Lucille Clifton was born in Depew NY on 6/27/1936, married a Philosophy professor at U. Buffalo, and they had six kids. That’s life! She died in Baltimore in 2010 at age 73. She was the Poet Laureate of Maryland for six years and was a finalist twice for the Pulitzer Prize in poetry. The Poetry Foundation selected a poem of hers today to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Girls in her family were born with an extra finger on each hand, a genetic trait known as polydactyly. Hers were removed when she was a small child for reasons of superstition and to avoid social stigma. So the expression “to give someone the finger” has a special meaning to her. (No it doesn’t.) [Is there no depth to which I will not descend for a cheap laugh? Apparently not.]
Her poem “jasper texas 1998” is wrenching in the extreme. Its subject is the racial killing of the Black man James Byrd Jr. by three whites in the most brutal and inhuman fashion. They dragged him behind their pickup truck. His head and arm were severed at one point and they deposited his torso in front of a Black church. Two of the killers were the first whites ever to be put to death by Texas for killing a Black man, one in 2011 and the other in 2019. The third is in prison serving a life sentence and is eligible for parole in 2038. Texas passed a hate crimes law as a result of the killing. Then-Gov. George W. Bush opposed it, arguing justice was served in the case so it was not needed. Rick Perry signed it into law.
James Byrd Jr. was married with three children and worked as a vacuum salesman. He was 49 when he was killed. His cousin was Rodney King’s first wife and the mother of King’s daughter Lora. Here’s Clifton’s poem:
i am a man’s head hunched in the road.
i was chosen to speak by the members
of my body. the arm as it pulled away
pointed toward me, the hand opened once
and was gone.
why and why and why
should i call a white man brother?
who is the human in this place,
the thing that is dragged or the dragger?
what does my daughter say?
the sun is a blister overhead.
if i were alive i could not bear it.
the townsfolk sing we shall overcome
while hope bleeds slowly from my mouth
into the dirt that covers us all.
i am done with this dust. i am done.
Cranachan is not just any Scottish dessert: it’s the king of Scottish desserts. Traditionally, it was made after the raspberry harvest. It’s raspberries and cream, with oats and whiskey blended in. It’s an offshoot of crowdie, a popular breakfast in which crowdie cheese is combined with lightly toasted oatmeal, cream, and local honey. A traditional way to serve cranachan is to bring the individual ingredients to the table and have the diners combine them for themselves.
I mention it because it was in the puzzle today in the clue for OATS: “Ingredients in the Scottish dessert cranachan.” That’s a good example of how it’s the cluing that makes a puzzle hard or easy. That’s an impossible clue for OATS. An easy one would be something like “What mares eat.”
The theme was “all signs point to YES.” The word YES was the answer right in the center of the grid and there were eight different types of “signs” with their letters in circles that “pointed” to the center: PLUS, DOLLAR, STAR, NEON, STOP, PEACE, EXIT, and CALL.
This song by Tall Tall Trees is called “A Number of Signs.” Hope you like banjo music as much as I do.
To your heartbeat, I can dance. . .
Here’s ANI DiFranco. She was in the puzzle today. She pronounces it Ah-knee, not Annie, in case it ever comes up.
And there was a great clue/answer at 3D. The clue was “Unleashing emotion in a less-than-attractive way.” Answer: UGLY CRYING.
I was today years old when I learned that Virginia is the state that has the most planes flying over it without landing in it. I guess that’s not too surprising with all the flights in and out of DC. That reminds me: I should check in with the Dull Men’s Club (UK).
Here’s a post by Lewis Cush:
My cousin bought a new lawnmower and is very excited, so much so that he had to send pictures into the family group chat.
Jan Brady asks: Does he realize it needs to go on grass?
I’ve made a few comments to posts in the club, but have not posted anything myself yet. I better get on the stick, whatever that means. Don’t want to be seen as a slacker.
Ever have a bad vacation? We spent a week at the Jersey Shore when the kids were little and it rained every day. Here’s what happened to Ernest Hemingway.
In 1953, Hemingway decided to go on safari in Africa, and he chartered a plane to fly over the countryside. On the first flight, the hydraulic system of the plane wasn’t working well, and they had to make an emergency landing. When they took off again, they almost collided with a flock of birds and crash landed on the shore of the Nile River. Hemingway sprained his shoulder, and his wife broke several ribs. But still, they climbed into another plane for a third flight, and this one crashed almost as soon as it took off. Hemingway fractured his skull, got a concussion, cracked two discs in his spine, and suffered from internal bleeding.
He never fully recovered and began drinking and falling apart. Today is the sad anniversary of his suicide 63 years ago. His wife was still asleep when he killed himself with a shotgun. The noise woke her. She said it sounded like a drawer being shut.
Back to the puzzle for our close. At 9D the clue was “Rogers’ partner in classic Hollywood.” The answer was ASTAIRE, of course. Did you know Ginger Rogers was a guest on Love Boat once? It was during Season 3. They cooked up some reason for her to perform.
We’ll be heading up to the Berkshires on Thursday, for our annual July 4th get-together. May miss a few days of chatter. You’ll live.
Thanks for popping in.
The Wellington Files 