No theory

As I am drafting a literary theoretical essay, I was reminded of this short but fantastic poem by the criminally underrated David Ignatow.

David Ignatow: No Theory

No theory will stand up to a chicken’s guts
being cleaned out, a hand rammed up
to pull out the wriggling entrails,
the green bile and the bloody liver;
no theory that does not grow sick
at the odor escaping.