Elephants

"Winner of the Open Community Poetry Contest for the period April 1 - June 30, 2017. See commentary below."-Ed.

"Scientists have long considered the ability to recognize oneself in a mirror to be an index of high cognitive ability...there is every reason to suspect that elephants may be capable of far more complex cognition than is currently understood or documented. ”                                           

 

I used to know what is at the other end 

of the road that goes uphill through 

The trees and 

then down 

into…

something. 

 

I used to live there. 

 

I want to go back now.

I want to remember what’s down there,

what happens

when you consciously turn left 

instead of right,

but I never do, 

because in reality

I’ve never been there

and it is the mystery 

that nourishes me. 

 

I have so many bruises on 

so many areas I have never hurt

 and I can’t think 

of any other explanation.

 

They tell me I have a 

“familiar face” 

and I smile because 

I know. 

I’ve been here before. 

 

I used to love the full moon,

for I recognized him. 

I have a sense for exactly when 

He will come out. 

I love a crescent moon now, 

because she doesn’t have a face

that I so eerily recognize. 

 

I used to pity the elephants 

for having such a steadfast memory.

I wonder, now, what they must

look back on when they look 

at me, wittingly. 

 

I know they will bear me in mind 

when no one else can. 

 

I have a past life

of which only parts

I am destined to

Remember.

 

"Elephants is at once literal and metaphorical so whether the reader is indulging in her love of elephants or probing the mysticisms of previous lives, the reader will be well rewarded. But more to the point, the ending is where the poem is brought to a head and the metaphor is completed. Yet the journey there was delightful and the reader wants nothing more than to retrace her steps."-Ed.