One of the nice things about writing Owl Chatter is that it gives me a reason to look at poems that are sent to me by the Poetry Foundation and the Writer’s Almanac to see if there are any I’d like to share here. And you may have noticed (in your occasional sober moments) there’s been a dearth lately. (A dearth in the family.)
Take today, for example. I just looked at today’s poem from the Poetry Foundation. It lost me at the fourth word: lacteal. Jeez Louise, fellas — could you please dumb it down a bit!? Sheesh. We’ve got George Santos on our staff, our photographer Phil, who spends his nights sleeping in the street, drunk, and I’m not too sharp myself. Lacteal isn’t going to make the bias cut.
This one is by Elizabeth Bishop and is called “Full Moon, Key West.” It’s from today’s Writer’s Almanac.
The town is paper-white:
the moonlight is so bright.
Flake on flake
of wood and paint
the buildings faint.
The tin roofs break
into a sweat
of heavy dew
dripping steadily
down the gutters
click click.
Listen!
All over town
from black gaps
in bedroom gables
from little tables
behind the shutters
big alarm clocks
tick tick.
A spider’s web
glints blue, glints red,
the mirrors glisten
and the knobs on the bed.
The island starts to hum
like music in a dream.
Paper-white, drunk,
the sailors come
stumbling, fighting,
mumbling threats
in children’s voices,
stopping, lighting
cigarettes
with pink dull fires,
in groups like hands
and fingers on
the narrow sidewalks
of cement
that carry sounds
like tampered wires,
—the long strings of
an instrument
laid on the stream,
a zither laid
upon the flood
of the glittering Gulf.
OC reader Delaware Pam (nee Iowa Pam) responded to our photo of Keira Knightly yesterday in her green bias cut gown, with a note opining that Keira “has NO curves and is way too skinny.” Pam has a modicum of expertise on the topic as a former Weight Watchers leader.
Keira is exquisite, of course,
but there is the feeling out there in the public sphere that she is too thin. (Contrary to the belief of many Jews who feel there is no such thing as too rich or too thin, there is such a thing as too thin.) Chris Rock has a bit on heavy women in which he says he would “drop kick Keira Knightly” to get at Rosie O’Donnell. But I’ll leave it up to you to decide on KK for yourself. For the record, I’m with Phil — thin, but not too thin.
There’s a great baseball rivalry in play this weekend: The Dodgers are at Yankee Stadium. The two powerhouse offenses: Ohtani, Judge, Soto, Betts, Freeman, et al, couldn’t muster a single run over the regulation nine last night. Even with the placement of the “ghost” runner on second base in the tenth inning neither team could score. LA struck in the eleventh, however, and pulled out a 2-1 win. The Dodgers’ Japanese ace Yamamoto was sensational for seven innings. The Yankees countered with a newcomer: little Poteet, Cody, who held his own very nicely for 4.2 innings before yielding to the pen. Good arms!
Elsewhere, the Gnats ended their skid, topping the Atlantans, 2-1 in DC.
With the Mets and Phils playing in London this weekend, the NYT had a nice story on the gents who were born in the UK since 1900 and played in the major leagues. There were only ten! The most famous, and the only one whose autograph I have in my collection, is Bobby Thomson who hit the “shot heard round the world” for the Jints against the Brooklyns in 1951.
P.J. Conlon was born in Belfast and thus became the only pitcher in MLB history to throw a Belfastball. He pitched 3 games for the Mets in 2018 for a gaudy (in a bad way) ERA of 8.22. Hey, for you Cape Codders, he also pitched for the Chatham Anglers in 2014 in the Collegiate Summer League.
With his MLB debut for the Mets in Cincy, Conlon became the first Irish-born player in the majors since 1945. A large family contingent, including his parents, came to see him. “You could see them in the stands, waving Irish flags,” said Conlon, who also had a flag stitched to his glove. “They’re proud of it, and I’m proud of it.”
Whoa — here they are! Phil, you’re incredible. I bet they were cheering when Conlon got his first MLB hit against Cincy in that game. He’s only 30 years old now but has retired from baseball.
Les Rohr was born in Lowestoft, England and also played for the Mets. Injuries limited his MLB career to six games but he beat Don Drysdale in one of them, pitching eight shutout innings in LA. Wow. He passed away in 2020 at the age of 74.
Of the others, Danny Cox had the best career. Born in Northampton, England, he pitched in the Cardinal rotation from 1983 to 1988 and had a lifetime record of 74-75 with a 3.64 ERA. Cox won Game 3 of the 1985 NLCS, and pitched well in the 1985 World Series, but earned two no-decisions. He pitched a shutout in Game 7 of the 1987 NLCS, and was the winning pitcher in Game 5 of the 1987 World Series. Impressive. He’s 64 years old now.
Here’s the ballpark in London:
One of the classic exaples of chutzpah is someone who murders his parents and then throws himself on the mercy of the court on the grounds that he’s an orphan. At 33A today, the clue was “Harry Potter, e.g.,” and the answer was ORPHAN. Here’s a pretty song by Gillian Welch.
At 41D the clue was “The final dance in “The Nutcracker,” for one,” and it was a WALTZ. This song is by Mandolin Orange (with the E-tones).
I don’t need much of nothin’
Except all your lovin’
And a waltz about whiskey on ice.
I’m going to let those tunes ease us out tonight. Niece Deborah with hubby Nick and princess Cordelia Anastasia are due in later. Looking forward to it.
You may recall, my brother-in-law Mitch made a last request of me that I’d keep in good touch with his daughters after he passed. And he was annoying enough while alive — I don’t need him coming after me from the grave. (LOL, Mitch — LOL.)
See you tomorrow!
The Wellington Files 