=James Tate Dies=

He died on Wednesday, July 8th. He was 71. By one of those "ironies" that tell you everything you need to know about the operation of the universe in which we live, James Tate died on the eve of the 83rd birthday of one of America's most successful war criminals, Donald Rumsfeld, still alive. 

The Elephant Passing Through
(for James Tate)

You can't say that.
It doesn't work 
that way.

It's a kind of
black magic.
You don't 

want to go there.
I mean it.
The cat looks

up sharply
from the floor
to see what

I'll do
with what's still
stuffed

in my mouth
like something
freshly killed.

I'm like an ape
tied to a chair.
Why don't you

try writing something
instead, my husband
gently suggests.

What? I'm mumbling,
gagged with feathers. 
For crissakes,
what?