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Poetry

This is the second place winner in the "Poetry Section"

poe19:ELEPHANT JOY

by Ruby Rollins

There’s a stillness in the veld tonight;

Smells of dust and wood-smoke;

Spekboom, Gwharriebos and Aloe.

I’m here in Addo Elephant Park

And the scent in the air

Is a perfume by the name of ‘Africa’.

Like a row of ghostly shadows

Against a backdrop of crimson,

The herd moves towards the waterhole.

Night begins to fall

Filled with sounds of the wild,

And the singing of the crickets in the grass.

Dry, leafless thorn trees –

Their branches like upturned arms,

Are pleading for water from above.

The herd is standing still now

And gazing to the east

Where the clouds are gathering darkly in the dusk.

An awareness seems to settle

On both elephant and man

An expectant silence hangs thickly in the air.

The breeze begins to stir

And the first beads of rain descend,

Landing heavy in the red, parched, powdery dust.

I can feel and I can sense it:

A moment of pure joy

As their trumpeting breaks the surrealistic spell.

They revel as the drenching rain

Splashes over their dry, grey skin

And, for a moment, I know for certain: life is good.

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