“I think one can be cheerful AND profound! – or, how to be grim without groaning…”

- Elizabeth Bishop

It’s no secret around here that I’ve developed a wee obsession with Buster Keaton. In my spare time I’ve been happily occupied reading about Keaton and watching his films, learning everything I can about this unique and inspired artist. As these things often do, my obsession has begun to spill over into my writing, and recently I cranked out a story. Around the same time, a chance encounter led me to the discovery that the great writer Elizabeth Bishop (another wee obsession of mine) wrote a poem… about Buster Keaton.

Yes. Elizabeth Bishop wrote a poem called “Keaton.” Who knew??!!

This collision of two of my obsessions led to further writing, this time in the form of a response to Bishop’s poem. How delighted I am that the Elizabeth Bishop Blog has posted it! Here’s the link; you may want to pour yourself a cuppa’ and pull up a chair.

(I couldn’t in good conscience cite the poem in its entirety, but it is floating around on-line…. “Elizabeth Bishop, ‘Keaton’” ought to do the trick.)

*

((Book signing: I’ll be participating in Atlantic Author Day this Saturday, June 16, signing copies of A Certain Grace and Harbour View at Bayers Lake Chapters from 11:00 – 12:00, and at Sunnyside Chapters/Indigo from 2:00 – 3:00. Hope to see some friends there!))