12 O'clock News

Judith Rothchild

12 O’Clock News has such intriguing imagery. The content of the envelop, which is date stamped 1976 and addressed to Elizabeth Bishop, appears to be the letter written in manuscript on translucent paper in the lower right. This scene has many elements of nostalgia, a vintage manual typewriter, a bottle of ink for a fountain pen, a circular eraser with brush, a crook neck lamp, and a spiraling plume of smoke from a cigarette. Close inspection of the words in the unfinished letter on the typewriter reveals that it is evening: “but tonight is the night of the full / moon….seen the world over. But here the moon / ….hang motionless in the sky. It gives very little light, it could be dead. Visibility is poor / less we shall try to give you some idea of / the land and the present situation.” While the letter reveals important information, it is not the 12 o’clock news that the title suggests; that designation goes to the delivered letter as close inspection of the envelop reveals a stamp with a clock face with the hands at 12 o’clock.