“Wind in the Elephant Tree” by Earl Vincent de Berge

Wind in the Elephant Tree

Earl Vincent de Berge
Cyberwit.net (2023)
ISBN: 978-8196316112
Reviewed for Reader Views by Jennifer Bisbing (06/2024)

“Wind in the Elephant Tree” starts with a section of love letters, valentines, and birthday poems that Earl Vincent de Berge wrote for his wife Suzanne. Poems like these remind me why Hallmark and “Chicken Soup for the Soul” have had great success—much-needed words that soothe the soul, and in de Berge’s case, his sweet devotions to his wife do just that. They are such personal poems that, as a reader, there is a touch of innocent voyeurism, like perhaps in an airport where you witness loved ones embrace. Especially when he writes lines like,

…quietly wishing your hand would find mine.

The collection includes poems extolling the best things about his wife, and then we move on to poems about the best things about his friends. Warm memories give readers an opportunity to look in on how deeply one cares for another.

Earl Vincent de Berge has been writing poetry since 1959, including two other collections with very different themes from these love notes, where his travels in Latin America and his wife’s “sober observation” perhaps have a heavier influence. But even in “Wind in the Elephant Tree” there are poems stuck in the back of the collection that are far from the theme of love, exposing the possible flip side—young lust, which as de Berge states,

…lust knows only one path.

The tenderness and honesty about aging and Parkinson’s disease are also inspirational in this collection. The dedication to his craft as life sets up large obstacles for de Berge is remarkable.

Inevitably aging stuck its nose into our lives and rendered me homebound and Susanne my ‘caregiver.’

There is no doubt that this writer loves language and its ability to move a reader. Simplicity is also a key factor in his work, which can be traced back to his hero Li Po, a Chinese poet of the Tang Dynasty. If you need a book to reestablish your faith in the possibility of a loving marriage, read Earl Vincent de Berge’s “Wind in the Elephant Tree.” This collection spans over fifty years of love.