Refusing Heaven

A mostly weak and rambling reflection on my first encounter with the "seriously romantic" poet, Jack Gilbert

Jack Gilbert never crossed my literary radar until a few months ago when I heard someone read his poem, “A Brief for a Defense.” Its vivid realism is jarring, but even more so when you’re confronted with stark ambiguity in what you anticipate will be the narrator’s moral paradigm. Cogitate momentarily on these opening lines:

Sorrow everywhere. Slaughter …