Birthdays
I wonder if Fernando Pessoa
when he wrote to W.B. Yeats for advice
about establishing a national poetry for Portugal
realized that they had the same birthday —
and if he had known, would that have
encouraged him to actually send the letter?
Forty-odd Junes ago I wonder about other things,
walking down West 18th Street, about to pass
the Chelsea post office, through whose door
steps John Ashbery, directly in front of me.
After a mutual startled instant, he inquires mildly
in his celebrated nasal intonation: “What
are you doing on my turf?” — a reasonable question
since he knew I lived many blocks to the south.
Embarrassed, I answer, “You may not believe this,
but I’m going to see an astrologer” (a visit that Jean
my girlfriend, had arranged as a birthday present).
Instead of acerbic admonishment on the imbecility
or worse of astrology, he inquires: “It wouldn’t be
Eleanor Bach, would it?” Stunned, I reply: “Yes,
as a matter of fact it would.” While I settle into
relief, John informs me: “She does a lot of poets,”
and he mentions several who were well-known
(though not by me personally), and then of course
he himself; and he relates how she really impressed him
by persisting in a feeling that there was something
off in his chart, something that didn’t add up. Finally
he revealed a personal fact that had been withheld
and she said, “Oh, yes, it all makes sense now; why
didn’t you tell me before?!” So now I was assured
by an esteemed literary source that my personal incarnation
of the stellar and planetary intricacies would be rendered
with astute professional insight. Confidentially , though —
and I never told John — I thought that Ms. Bach
seemed much too concerned with my “rising” sign
to the neglect of my “sun” sign next door, regarding
which, and doubtless by the merest coincidence of genetic
and sociological meanders of fate, I am a first-rate example.
– Tony Towle 11/22—5/23
Tony Towle neglects to mention that June 13th is his birthday (as it is that of both Pessoa and Yeats). Ashbery's astrological profile has baffled many professional astrophels, because Leo is his rising sign but there's a lot of Virgo in his chart. — David Lehman