Elephant Armageddon
NYTimes headline for September 4th 2012:
Elephants Dying in Epic Frenzy As Ivory Fuels Wars and Profits
They return to the site whence they came with eyes tearful,
with psalms trumpeting the air.
They stand ever so watchful;
guarding the graves of their ghosts and their kind.
They shall not forget. They shall not want.
They lie down in green silky pastures
and finding their way to the still waters.
They restore and nourish their soul.
They walk through the dark valleys; always the shadows
of death lurking behind them.
Always striding till they reach the comforting light.
They fear no evil. Man fears.
They forage for food and they eat amongst their enemies
because they fear not. They are the happiest.
The honey is under their tongue.
The winter is past, the rain is over and gone.
Their hearts awaken. They know no violence.
Even in the waning light they tower over all else.
They are the landscape. They are the trees.
They throw up the dust in their dance. The skies become misty.
They rise up and lead each other away into the dusk.
Copyright Credit: Gerard Malanga, "Elephant Armageddon." Copyright © 2017 by Gerard Malanga. Used by permission of the author for PoetryNow, a partnership between the Poetry Foundation and the WFMT Radio Network.
Source: PoetryNow (2017)