No one grumbles among the oyster clans,
And lobsters play their bone guitars all summer.
Only we, with our opposable thumbs, want
Heaven to be, and God to come, again.
There is no end to our grumbling; we want
Comfortable earth and sumptuous Heaven.
But the heron standing on one leg in the bog
Drinks his dark rum all day, and is content.—Robert Bly, “Wanting Sumptuous Heavens

Robert Bly is 90 today.

A film, Robert Bly: A Thousand Years of Joy, was released in 2015 and is appearing on PBS stations:

 
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Billy Barty died on this date in 2000. Victor Borge died on this date in 2000. Some comedy from Victor Borge:

 
and “Clair de Lune”:

 
Oscar Peterson died on this date in 2007.

* * * *
Joseph Smith, Jr. was born on this date in 1805. Harriet Monroe, who founded Poetry magazine in 1912, was born on this date in 1860. Helmut Schmidt was born on this date in 1918. Chet Baker was born in 1929 on this date.

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Emperor Akihito is 83. Paul Hornung is 81. Jorma Kaukonen is 76. Harry Shearer is 73 today. General Wesley Clark is 72 today. Susan Lucci is 70. Adrian Belew is 67 today. Dame Carol Ann Duffy is 61. Joan Severance is 58 today. Donna Tartt is 53. Eddie Vedder is 52 today.

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