LEVIATHAN

"knowing from hindmost teeth to jackknifed tail / Leviathan is neither fish nor mammal."

—from "Eschatology, Piscatology" by James Brookes, as found in the October 2014 issue of Poetry.

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This poem reminds me of Daniel Berrigan's portrayal of Leviathan as crocodile. Here, the monster is not carved up for the market; here, the monster is not commodity that cannot be tamed; here, the monster is exactly what Berrigan warns us to beware.

This poem resonates for me in the same way that Berrigan's glimpse does. And, in that sense, not only have I left crumbs of crocodile scattered on the Work Table once, then twice, but now thrice.

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And the lilt and trill of "L" throughout this poem (which runs counter to the image) is a wonder upon my ears.