Legitimate Dangers

My favorite poem from Legitimate Dangers is “Kelly, Ringling Bros. Oldest Elephant, Goes on Rampage” by Joel Brouwer. This poem appeals to my tastes as it is very descriptive and uses interesting language to paint the picture of the cruel treatment and redundancy that makes up Kelly the elephant’s life. For instance, the lines “squirming toddler cargo/ glopping Sno-Cone on her back, cramped freight cars,/ stale hay, the vets incessant vitamin shots…” illustrate Kelly’s situation while exhibiting great sound and displaying the wonderful alliteration found throughout the poem. I am no poetry expert by any means and have read very little poetry in my life. Within the last week and a half, however, I have realized that I am drawn towards this type of poetry which paints a very descriptive picture and uses a specific instance to ask questions and exhibit themes. This is opposed to the poetry like “Poem to Line My Casket with, Ramona” by Josh Bell, which, although I am sure is a great piece of literature, made no sense to me at all. With Brouwer’s poem I knew exactly what the poem was about right from the start which allowed me to concentrate on the themes and the clever use of language such as “her four tamed tons/ and burst in her meaty head” or my favorite quotation “Nothing remarkable/ about shotgun triggers of train tickets” which is used to explain the ease with which humans can change their situation in the world. Anyone who skipped this poem should definitely give a try and pay particular attention to the colorful language contrasted by the final deadpan line “They shot her forty times before she died.” I really love this poem.