A poem with a Quixotic theme

Poem:"Earl" by Louis Jenkins, from North of the Cities. © Will o' the Wisp Books, 2007.

Earl

In Sitka, because they are fond of them,
People have named the seals. Every seal
is named Earl because they are killed one
after another by the orca, the killer
whale; seal bodies tossed left and right
into the air. "At least he didn't get
Earl," someone says. And sure enough,
after a time, that same friendly,
bewhiskered face bobs to the surface.
It's Earl again. Well, how else are you
to live except by denial, by some
palatable fiction, some little song to
sing while the inevitable, the black and
white blindsiding fact, comes hurtling
toward you out of the deep?

Cool Poem

Parable by Richard Wilbur (reprinted without permission, but hopefully he won't mind)

I read how Quixote in his random ride
Came to a crossing once, and lest he lose
The purity of chance would not decide

Whither to fare, but wished his horse to choose.
For glory lay wherever he may turn.
his head was light with pride, his horse's shoes

Were heavy, and he headed for the barn.

An appetite for enchantment

"Don Quixote begins as a province, turns into Spain, and ends as a universe....The true spell of Cervantes is that he is a natural magician in pure story-telling." V.S. Pritchett

All of us, with the possible exception of the clinically depressed, seek enchantment. I happen to find it in reading. This blog is a tribute to my favorite book: Don Quijote.