Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979) was an American poet and short-story writer, recognized as a major figure in contemporary literature. Her poetry is rich with descriptions of her travels and the landscapes that surrounded her.

She was also a painter, and her poetry is recognized for its meticulous attention to detail, calm observation, precise craftsmanship, concern for small things, and a miniaturist’s sense of discretion and awareness. Her images are accurate and lifelike. 

She received the Pulitzer Prize for her collection Poems: North & South / A Cold Spring. 

I was introduced to her poetry while watching “In Her Shoes,” the 2005 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Curtis Hanson and based on the novel of the same name by Jennifer Weiner, which features Elizabeth Bishop’s poem, One Art.  

The main reason I wanted to watch the movie was Shirley MacLaine. I fell in love with her after seeing Billy Wilder's 1960s romantic drama The Apartment. 

In Her Shoes also features Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette. The film centers on the relationship between two sisters and their grandmother. Shirley MacLaine plays Ella Hirsch, the maternal grandmother of Maggie and Rose.

MacLaine traveled to India when Lekh Tandon was shooting Aamrapali with Sunil Dutt and Vaijayanti Mala. While I was working on his biography, Lekh Tandon gave me a photo of her, and she looks stunning in it.

Read the poem One Art - 

The art of losing isn’t hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.

Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant 
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

I lost my mother’s watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master.

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn’t a disaster.

—Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan’t have lied. It’s evident
the art of losing’s not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.