Why Elephants No Longer Communicate in Greek (Concrete Wolf Louis Award)

“Timons Esaias is a prankster, a comedian, and a magician. But his sleight of hand, misdirection, jokes, and science fiction metaphors – entertaining as they are – are only camouflage disguising his deadly seriousness. His poetry urges us to face the truth before the world ends, and his tone is one of profound disappointment that most of us are not much interested in this urgent mission: ‘Just lie, and stick to it,/and physics,/responsibility, even fact, can take no hold.’ Esaias’ poems are funny, profound, and necessary.”—Michael Simms, founder of Vox Populi and Autumn House Press“I first encountered the satirical essays of Timons Esaias in 1996-97 in a small newspaper called The Observer and have since followed his work in various genres, admiring his wit and erudition, his seriousness and humor. Finally we have this healthy collection of his poems, Why Elephants No Longer Communicate in Greek. It should be read whole, then kept on hand for a quick lift on a gray afternoon.”—Michael Wurster, author of The British Detective