Acknowledgement of Elephants
An elephant’s trumpet ricochets off vinyl siding
& warehouse walls in the bedraggled factory town.
It’s eerie blare sticks inside my inner ear
like the residue of tree sap. Even when I move
north to suburbia I hear that haunted
hullabaloo, incessant brays as they load trains
& container trucks. I feel leg chain, bullhook
& prod. Elephant, can you ever forgive us?
18 thoughts on "Acknowledgement of Elephants "
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Oh ! Oh!!
You did it !!!!
Perfect.
It made me cry.
“tell the truth, the whole truth, but tell it slant.” Emily Dickinson
what did she do? there be an inside joke here. loved haunted hullabaloo and the blaring sound like tree sap. almost made me think of a train, but it was the oliphant then the train.
did you do this in the spirit of Max Jacob?
No for Max Jacob, although I’d like to see of his poems. The poems is about how they are moved around and abused.
What is the inside joke? Do tell.
I figured out your comment. Coleman thought the poem is ba metaphor for slavery and the Holocaust.
“The elephant in the room”
“incessant brays” is wonderful writing. Great images and action, solid work in a small package.
Agree with Bernrd, lots in these image laden lines, especially:
“incessant brays” and “leg chain, bullhook
& prod.”
May “Elephant, can you ever forgive us?” haunt us all.
This is something that actually happened—elephants loading trains? Wow. I never heard of that. Cool poem.
Yes, it’s one way they are transported to the circus (or used to be.)
Layers in this elegy for the poor elephants!
Yes, that haunting last line.
Can you ever forgive us? — question for the whole planet to ponder. The Louisville Zoo is sending its elephants to a reserve, which seems a humane thing to do.
A fun sidebar. There is an elephant sanctuary outside of Nashville and we used to know some people that made lots of wine. Turns out elephants absolutely go nuts for grape stems. Elephant candy!!!!
Tribute to the elephants! I always felt sorry for the animals in the circus. This poem is very rich in sound. Beautiful!
Have you read Adam Scheffler’s A Case of the Mondays?
Haunting last line. Rich word choice and strong, vivid imagery. I could feel it
Beautiful. And sad.
A beautifully written piece about something horrific. “that haunted/hullabaloo, incessant brays” and “I feel leg chain, bullhook/& prod.”