A few thoughts on an elephant

a pregnant elephant
briefly inhabits

one dwindling
waterhole after another

she mostly communicates through her feet
which pick up the earth‘s vibrations
like loudspeakers

she looks across the savannah
with limited vision

unlike the poachers
adjusting the sights of their rifles
for long-range shots

with each generation
her tusks are becoming smaller and smaller

she follows the herd
each step
as laboured as her last

with a gestation period of 22 months

she will need to remember
which month it is

because we all know
that elephants never forget

Jules Leigh Koch, born in Sydney, was raised and lives in Adelaide. The author of five poetry collections and the recipient of two South Australian literature grants in 2008 and 2011, he was a guest reader at Adelaide Writers’ Week in 2017, and a judge for the biennial John Bray Poetry Award in 2017, 2019 and 2021. He has also worked as a mentor with writers from the Richard Llewellyn Arts and Disability Trust.

Readers’ original and unpublished poems of up to 40 lines can be emailed, with postal address, to [email protected]. Submissions should be in the body of the email, not as attachments. A poetry book will be awarded to each accepted contributor.