What the Monkey Says

Ekphrastic poem by Jackie Craven.

What the Monkey Says

It’s true: I’ve got my fingers in everything,
pulling parakeets from blue air, turning olives
into peonies. A train arrives—Your mother paints you
a new father. The world is dark and bright, strange,

familiar: an alchemy of light, shadow,
and walnut oil. Every day you eat trompe l’oeil
grapes. Delicious, yes? Listen: The formula
is made with Silly Putty. Nothing holds

Have I made you sad? Here—have a banana. The skin
is false, but go ahead—pinch a corner. Peel.

its shape. Sure as an apricot swells and shrivels,
the surface will give way. Notice how spider milk
wicks across the canvas. A goose sheds
gray feathers, a peach opens at the seam. Oh dear—

— Poem by Jackie Craven, from Secret Formulas & Techniques of the Masters

Hear Jackie Read the Poem