It . . . Matters to History but Not to Poetry by Gilbert Allen

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It . . . Matters to History but Not to Poetry
by
Gilbert Allen

—M. H. Abrams (General Editor, The Norton Anthology of English Literature),

on Keats’s erroneous assertion that Cortez discovered the Pacific

Although I’ve switched kin and ken

on occasion, taken Mondays

for Tuesdays, moved convenience stores

from one intersection to

the next, changed dolls

to inflatable dummies, even

misremembered grand

-father for -mother, I’d still like to think

certain matters deserve respect.

Making love or money,

taking a shower or a shellacking,

feeling the rapture

or the rupture,

all make a difference.

Gentle Balboa broke ass, not donkey,

humping to Darien—only to have his head

handed to him, like poetic justice.

What a pity his name should be writ

in water—as stout Coleridge
so memorably never put it.

This poem first appeared in Cumberland Poetry Review.
Used with the author's permission.

Gilbert Allen lives in Traveleres Rest, South Carolina with his wife, Barbara, an educator and environmental activist. He enjoy gardening, poetry readings, and visiting with family and friends. Gil's most recent books are Believing in Two Bodies (poems) and The Beasts of Belladonna (short stories). Read a recent interview with him here, and learn more about him at www.pw.org/content/gilbert_allen.

Mary Lou Taylor:
Here's to someone who can take Keats and make use of his writing beautifully. You tell a story here. I wish I'd written your poem rather than the Antelope Valley poem.
Posted 11/12/2013 07:18 PM

Buckner14:
Absolutely delighttful throughout; the title prepares us and the last 3 lines sum it up with a witty click!
Posted 11/12/2013 12:53 PM

Katrina:
Poetry is much more adaptable than history. Why not work within your powers? Keats may have had more influence than anyone, who assumes the Pacific was 'discovered'.
Posted 11/12/2013 09:00 AM

paradea:
The title?? My sentiments, exactly! Fantastic poem!
Posted 11/12/2013 07:40 AM

phebe.davidson@gmail.com:
Hah! Nothing like the off-kilter (and on target) take on events to ring them clear, even this early in the day!
Posted 11/12/2013 05:53 AM

rksanders@charter.net:
Priceless! That last line especially.
Posted 11/12/2013 04:47 AM

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