There’s little room to breathe in here

the elephant sucks out all the air
through its massive trunk
and presses the couple to the walls.

They stare into each other,
their eyes message
what their lips cannot say:

there’s an elephant in the room.

There’s little room for elephants here
where villages expand into the plains
and poachers gun down whole herds.

Dying elephants suck air
through flattened trunks
fading eyes hold a message

there’s something we need to talk about here.

—
Juliet Wilson is an adult education tutor and conservation volunteer based in Edinburgh, UK. She blogs at Crafty Green Poet and can be found on Twitter @craftygreenpoet. Her poetry and short stories appear in various places online.