Chitra Ganesh, How to Assemble a Flying Car (detail), 2018, linocut on tan BFK Rives. Courtesy of the artist & Durham Press.
Some Reflections
Most animals can’t,
but gorillas and chimpanzees,
indignantly at first,
then both surprised and amazed,
and then very shyly,
can approach a full-length mirror
and spend just as much time
as seems available
before turning away
to the other necessities
of confinement. Elephants
need to pass by only once
those fragments of themselves
to be sedately shocked,
to be turned for another look,
to remain standing there
enormously interested
for a moment, but will go on
to more important matters
and food for thought. Ravens
and porpoises, African gray
and yellow-naped Amazon
parrots can all look
in mirrors and know at once
that isn’t a near neighbor,
a rival or relative
or enemy gawking back,
but themselves, there, all set
to recapitulate gestures,
or any old poses or faces.
They think it over once
or twice and get over it,
unlike some I could mention.
