by Jack Gilbert
When we get beyond beauty and pleasure
Where the worms had opened the owl’s chest
While he was in kindergarten, everybody wanted to play
Why the mouth? Why is it the mouth we put to mouth
Woke up suddenly thinking I heard crying
Year by year he works himself
Yearning inside the rejoicing. The heart’s famine
You go in from the cobbled back street
You hear yourself walking on the snow
You know I am serious about the whales
A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jack Gilbert is the author of five volumes of poetry. His many awards include the Yale Younger Poets prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His second collection, Monolithos, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He served in various countries as a lecturer for the U.S. State Department and has taught at Rikkyo University (Tokyo), San Francisco State University, Smith College, and elsewhere.
ALSO BY JACK GILBERT
The Dance Most of All
Refusing Heaven
The Great Fires
Monolithos
Views of Jeopardy