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Posts Tagged ‘elephant’

The Elephant in the Room

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on June 4, 2026| 6 Comments »


                        for Karen Chamberlain
 
 
I carry it with me everywhere, 
this small wooden elephant
that sat for years on the writing desk
of my friend, a late-night writer,
a peach jam maker, lover of poets.
I have seen the way it makes shy men
smile when they hold it in their palms.
I have heard the voices of women break open
as they share the ache beneath their skin
when the elephant sits on the table 
in front of them. I am not saying 
the elephant is magic, but trust me, 
the elephant is magic. Not the wood itself, 
but the belief it carries—that all of us 
have a life worthy of our wonder, 
all of us have stories for sharing.
When the elephant enters a circle, 
each time I rediscover how vast the world 
becomes when we listen to each other. 

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Self-Portrait as Elephant

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on June 7, 2016| 1 Comment »

 

 

 

finding myself waist-deep

in a mud puddle,

unsure

if I’d rather

have you pull me out

or if it might not

be more fun

to pull you in

and reel in mud

together

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Tipping Point

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on August 13, 2015| 2 Comments »

I wanted to be more like you,

I did. I wanted to fit in

your hummingbird world

with its hummingbird nests

and its delicate wings and

its predisposition toward

delicate things, such as

tea cups and flowers

and gossamer strings.

So I painted my body

with delicate swirls

and colorful, whimsical

intricate whorls, and I tried

to fit my whole self inside

your dainty settings,

I tried, I tried to be more

like you, but there is no hiding

these giant gray legs and

this massive gray trunk

and these floppy gray ears.

It’s obvious. I am an elephant,

dear, and I just can’t squeeze into

this fragile world.

I belong home

in the elephant herd.

And I’m sorry I broke your fine

china cups. It’s so evident now

I can’t fit in them, but …

well, sometimes we need

to fail to learn. We need to digress

before we return.

I still think you’re lovely,

though slightly absurd,

oh beautiful, delicate,

bright hummingbirds.

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Seven Parallels

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on March 9, 2014| 3 Comments »

that elephant over there?
oh, yeah, I like to tell myself
it can fit in my pocket

*

don’t yell at me
I yell at him—
dead sunflower in the vase

*

do you think
this elephant in my pocket
makes me look fat?

*

too hot for my fingers
this piece of steamed carrot so I throw
it in my mouth

*

just before the snooze
alarm goes off again, a whole
dream in three minutes

*

I don’t know
if truth becomes visible but
elephants do

*

that scar, I pick
it even as I say out loud
stop picking it

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New Neighbor

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , on April 5, 2013| 1 Comment »

So surprising,
that elephant when he walked
through the door clearly marked
elephant, a door
I never knew I had.

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