Elephant

Probably we are the biggest
Land animals around
And therefore the heaviest
Walking on the ground
Our feet are much more delicate
Than some of you presume
I am not a taxi
So why do you all assume
I am
I have a heart and a soul
And feelings, and I care
Compared to a common vehicle
To be seen as such, I dare
Say its somewhat ignorant
Of humans seemingly
As very social creatures
We love our family

We are mothers
And we nurture
Our babies have to be
Schooled to live
Where humans live
Our lands now dreadfully
Are becoming ever smaller
The habitat where we
Were born in, and our water holes
Are scarcer so you see

Lots of electric fences
Put up to keep us out
Places where we used to eat
Are farmed now all about
We are under enormous pressure
And few of you will see
With all the stress now in our lives
We do not want to be

Some common mode of transport
Thats not our godly way
The way we eat and what we eat
Is helpful every day
we keep paths clear
Spread seeds and fertilise the earth
We teach our children to be good
That really is our worth

Putting us through torture
Phajaan is sophistry
Your artfulness is telling
The hurt a constancy
Those of us who experience it
We never will forget
And in our quieter moments
That is when we
Set
When we again remember
The suffering and pain
And quietly cry a tear or two
Because it was insane

With a brain as big as our brain
We are mindful of each day
Of the humans who don’t want us
And some drive us away
Electric fences rail tracks
And hunters not to say
The poachers want our Ivory Tusks
And our skin too so we pay
A high price
taken for granted
It really isn’t fair
Leave us let us do our bit
Just be more aware

The various lands of Africa
And India where we
Love to walk and eat the tasty
Greenery and be
Able to continue
Despite the rotten mines
All coming soon
The precious earth
You are after
All the signs

Electric cars
And digital worlds
Call for minerals and
Our world is being ruined
Some of our beautiful land
Rich in plants and fungi
With water holes close by
Already we see fences
There and say it with a sigh

We do not see the sense
Of zoo’s or game parks
All they are are prisons
And again
We are used as taxi’s
Or for begging on the road
Or hauling logs
Another frightful load

For us to get to grips with
Every single day
They have even got us painting pictures
And They starve us
Thats their way

Being the biggest land animal
And the heaviest as well
It really is a downer
Its like Living Hell
Slaves really to master
Who will torture us
And be
Anything but loving
In what is captivity.

DEDICATED to my new found friend
JULIE BERRY