Nests I've Made

I've been working on a series of nests for a project I am doing for myself. Each is for a person that has felt like home at one time or another. Each nest has their hair in it and mine too. There will be about eight of them total, I think. The final part will be a nest big enough to fit two people inside. And I'm attaching the names to them because that is horrifying and scary.

Bowerbirds and some drawings

These are Bowerbirds and their structures. The photos are from this July's National Geographic. Bowerbirds are the only animals, besides humans, known to kill other animals for decorative purposes. The male builds a bower structure to attract a female. He does not live in the structure but decorates it with bright objects like bugs, berries and trash. If the female decides to mate, this is the only responsibility of the male to that family.
Click to enlarge the photos.












Here are two drawings I did. One is of Uncle Jr of the Sopranos and one is of an old lady at an old folks home I visited in Covington.

A couple of monsters I made

Poem 14: Natural History

Natural History

The whale in this city
building keeps these bodies
crawfished—heads forward,
pinched, eyes glazed over
by the size of the thing.

In this city I am wanting
to be the ghost:
ignore this place
like it doesn’t mean a thing.
In this building though
we would live to be in the orbit
of the lifeless creature,
forever see the ridges on its body
like the last grains of rice,
our smaller selves waving
wildly in its presence.



I once mistook its living counterparts
for ships. Now I cannot shake the way
every whale reminds me of you,
their bones: elastic and brittle.

--marlo barrera

july 2010

the first draft of this poem was written my senior year of high school.

"[...]preparation for a life of giving myself away, preparation for a process of schooling in which I was to give myself away to teachers, in preparation for a life of wage slavery, when I was to give myself away to the highest (monetary) bidder. I was similarly prepared to give myself away in personal relationships. The idea was that I should give myself away to those who held power over me until I had nothing left to give[...]
This is what is expected of all of us. This is what is expected of the world, that it give to those in power til it has nothing else to give[...]
But do we need to live like this? Do we need these masters? Do we need to give ourselves away to those who do not hold our best interest at heart, and do we need to allow them to hollow us out and hollow out the places we love?"

--endgame volume 1: the problem with civilization by derrick jensen (p191)

Poem 13

In your absence it was my job
to keep the dog from digging

in the yard. But I was rabid too.
I was in a fever and lock jawed
and so insatiably thirsty
I drank
and drank
and drank
‘til I could feel it move inside me
like my very own tide;

you were a strong moon.
In that horrifying dream
I am the one destroying.
I have a tide in my belly then too
which moves my whole body.

In this waking life
the rabid me follows my mouth,
my nose which can’t understand either,
but night after night brings me to this same bed.

*
Our dog is learning: digs,
avoiding the flowering weeds
you couldn’t help but to love.

--marlo barrera

june 2010

Isn't She a Beauty? or Poems for People I Love(d) Once; Big Pelican Puppet

These images of our coast are horrifying. A friend and I are looking to build a giant pelican puppet covered in oil to brign through the streets and organize some actions. Let me know if you want to help with the thing. No impunity for big oil!

Also, I finished a chapbook this semester. It is called Isn't She a Beauty? or Poems for People I Love(d) Once. There are about 14 poems in there. I sewed them all and drew the covers and everything. Soon I will scan one and put it on here so you can see what it looks like. I made only 28 copies. If you want one, please email me (mgbarrera@gmail.com) and I can get one to you. Giving me some mailing money would be really nice if you have it and if you donate a little money that would be great because it will go toward the big puppet and hopefully some other projects like that for the spill.