Some Corner of a Foreign Field

Today's birthday lot is, as usual, quite an eclectic group. Take Leon Uris -- once widely read with movies made, much discussed (Exodus, Trinity, Topaz, QBVII, etc.). I briefly dated a red-haired woman in Chapel Hill who claimed all Irish blood and absolute literary fealty to this man Uris. She would go on and on about him, and also about her strange plans to become a "bar maid" and an actress. That's what Leon Uris means to me.

Another from today's crew -- Dolores del Río, very cool Mexican actress. Could pretend she was French in the silent era, then moved on to Spanish language films. She had dramatic down to a fine art.

A third, and I'll stop with him, is Hayden Carruth, another dude who went to school in Chapel Hill.

Here's his "On Being Asked To Write A Poem Against The War In Vietnam"

Well I have and in fact
more than one and I'll
tell you this too

I wrote one against
Algeria that nightmare
and another against

Korea and another
against the one
I was in

and I don't remember
how many against
the three

when I was a boy
Abyssinia Spain and
Harlan County

and not one
breath was restored
to one

shattered throat
man's woman's or child's
not one not

one
but death went on and on
never looking aside

except now and then
with a furtive half-smile
to make sure I was noticing.


Photos: Dolores del Río.

Today's Rune: Fertility.

Birthdays: Rupert Brooke, Ernie Pyle, John Scopes, Clifford D. Simak, Dolores del Río (b. Dolores Martínez Asúnsolo y López Negrete), P. D. James, Hayden Carruth (UNC-Chapel Hill), Leon Uris, Tony Bennett (b. Anthony Dominick Benedetto), Diane Wakoski, Martin Sheen (b. Ramón Gerardo Antonio Estévez), Martha Stewart (b. Martha Helen Kostyra), John Landis, Mani Shankar, Isaiah Washington.

Slán go fóill!