Elephant Poems

Her is a poem by T Wangusa: -

The African Elephant

Listen to the blare of annunciation
Of the African elephant, tetrach of the jungle!
Behold what slow, majestic progress on the hoof
Of matriarchs, their young and their one bull
As they head for the waterhole.

Observe what tenderness of the mother for its infant
Standing guard to let it first drink its full,
Together rolling in protective, glorious mud,
Then signaling the way back
To the daily routine
Of reducing tropical forest to grassland.

Then ponder the paradoxical curse of its twin tusks:
From time immemorial
The substance of immortal ornaments:
Ever since the dawn of imperial plunder
Of Africa for export of human souls -

Ivory -
The damnation of the African elephant
To provide exotic cultures
With piano keys and billiard balls.

T Wangusa


Recent news reports say that the sound of African honeybees causes African elephants to retreat and produce a particular 'rumble' accompanied with head shaking to warn other elephants. These rumbles seem to act as a referential signal of external threat. So here is a quick poem about some threats to elephants - penned by me!


Elephant Alert

Warn warn
Buzz buzz
Buzz-zz-z
Thrash head
Trunk up
R-r-r-RUMBLE


Warn warn
Bang bang
B A N G!
Lash air
Bash bars
and RUN


NB: Next week: The week of the Bear - revisited