Remembering the Sea Elephant
Perhaps it is time for Candor,
with its big beak and clubbed feet,
to start its dance of extinction
toward the Smithsonian now,
while a few living members
of its race are still abroad
-the Gaff, the Blunder, the Booboo,
the Inoperative Statement,
the Unauthorized Leak,
the Regrettable Figure of Speech-,
while we can still tell one
when we meet it out and about.
Remember the Sea Elephant
at the turn of the century?
Only nine could be found
by the Smithsonian expedition,
which stuffed seven for us. Oh,
two were let go; perhaps
the crew was weary or orders
simply read seven. That pair
coupled relentlessly, for company.
Now, how they flourish at the edge
of our continent! So let us
send out our crew to snare Candor
for the permanent archives, leaving
a couple of Unguarded Remarks
at large, to do what they've
always done at the edge
of the continent of Lies
and Diplomacy-frisking openly,
enjoying the rocking waters,
nurturing the oddness
of their miraculous persistance,
preserving it for those of us
who may happen eventually
to the edge where we wonder
at the mewing and roaring,
the grumbling and cooing
in ourselves echoing
out there, loud and sure,
where prudent stone
is milled by careless surf
into the stuff we stand on
if we are to stand.
Structure
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