hiccups to his acid reflux condition, which has in part been caused by a damaged valve in his stomach. Doctors at Nottingham’s Queen’s Medical Centre have done brain and chest scans, but all to no avail. They revealed nothing about what may cause Sands’ hiccups. The doctors plan to insert a tube into Sands’ stomach to determine whether or not his acid levels are high enough to perform keyhole surgery. This type of surgery would require a wrapping around of the valve in order to tighten it. A fellow hiccup sufferer has had the same surgery performed on him, yet has only had his heartburn clear up, but not his hiccups.

-Alisa Kolenovic
Source: BBC

The Blow Up Dolls of the Flower World

A certain type of orchid has been luring wasp males away from their mates. The Cryptostylis orchid mimics female wasps in order to seduce the males and those allow for greater reproduction. Apparently, the males sometimes even go as far as to leave females they are copulating with in order to “mate” with the flowers and this sometimes leaves them wih no potential female wasp mates. Much like some humans with an obession with porn, no? Oddly enough though, this deviant behavior of the male wasps has some benefits. As the article states, sexual unions among wasps produce females but females can produce males asexually. Thus, since the females are left alone most times, they end up reproducing alone and creating more males to be tricked by the orchids. And so the cycle continues…

-Irena Bruza
Source: Reuters

Poem of the Week

This week Alisa Kolenovic shares a poem by Emily Bronte

Emily Jane Bronte was a British novelist and poet who lived from 1818-1848. She is best known for her only novel, Wuthering Heights, a hauntingly beautiful work that will forever remain one of my favorites. Emily was the second oldest of the three Bronte sisters, also authors, Anne being the eldest and Charlotte the youngest. When her family moved to Haworth in 1824, it was here that Emily and her sister’s literary talents truly bloomed. As young children, her brother and two other sisters wrote stories together. In 1842, her sister Charlotte recognized Emily’s poetic talent, and soon all three sisters published a joint book of poetry in 1846, called Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Action Bell (their androgyneous pen names). In 1847, Wuthering Heights was published and received mixed reviews for its unusual structure, but became a literary classic. Emily Bronte died in December 1848.

I chose her poem, Remembrance, because like Wuthering Heights the language is haunting, moving, beautiful, and rhythmic. It makes one think of otherworldly things and it never ceases to touch or sadden me every time I read it. Bronte speaks of her only love lying dead in his grave. She exclaims that fifteen years have passed, but she has still been faithful to him, and has not forgotten him. Yet it is not simply a “pretty, sad love poem.” Bronte also makes interesting statements on going through the mourning process and on dealing and accepting the death of a loved one. She comments that her many tears will not alleviate her pain and suffering, and how she must not indulge in the past for she would not be able to deal with the world or live her own life again. She discusses that suicide is never an option, and that life must always be cherished. I feel that the most inspiring lines of the poem are: “Sweet Love of youth, forgive, if I forget thee, While the world’s tide is bearing me along; Other desires and other hopes beset me, Hopes which obscure, but cannot do thee wrong!” With that, Bronte’s poem is a truly timeless and universal reflection on loss and the importance of moving on.

Remembrance

COLD in the earth--and the deep snow piled above thee,
Far, far removed, cold in the dreary grave!
Have I forgot, my only Love, to love thee,
Sever'd at last by Time's all-severing wave?

Now, when alone, do my thoughts no longer hover
Over the mountains, on that northern shore,
Resting their wings where heath and fern-leaves cover
Thy noble heart for ever, ever more?

Cold in the earth--and fifteen wild Decembers
From those brown hills have melted into spring:
Faithful, indeed, is the spirit that remembers
After such years of change and suffering!

Sweet Love of youth, forgive, if I forget thee,
While the world's tide is bearing me along;
Other desires and other hopes beset me,
Hopes which obscure, but cannot do thee wrong!

No later light has lighten'd up my heaven,
No second morn has ever shone for me;
All my life's bliss from thy dear life was given,
All my life's bliss is in the grave with thee.

But when the days of golden dreams had perish'd,
And even Despair was powerless to destroy;
Then did I learn how existence could be cherish'd,
Strengthen'd and fed without the aid of joy.

Then did I check the tears of useless passion--
Wean'd my young soul from yearning after thine;
Sternly denied its burning wish to hasten
Down to that tomb already more than mine.

And, even yet, I dare not let it languish,
Dare not indulge in memory's rapturous pain;
Once drinking deep of that divinest anguish,
How could I seek the empty world again?

At this Moment

This Week Mohan Bell and Dominique Gauvard ask BC students and faculty, If you could write yourself into any novel/story, which would it be, and why?

This sounds super duper cheesy, but honestly? Harry Potter. I know, I know- lame, right? But imagine how much fun it would be.
- Marrisa Gamliel

As AWESOME as Harry Potter would be, I would loooveee
to be part of A Great and Terrible Beauty. That would
be sooo cool! If you're not just talking about books, and plays are
included, then Hamlet, 100%. I WOULD SAVE HIM FROM HIS
FATE!! And whisk him away to England and marry him and
live happily ever after or something. Since all my
favorite books involve depressing scenes I'd never
want to live in haha.
-Christina Squitieri

I would add myself in Sapphire's PUSH as a kickass
white girl who befriends Precious in middle school,
listens to her, doesn't think she's dumb,helps her to
find a way out of her incredibly screwed up
household/school and into the arms of teachers like
Ms. Rain who actually care about her. I would be the
character that affirms all 'crackers' aren't out to
purposely ignore or cause problems for Black people.
-Beatrice Koehler-Derrick

I'd go with Lord of the Rings but I'm too powerful and
Sauron would instantly die.
-Zev Baranov

Beloved. Because I, too, would like to unburden
myself.
-Robert Jones Jr

The Lord of the Rings. It's also a really long story,
so the printed form of me would have a very long life,
and the real me would get gratuities from being
depicted in three movies!
-G.Edward Perrin.

Novel? "The Ear the Eye and the Arm," but only if I
was a nice, non-horribly racist/greedy person.
That or the "Eyre Affair" novels because then I could
go into any novel I'd like without being forced to
live it over and over.
-Leah Golubchick

I would be in Random Family so I can smack Jessica in
her head for staying in an abusive relationship and
have 5 kids by the age of 20. I would also like to be
in the author's shoes, felt what she felt when she was
in the presence of the characters she interviewed. Not
being able to stop the events that took place or talk
the characters out of it, just watch. Yes I would love
to be in Random Family. Would I place myself in the
same predicament as the characters????? Hmm
-Liltshay Alves

Culture Corner

In order to understand the Zapatistas and the purpose of their struggle, one must first understand a bit about the long history of colonialism and oppression that defines the current socioeconomic state of Mexico and indeed the rest of Latin America. In the name of the Spanish crown, Francisco Hernández de Córdoba and Hernán Cortés led the charge to conquer and subsequently exploit the vast Aztec and Mayan civilizations and the land that sustained them. This endeavor, which began in 1517, came to be known as The Conquest of Mexico. In 1521, Tenochitlan (now known as Mexico City) fell, and by 1525 the Mayan people had been conquered. By 1540, the larger part of Northern Mexico was under Spanish rule. In 1541, the indigenous population revolted, but eventually suffered crushing defeat.
For the next 300 years, Mexico was ruled as a colony of Spain, while colonial rulers proceeded to rob it of all its natural resources, mainly silver, and created vast plantations for the export of wheat, sugar cane, etc. By the 1720, disease and overwork had cut the native population from 12 million in 1520 to one million and the economy suffered accordingly, but it was not until the early l9th century that major threats to Spanish rule began.
The first revolt occurred in 1810. It was led by Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla and called for an end to Spanish rule, redistribution of land, and empowerment of the masses. Costilla and his followers were captured and executed. A following uprising by José María Morelos y Pavón in 1814 was also crushed, and the disintegrating independence movement turned to guerilla warfare. In 1821, the aptly named Vicente Guerrero began a struggle that eventually led to Mexico becoming a republic in 1823.
But for the vast majority of the people of Mexico, political sovereignty did not mean freedom from oppression.
Mexico is an acutely polarized land, divided into the extremely rich and the extremely poor. The economy is run by large business and corrupt officials has consistently ignored and spat on a massive portion of the population, most of which resides in rural areas. The indigenous farming population was without a voice for decades.
Then, on January 1 1994, the same day that NAFTA was put into effect, the Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (Zapatista Army of National Liberation), or EZLN, went public. The group takes its name from Emiliano Zapata, the anarchist commander of the Liberation Army of the South during the Mexican Revolution, whose forces were colloquially known as the Zapatistas. The EZLN see themselves as Zapata's ideological heirs. Some consider the Zapatista movement to be the first "post-modern" revolution, as its constituents have abstained from using their weapons since their 1994 uprising was countered by the overpowering military might of the Mexican Army. The EZLN stands in opposition to Mexico's PRI, or Institutional Revolutionary Party, which until 2000 had enjoyed a 71-year reign over Mexico at the expense of the rural poor. They are also outspoken in their opposition to neo-liberal globalization, an ideology which manifested itself rather destructively in the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Although the Zapatistas have commanders, they choose to wear masks in an effort to eliminate the kind of narcissism that often accompanies leadership and Subcommander Marcos has been quoted as saying "the people are my commander". In addition to maintaining a presence in Chiapas and the rest of Mexico, the EZLN has become a worldwide symbol of strength in the face of oppression. Uruguayan journalist Eduardo Galeano said the following: "The echoes of Chiapas reach much further than the region [itself]. The Zapatista in Mexico is also gay in San Francisco, black in South Africa, Muslim in Europe, Chicano in the US, Palestinian in Israel, a Jew in Germany, a Pacifist in Bosnia, a woman on her own on any subway after ten at night, a peasant without land in any country of the world, and a worker without a job in any city."

-Ingrid Feeney

Greetings!

It has been said in times past that " you never miss your water until your well runs dry". As humans we are always planning for the future, whether it be financially, academically, or physically. Yet it is rare that one takes the time out to appreciate what is happening in the present. It is as if one loses hundreds of days trying to get to one particular day. However, it is important that we keep in mind that the time we waste obsessing over the future can never be regained. So, as the semester comes to an end, take time out to enjoy the place you are currently in life because you will never get another chance to be at that particular place at that particular time again. Most importantly, appreciate all the time you have with your friends and family because those are the people that are easiest to disregard while anxiously awaiting the future, believing that they will always be there. Unfortunately life is unforgiving and in a moment's time a loved one can be taken away. So if just for an instance take your focus off the future and think about your life as it is now and enjoy.

Currently Reading

This week Carolina Alvarado shares a novel by Iris Murdoch.

For some time I’ve been haunted by the line, “Like a fish which swims calmly in deep water, I felt all about me the secure pressure of my own life.” The sentiment comes from Jake Donaghue, the first person narrator of Iris Murdoch’s Under the Net.

A dramatic comedy, Under the Net is by far one of the funniest books I’ve read all year. The narrator is an aspiring writer on a variety of Quixotic quests— self-absorbed, delusional Jake— who says of his closest friend, “I count Finn as an inhabitant of my universe, and cannot conceive that he has one containing me.” Finn in turn, “loves trouble, his own or other people’s without discrimination, and what he particularly likes,” we are told, “is to break bad news.” Also present is the reluctant guru, Dave, whose apartment is flooded with pupils who “aspire like sunflowers,” and are all “natural metaphysicians, or so Dave says in a tone of disgust.” Even the off-set Jean Pierre, whom we are told by an envious Jake, “had no right to turn himself surreptitiously into a good writer,” is a charming character.

Murdoch’s charm, however, goes far beyond humor. The novel is full of bizarre occurrences that I’d be hard pressed to accept from any other writer. Somehow, in Murdoch’s work, with its mystical undertones, they are not only plausible, but inherent to the tale. Murdoch gives her natural world a conscious will, a purpose, which gives the setting of Under the Net an eerie, other-worldly quality, "...an abnormal clarity, as if an extra dimension had been added to space.” With sentences like, “The universe came to rest like a great bird,” and portraits of "The Laughing Cavalier," that not only pay close attention to frantic conspiratorial ramblings, but also respond, I couldn’t help wanting to take the Murdoch tour.

Jake, as an aspiring writer, treats his life as a dramatic rendering of his own creation, until we are uncertain of just how authentic his experiences, and thoughts really are. A close friend of Jean-Paul Sartre, Murdoch brings to her novel has an existentialist current, even if it's only purpose sometimes seems to be to mock Jake’s frenzied paranoia.

At the beginning of the novel, suddenly homeless, Jake sets out on a walk, “trying to find out who he was.” It's debatable whether Jake's questions (sometimes questions that tend not to edification) are answered by the end of his journey. It's uncertain how long the comfort of feeling "like a fish," will last. Yet readers of Murdoch are sure to gain from the almost palpable company of a character who despite feeling his voice “caught up in the velvet of the night like a knife-thrust caught in a cloak," (a feeling not unfamiliar to me), delivers one of the most enchanting, comical, and gratifying tales I've had the pleasure to read.

Boylan Brief # 98

Sprinkle Pixie Dust Everywhere
Thanks to a little magic, Lee Spievak of Ohio, has regained his finger. Considered a medical miracle, Spievak lost half an inch of his finger to a model airplane propeller while working. Doctors considered it lost for good until Spievak’s brother sent him some “pixie dust.”

The “pixie dust’s” real name is “extra cellular matrix,” according to Dr. Stephen Badylak, who works at the University of Pittsburgh, and it is considered to be a breakthrough in regenerative medicine. By sprinkling the powder, made in part from a pig’s bladder, on his severed finger for ten days, Spievak’s finger regrew in four weeks, including tissue, nail, skin, nerves, and fingerprint. Currently, the substance is being tested on burn victims and a Brazilian woman who had lost part of her esophagus to cancer.

If successful, the powder holds great promise in the future—the U.S. military has already expressed interest in using the technology to help those injured in the Iraq War. Although regrowing bones is not possible for extra cellular matrix, such advancements in the regenerative field allow the hope that the ability to grow back limbs and help thousands may be soon become reality.
Source: The BBC

Crime Doesn't Pay

A 21 year old Texan named Charles Ray Fuller walked into a Chase bank last week and tried to cash a $360 billion personal check. For obvious reasons, the teller was immediately suspicious and contacted the account holder, the suspect’s girlfriend’s mother, who informed the authorities that she did not write the check. Fuller was hoping to use this money to open up a record business, but instead was arrested for forgery, unlawfully carrying a weapon, and possession of marijuana. Fuller’s ridiculous attempt is reminiscent of Virgil Starkwell’s failed attempts in Woody Allen’s “Take the Money and Run.” While this story is somewhat funny, it is scary at the same time because this desperate and ignorant fool managed to get his hands on a gun. Let’s hope he doesn't try it again.

Emily Carman
Source: BBC

Poem of the Week

This week Irena Bruza shares a poem by Kenneth Koch

I came across this poem by Kenneth Koch in my English 16.1 class only this past semester. Not having been a fan of poetry for a long while, I was surprised to be so profoundly touched by this poem. While I may have enjoyed some others, this one really did something to my insides—and I think it's something good. To me, it speaks of hidden opportunities, of things that may happen if you can just wait everything else out, and of things that may be hiding behind the things you think you really want. I have had to keep this poem in mind recently and it's probably what saved me from losing my mind. I just can't wait to see what the next train in my current situation will be.
Kenneth Koch, a Harvard grad and a Ph.D. recipient from Columbia, was part of the New York School of poetry. He was a contemporary and peer of poets, Frank O'Hara and John Ashberry and together they created a unique style, borrowing from the art of the time. They chose to step away from the confessional style of poetry that had preceded them and took to being cosmopolitan. Koch has written numerous collections of poetry and several short plays.

One Train May Hide Another
Kenneth Koch

(sign at a railroad crossing in Kenya)

In a poem, one line may hide another line,
As at a crossing, one train may hide another train.
That is, if you are waiting to cross
The tracks, wait to do it for one moment at
Least after the first train is gone. And so when you read
Wait until you have read the next line--
Then it is safe to go on reading.
In a family one sister may conceal another,
So, when you are courting, it's best to have them all in view
Otherwise in coming to find one you may love another.
One father or one brother may hide the man,
If you are a woman, whom you have been waiting to love.
So always standing in front of something the other
As words stand in front of objects, feelings, and ideas.
One wish may hide another. And one person's reputation may hide
The reputation of another. One dog may conceal another
On a lawn, so if you escape the first one you're not necessarily safe;
One lilac may hide another and then a lot of lilacs and on the Appia
Antica one tomb
May hide a number of other tombs. In love, one reproach may hide another,
One small complaint may hide a great one.
One injustice may hide another--one colonial may hide another,
One blaring red uniform another, and another, a whole column. One bath
may hide another bath
As when, after bathing, one walks out into the rain.
One idea may hide another: Life is simple
Hide Life is incredibly complex, as in the prose of Gertrude Stein
One sentence hides another and is another as well. And in the laboratory
One invention may hide another invention,
One evening may hide another, one shadow, a nest of shadows.
One dark red, or one blue, or one purple--this is a painting
By someone after Matisse. One waits at the tracks until they pass,
These hidden doubles or, sometimes, likenesses. One identical twin
May hide the other. And there may be even more in there! The obstetrician
Gazes at the Valley of the Var. We used to live there, my wife and I, but
One life hid another life. And now she is gone and I am here.
A vivacious mother hides a gawky daughter. The daughter hides
Her own vivacious daughter in turn. They are in
A railway station and the daughter is holding a bag
Bigger than her mother's bag and successfully hides it.
In offering to pick up the daughter's bag one finds oneself confronted by
the mother's
And has to carry that one, too. So one hitchhiker
May deliberately hide another and one cup of coffee
Another, too, until one is over-excited. One love may hide another love
or the same love
As when "I love you" suddenly rings false and one discovers
The better love lingering behind, as when "I'm full of doubts"
Hides "I'm certain about something and it is that"
And one dream may hide another as is well known, always, too. In the
Garden of Eden
Adam and Eve may hide the real Adam and Eve.
Jerusalem may hide another Jerusalem.
When you come to something, stop to let it pass
So you can see what else is there. At home, no matter where,
Internal tracks pose dangers, too: one memory
Certainly hides another, that being what memory is all about,
The eternal reverse succession of contemplated entities. Reading
A Sentimental Journey look around
When you have finished, for Tristram Shandy, to see
If it is standing there, it should be, stronger
And more profound and theretofore hidden as Santa Maria Maggiore
May be hidden by similar churches inside Rome. One sidewalk
May hide another, as when you're asleep there, and
One song hide another song; a pounding upstairs
Hide the beating of drums. One friend may hide another, you sit at the
foot of a tree
With one and when you get up to leave there is another
Whom you'd have preferred to talk to all along. One teacher,
One doctor, one ecstasy, one illness, one woman, one man
May hide another. Pause to let the first one pass.
You think, Now it is safe to cross and you are hit by the next one. It
can be important
To have waited at least a moment to see what was already there.

For more information and to listen to an audio recording of Koch reading “One Train May Hide Another”, please visit Poets.org

At This Moment

This week Nicole Lebenson and Alisa Kolenovic asked the question:
"If you could choose just one, what seemingly unanswerable question would you want to have answered?"

“What is the meaning of life? Why are we put here?”
–Tiffany Jade Colon

“Why are human beings, as a species, self-destructive?”
–Clint Walker

“When is the last day on Earth?”
–Bahati Williams

Is D.B. Cooper still alive?
- Bahati Williams

What's love got to do with it?
- Kate Dean

Do ponies talk to each other?
- Francesco Priamo

What came first, the chicken or the egg?
- Michelle Katz

How were humans created?
- Aniqa Islam

Did Eliot Spitzer use NY tax money to call that girl?
- Ricardo Ospino

What other life forms are out there?
- Afiya Augustine


Who popped Biggie Smalls son!?
- Eldan Salic

I can has cheeseburger??
- Thaddeus Collins

Is there "life" after death?
- Leshaun Lovell

So, eating food wasn't all that hard to realize for our cavemen
ancestor, they simply knew to put something in their bellies, but what
kind of absolutely freak accident lead to the discovery of bread?
Think of all the steps it needs to go through from beginning to end,
from wheat stalk to hot, tasty crust...and remember that bread has
been around a loooong time so it's not like some scientist discovered
this craziness.
- Irena Bruza