By Athena Kildegaard

I've just discovered that old Dwight D.
(whose birthday we share with gone e.e.)
was a knight of the Order
of the Elephant.

When this happened, and by whom
(the whom who hung the paraphernalia), I wouldn't presume to guess.
A regent of the King
no doubt.

What isn't clear, now let's be firm
is just why Christian IV would honor the pachyderm
by hanging carved tusks
on stranger's necks.

It's probable that here by the Baltic Sea
the elephant symbolized wealth and power
(not eccentricity,
as it seems to us
today.)

Dull old Ike needed something less dismal,
less like his Orders of Merit, of George, of the Bath,
 of Solomon, of Leopold, of Yun Fei, of the White Lion,
of the Aztec Eagle, of St. Olav, of Victory,
and from Egypt, of Ismal
to leave in a case
for posterity.

Note: The Order of the Elephant, the highest order of knighthood in Denmark, dates back to the 15^th century. The order was bestowed on Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1945.