ANNE 11

Old in the tooth
With masterful thoughts
Captivity really
With all of its warts
Breeds introversion
And solitariness
Ofcourse there are keepers
All Humans lets stress
They have a job to do
Our banishment they
Orchestrate its true
Everyday

I feel tucked away
Cloistered alone
Marooned as it were
Like nothing I’d known
Before it was circus
Eventful and sad
Looking back on it
Those years felt terribly bad
Keeping ones own company as I now do
I suppose that a shyness
And a moroseness bleeds through

In this longleat sanctum
An evacuee
Just one lonely world
Frequented by me
I so need a soul mate
Someone to share
My deep thoughts and wishes
Someone to care

Not a nubian goat
Or keepers for they
Cannot be companions not in any way
Heartaches are commonplace
Desolation and gloom
Being anxious about life
Not being with whom
I had hoped to be with
Another old gal
Someone to talk to
An elephant pal

Is it too much to ask
For each day I rise
I know I am watched
By all the keeper’s eyes
But my state of mind
My heredity
Is lacking the passion
And true empathy
With the best intentions
I favour a way
Of belonging and togetherness
Mutual and in play
Companionship cordiality
To be in the round
To converse naturally

Resocialization
And rehabilitation
Living without being gawped at
Salvation
Fresh air and green grass
And just friends around
Compatibility
Just to be found
Respected and cared for
And infact honour bound
To do the right thing
Which is morally sound

it might be perhaps
I could move out of here
Go off to France
for me it feels clear
To just find a friend
To talk to and be
Happier for it
For it seems to me
Life is so unexciting
And uninspired
A monotonous journey
Where I am never fired

Up to imagine
To rejoice and to be
Not constantly blubbering
Inside of me
My constant requiem
And tears of woe
Things just might change
If from Longleat I go

The stench of the circus
its still in the air
A place thats designed for ele’s
To share
Might be
The heaven I pray for
for me
A place to meet others
And to be free

With The sun on my back
And an aura that feels
welcoming and in a nutshell
Reveals
A calming of spirit
A euphoric tone
With a purr of contentment
at the cornerstone