In Dispraise of Poetry

When the King of Siam disliked a courtier

he gave him a beautiful white elephant.

The miracle beast deserved such ritual

that to care for him properly meant ruin.

Yet to care for him improperly meant worse.

It appears the gift could not be refused.

                   ~Jack Gilbert

This poem is excerpted from Jack Gilbert’s Monolithos (Alfred P. Knopf, 1982), a book I love dearly.  Gilbert’s poem relies less on evocative imagery (other than a white elephant) and more on the precision and progression of logic and thought.  It’s not a direct equation he’s after (white elephant = poetry), but more of a beautiful unveiling. Despite its size, the poem has a haunting quality that keeps coming back—oh, burdensome poetry.

~T.M.