THE TELLING (on the birth of Aleena Ann Winfield) Come see my friend, what I have found Across the bridge, beyond the well, Around the swamp, within the grove-Wind blown lemon, can you smell? Come stand, my friend, on mushy earth And hear the thrush in gnarled bough A crimson cloud wrinkled blooms-Wild magnolia dripping dew. Come feel, my friend, the supple stem Absorbing now the silent sun. Await, my friend, the spreading buds-While holding petals in your hand. -Marilyn Taylor CINAQUAIN THE LAKE METALIC GLARE BENEATH A BLINDING SUN, A GENTLE SHIMMER UNDER MOON PASTEL. -CLAUDIA TURNER 22 THE GRAPE SOCIETY / Dean Hughes Once upon a vine, two ants went way out on a limb and found a beautiful bunch of grapes. In searching around, they found many more. They hurried back to their ant hill and yelled into the hole, "O Ants, O Ants, come out of your hole there are grapes we have found grapes." Soon the ants all came out on the sides of the hill and sat down or whatever ants do and the two discoverers spoke. "O Ants," they said, "this day we have found food for our colony. Grapes purple and white grapes. We are now heroes and very important and all that sort of thing. Let us bring back these morsels from their vines and suck their succulence." And one among them stood up and spoke, "Surely these grapes must contain some supernatural gift, for never have our discoverer ants spoken with such power and wisdom." And all arose and cheered and all agreed. And then another spoke. "Surely we must all go to these vines of wisdom and become wise." And they all cheered and accepted the proposition. Then one among them arose and said, "Why not?" He was a leader. And so the grape society the purple and white society came about. Soon it was found that various grapes contained various juices of wisdom and joy. Great ants who could guide the lesser ants were called to the high and very important position of "faculty-ant." Some guided young ants to the juices which taught one to get the most out of other ants by smiling and making the motion known to the most wise as the "wheel and deal." Others led ants to grovel in the gravel and find great truths of apparent importance. Others learned to drink of the finer nectar which led ants to know great mystical and important truths which were untranslatable to those ants who had never drunk of the sweetest fruits. And many were the truths and important were all of the truths which the grape-eating ants did eat. Soon groups of social ants did develop. Great was the joy of these groups. The groups of male ants found exceeding pleasure in drinking the juices of joy found in the fermented grapes upon the ground. But one group arose which hated this juice and preached against it and many other vile and wicked things. These ants were pure and lovely and causes other ants to occasionally have a pain in their most extreme extremities And the female (continued)