Detail: The Fortuneteller's


MAGIC WORDS

In the very earliest time,
when both people and animals lived on earth,
a person could become an animal if he wanted to
and an animal could become a human being.
Sometimes they were people
and sometimes animals
and there was no difference.
All spoke the same language.
That was the time when words were like magic.
The human mind had mysterious powers.
A word spoken by chance
might have strange consequences.
It would suddenly come alive
and what people wanted to happen could happen --
all you had to do was say it.
Nobody can explain this:
That's the way it was.

after NALUNGIAQ
News of the Universe
poems of twofold consciousness
chosen and introduced by Robert Bly




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Collage detail by Sheryl Todd: The Fortuneteller's, c. 1968
While much of the material on these pages is borrowed, other material is original.
In any case, copyright of the page design belongs to Sheryl Todd.