In this poem, the speaker reflects on Thomas Jefferson’s legacy through a real or imagined tour of Monticello, Jefferson’s residence and plantation in Charlottesville, Virginia. In particular, the word “slavery” is never mentioned directly, perhaps as a way of avoiding the silence that often surrounds the more veiled aspects of Jefferson’s legacy. The poem begins in the third person and within the unsaid, “What they never say is: Mr. Jefferson’s still/building,” bringing Jefferson’s ghostly presence into the modern day. But in the 10th line, the poem deftly switches to the second person: “Do you know the room / you were born in? It’s part of the tour”, implying not only Jefferson’s legacy but also the figurative Monticello in which we live today. Selected by Victoria Chang
Monticello House Tour
By Kiki Petrosino
What they never say is: Mr. Jefferson is quiet
building. He just uses transparent stones now
for its turrets and halls, for its balconies
around his palace in transparent loops
of dug air. After death it’s so easy
to work. No one sees him going out
of the Residence, gloves are full
of silent mortar. Mister Jefferson’s coat is narrow
like dawn. Dragging his long sleeves in the mud
while he is chopping his grass. you know the room
you were born in? It is part of the tour. hundreds
of rooms stretching for miles, orchards alive
in the lounge. Remember that golden chair you loved,
the one with a face like a lion, especially
in the late winter when mother sat with you
in her pink dress, humming? As it happens
Mr. Jefferson built that lion for you. He drew
your time in sensible proportions. you have one
job: in keeping with the design, it continues to run.
Your whole life is strung by a ring
of similar finds. Look, they’re all mothers
in pink robes, humming.
Victoria Chang is a poet whose fifth collection of poems, “Obit” (Copper Canyon Press, 2020), was named a DailyExpertNews Notable Book and a Time Must-Read. Her nonfiction book, “Dear Memory: Letters on Writing, Silence and Grief,” was published by Milkweed Editions in 2021. She lives in Los Angeles and teaches in the MFA program at Antioch University. Kiki Petrosino is an American poet whose latest collection of poetry is “White Blood: A Lyric of Virginia” (Sarabande Books, 2020), from which this poem is taken. She directs the Creative Writing Program at the University of Virginia.
