Stan Galloway’s most recent poem to appear here was Reverie. This is a love poem too, but of a very different nature.
Elephant and Egret
By Stan Galloway
We can’t all be elephants–
the big majestic ivory-laden
monoliths of Peace–
the ones who can’t but draw attention
by their stature in the world,
the Grahams, the Jeremiahs,
who are seen and heard by thousands.
White safari vans all line the road
where one lone bull strips leaves at sunrise
everyone excited just to hear him breathe
and snap the slender branches,
see his bulk bring definition to the plain.
Shadowed, an egret picks ticks
from dunged toes, grooms short hairs
around pillared knees unnoticed.
Six quick wingflaps lift it to the broad back
where irritants crawl, parasites leech the thick hide
until pecked loose, sting broken–
symbiosis by design.
God makes
elephant and egret,
mouth and spleen,
the preacher and the layman.
What a wonderful poem! Love the imagery and the wisdom.
This is a beautiful picture you have painted of Africa and it’s survivors.