December, 1961: Len Steckler was a photographer and a friend of Pulitzer Prize winning poet Carl Sandburg, then 83 years old. Steckler says that one day when he was visiting with Sandburg, “Carl mentioned that he might be having a visitor.” Marilyn Monroe arrived a few minutes later and said, “I’m sorry I’m late — I was at the hairdresser’s, matching my hair to Carl’s.”
Steckler says, “As we know, Marilyn loved older men, she loved the intellectuals and Carl was very parental with her. It was a lovely thing to see.”
The actress died in August, 1962.
The poet, seven years later.
The poet, seven years later.
Grass
Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo.
Shovel them under and let me work–
I am the grass; I cover all.
And pile them high at Gettysburg
And pile them high at Ypres and Verdun.
Shovel them under and let me work.
Two years, ten years, and the passengers ask the conductor:
What place is this?
Where are we now?
I am the grass.
Let me work.
Carl Sandburg
