Laura Behr’s poem Southern Gothic Landscapes appeared here in March 2013.
Pink Elephant
By Laura Behr
Witness it almost shrink from vision. Albinos exist in nature, however uncommon
against the art of miracles. April 26, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, tornado stalks into the wild.
Bricks and mortar strewn for miles, debris piles, and an elephant standing upright,
unscathed on a grassy lawn. Reality drinks here from a cool pool of water. This elephant,
with her dark purple eyes, is an archive full of days. Ready to stomp. Something inside
you says, this pink elephant could be anything. Fluid glass, hardened smooth, the light
shadow-boxing through its belly. The world stands behind you, unstoppable as winds
reaching down, offering to make you remember. Now you know. Standing back there
again, in the vortex handling grief, drinking, your tombstone’s water, the rain of days
and miles.
