Chendra

The footprint for palm oil
Is as deep as can be
Many tears have been shed
So much sadness I see
Heart wrenching stories
Pitiful tales
Lives left in tatters
How this all pales

Into significance
It is the start
One elephant wandering
A broken heart
Near a plantation
Was confronted by
A shot gun
That blasted
And blinded its eye

A baby still nursing
What would it do
Lost in the big world
Where only a few
Injured souls ever
Find favour today
Most shot and killed
Or just made to pay

Frightened and blinded
Imagine the pain
She sobbed for her mother
But that was in vain
Wandering angst ridden
Thankfully she
Was found and was taken
To a school
Where she’d be

Look after at least
By the children and they
Would tell other people
And so a bright ray
Of light seem to follow her
And she soon found
Some rehabilitation
Down on the ground

Close to the jungle
Where kindness and care
Was given and she strived
To be more aware
She was kindly but timid
So frightened you see
But was soon introduced
To a zoo where she’d be

At least, looked after
I am not into zoo’s
But here was a saviour
Which for her was good news
Oregon zoo her caretaker JB
And she was soon moved there
And bas been happy

There were several babies
Orphans and she
Could use her maternal
Instincts to see
She had only one eye
But a heart it was strong
And Chendra had a purpose
And soon a real throng

Of elephants with her
WitH their purgatory
She remembered her own
And helped them to be
With a great deal of space
And the patience to match
She helped rebuild their lives
And the babies did latch

Onto her really a surrogate she
Loved them as if they were hers
She could see
She could feel she could be someone
In their dear lives
From her tragic start
Now she survives

Very much with regard
In a sanctuary where
The intolerable victims of man
Made despair
Come and she helps
Reconcile and we see
A contentment she smiles
In her serenity

A forest elephant
From Borneo
Some 2000 wild ele’s left
There as we know
The struggle is still
Against palm oil and they
Like the orangutans
still face the dismay

Their whole world torn down
Slashed and burned a great war
All that they knew
Lost for evermore
Imagine that insanity
Foisted upon
The wild souls created
But Their whole world gone

Every tree every shrub
Every watering hole
And nobody there
To ever console
The hideousness
The defacement and woe
And its all done for money
For the banksters who blow

Much of it sadly on evil and gain
Supporting the criminal
The darkly insane
The tastelessness everywhere
The vulgarity
Replaces the good
The depravity

Excesses and waste
For as far as we see
The animals tribes
Now where can they be
They were our teachers
They were our friends
And in so many instances
All of this ends

With the utter contempt
For respect and due care
For loving each other
And being aware
As our lungs are
Blackened by poison and strife
Its not just the elephants
That now cling to life

We all are now victims
The indigenous too
Being invaded by armies
Its true
Migrants are everywhere
Its just the start
Of feeling the fear
That is breaking our heart