A Poem from Bennet Bergman

a poem that Bennet wrote. my name is in it so i am proud.

(click to enlarge)

Self Portrait

This is a project I did for my Performance, Collaboration and Poetry Class taught by Kazim Ali.

A few notes:

. it is in Oberlin, OH

. the fabric was dyed by black walnut die

. the other is corn silk

. those pods were found earlier in the semester in the arb

. the last two notes/poems were from Self-Portrait at 21 Years (the first of those two is lifted from James Wright)

. the photos were taken by Sam Bass (a gem)

Also, around 2:30am on December 20 I realized a couple of mistakes in the slideshow. They are now fixed.

Freaky weird

poem 21: Revisiting the Coyote

Revisiting the Coyote (Three Years Later)

Dear animal,
dear sweet thing,
I loved once. The last nap
I took in the state of Ohio

was an elegy to you.
Remember California?
The morning I found you there
I couldn’t tell to call you:
coyote,
animal, no,
dead and gone.

I’ve spent this life trying to call each thing
by its right name and you’ve been no different.

Coyote, let me tell you our portrait
from the spring of that year:

I walked along the tracks
following a path worn by pilgrims
and stumbled upon your body with a weight
at my heart. Near that grotto you were

wildlifelessness.
I’ve asked you once:
did you go in your sleep?
Were you hunting

for some family? Are you missed?
Those bare teeth were a reference
to a fighting life but I couldn’t help
imagining something more solemn,

just as romantic. You were some hidden
lighthouse on that burnt up mountain
and that spring you consumed
me with your going. Dear animal,

dear decomposition
of us all, I’ve got the bared teeth too.

--mgb 11.2010

*some lines from this are taken from Dr. Zhivago.

This is the third poem I wrote about this coyote. The first was written four years ago and the second was written two years ago.

This will be read at Mark Welborn's junior recital next week along with "On the Last Ferry Home..." and another poem that I haven't written yet.

6:30 on Tuesday, November 30 in Fairchild Chapel in Oberlin, OH.

Keep Marlo at Oberlin Fund

WANT TO HELP ME STAY IN SCHOOL?

I realize I have few to none marketable skills but...

now I am selling poems to you.
There is a sliding scale but $10 bucks a poem starting would be great.
Also, I can write love letters/break up letters etc. etc.

I can make you collage postcards or little poetry books. Everything will be made one of a kind just for you and I can send it through the post to arrive at you as some sweet gift.

(Or if you're not into one of a kind, I can send you any poem you've seen of mine handwritten or something.)

email mgbarrera@gmail.com and tell me what you want!

make this happen!
all goes toward the Keeping Marlo At Oberlin Fund.

Some Mail Art

In high school sometimes it felt like all I did with my time was make mail art and send it to strangers around the world and I would get things too so now I have a few big boxes of beautiful things sent through the post. I sent things sometimes under my real name, sometimes under this name of Bosco Marx. Coming to Oberlin, I haven't really had the time to do it as much as I had once. Last night was a mail art exhibit here and it got me excited again. The first thing I walked in and saw was the Brain Cell Project which I didn't know much about but in 2006 had gotten a part of the project in the mail. This was exciting. The Recycled Products Coop (I think it was) had a space there with everyone's name and OCMR number on a card so you could anonymously send something to someone. I made three and liked them and decided to put them here before dropping them off. Then I went home and made one for a friend in Chicago that I miss greatly. (I don't think he reads this or knows it exists so I'm not afraid to put it up before I send it). The big one will be folded up and sewn together around the edges. I hope you like them!

(click to enlarge)

Some Audubon for You

I have this small book of a few plates of Audubon's birds.

It's very sweet so I scanned some of my favorites for you.

My favorite is the passenger pigeon.

Aren't they beautiful?

(click to enlarge)