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      December 17, 2020CreaturesMarvin Bell

      Am I to save the spider in the bathtub,
      who lives in the drain
      and can scramble up porcelain as if
      its feet are suction, or shall I
      be done with it,
      as I have been done with ants and snails,
      with armed yellowjackets
      and the mice and the bats? You
      tell me, who among us is not
      taking steps that preclude the moral
      disquisitions of a study group?
      And the honeybees are gone this spring,
      who lived next door for the last years
      of their keeper’s health. He also
      tended the graves of the war dead
      at the Fort, and he kept, in an old car,
      kindling piled to the roof. After
      the operation, he could walk on a walker
      but not chop wood. A Navy man,
      he would have gone to sea
      again, had they called,
      leaving the civilian buzz of disquiet
      without a thought.

      from #29 - Summer 2008

      Marvin Bell

      “It’s true that, no matter what, the literary world is full of insult. When you put yourself out to the public, you’re going to get some negative stuff. But writing just feels wonderful. I mean, I love the discovery aspect of writing. I love that. I love saying what I didn’t know I knew, not knowing where I’m headed, abandoning myself to the materials to figure out where I’m going. Of course your personality is going to come out of it, of course your obsessions are going to make themselves known, of course if you have a philosophic mind a matrix of philosophy will be behind things; everyone has a stance, an attitude, a vision, a viewpoint. All that will come out. But in the meantime, you’re just dog-paddling like mad. And that’s fun. That’s what I always liked about every art.”

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