July 1, 2001
Mourning Engagement Ring
Airbrush out his cigarette like an old black pot put upside down in a field— he was barley, the heaviest grain that grows, a bead on the larger world […]
April 1, 2001
The Silence of Plants
From the Polish. The one-sided acquaintance between me, and you, is proceeding, in a way. I know every leaflet, every petal, ear, cone, stalk; your cycles of life—your […]
April 1, 2001
Desfina: An Chailleach Feasa
Cailleach: old woman, hag c. feasa: wise woman, fortune-teller Mount Parnassus placid on the skyline; Slieve na mBard, Knock Filíocht, Ben Duan. We gaelicized new names for Poetry Hill As […]
April 1, 2001
Pure Science: Marie Curie and the American Gift
Introduction by Wendy Singer “Changing the world, one woman at a time,” announces the American Association of University Women (AAUW) on its Web site. And in 1921 that woman was […]
April 1, 2001
Nobel Prize Awards
Physics 1901 Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen 1902 The prize was awarded jointly to: Hendrik Antoon Lorentz and Pieter Zeeman 1903 The prize was divided, one half being awarded to Antoine Henri […]
April 1, 2001
Conversation with a Stone
From the Polish. I knock on the stone's door. —It's me, let me in. I want to come inside, look all around; breathe you in. —Go away—says […]
April 1, 2001
The Age of a Wart*
Warts, the little pinheads sprinkled on the fingers, are said to live two years. Even a big bumpy rockeake of a wart dies in much the same time. A wart […]
April 1, 2001
Three Words Most Strange
From the Polish. As I utter the word Future, the first syllable has already slipped into the past. As I utter the word Silence, I shatter it. As […]
April 1, 2001
To Robert Lowell
From the Polish. I had no right to talk of you that way, Robert. An émigré's envy Must have prompted me to mock Your long depressions, weeks of terror, […]
April 1, 2001
From Oxygen: A Play in Two Acts
Synopsis What is discovery? Why is it so important to be first? These are the questions that trouble the people in this play. “Oxygen” alternates between 1777 and 2001—the Centenary […]
April 1, 2001
Prelude to Discovery
Some of the factors which characterise an environment conducive to fruitful and innovative scientific research are rather obvious: freedom and encouragement for individuals who wish to follow new leads spurred […]
April 1, 2001
Naguib Mahfouz: A Translator’s View
Naguib Mahfouz, who in 1988 became the first Arab Nobel Laureate l in Literature, has published roughly sixty books, covering virtually every style and genre of fiction. His subject has […]