Mirror, by Mark Strand

A white room and a party going on
and I was standing with some friends
under a large gilt-framed mirror
that tilted slightly forward
over the fireplace.
We were drinking whiskey
and some of us, feeling no pain,
were trying to decide
what precise shade of yellow
the setting sun turned our drinks.
I closed my eyes briefly,
then looked up into the mirror:
a woman in a green dress leaned
against the far wall.
She seemed distracted,
the fingers of one hand
fidgeted with her necklace,
and she was staring into the mirror,
not at me, but past me, into a space
that might be filled by someone
yet to arrive, who at that moment
could be starting the journey
which would lead eventually to her.
Then, suddenly, my friends
said it was time to move on.
This was years ago,
and though I have forgotten
where we went and who we all were,
I still recall that moment of looking up
and seeing the woman stare past me
into a place I could only imagine,
and each time it is with a pang,
as if just then I were stepping
from the depths of the mirror
into that white room, breathless and eager,
only to discover too late
that she is not there.

- Poem courtesy of Knopf Poetry.  Listen to Strand read this poem here.  Sign up for Knopf's Poem-a-Day service here.  Lastly, a hat tip, and deep bow in her direction, to Andrea A. for her suggestion of the poem. 

Ernest Hemingway's "The Garden of Eden"

... also forthcoming... news of, and a release for, the feature film adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's novel "The Garden of Eden." [For update info, see recent post.]

"Garden" has long been my favorite of Hemingway's novels.  Like all his best work, it gives you the look and feel of places (in this case the Cote d'azur in the 1920s), but also the sensuous thrill of what the world offers, the excitement of complex relationships, and the tension of sexual intrigue.  I only hope the film lives up to this great book.  (Disclosure: I wrote the film adaptation.)

The trailer can be seen here, or here.

And more information here.  Announcement here, here with commentary here... by ace blogger Liberty London Girl here.

And The Paris Review Daily reports on a New York screening at Tribeca Grand Hotel here.

Main Point Pictures

For information and updates on Main Point Pictures, go HERE.

The Grand National Steeplechase

UPDATE: Inexplicably, I have lost in betting on this race once again.

"Gambling Types #7:  I don't like to talk about this lot.  I'm one of them.  They're simply out of their depths.  They know they can't win, but they'll risk it 'just this once.'  They bet beyond their means, go mad when they win and cry all the way home on the train when they lose.  Their cup doth not runneth over and there's a nasty tendency toward bitterness which takes the form of swearing loudly in the Gents when it's empty.  They also retreat there to have a private roll call of their rapidly dwindling wad from time to time.  They gamble while under the influence of alcohol and/or the astrological columns and they're even mad enough to gamble to 'get out of trouble.'  That's why they're always in it.  Like most dogs they have their day. About once in a lifetime."  

--Jeffrey Bernard: