Elephant Day...
through the scrub, past the stark, dead trees reaching into
the cobalt sky, down the white- sand hill, more scrub, and
we arrived at the edge of the vastness,
in the distance sheets of water shone sequin-silver in the
afternoon sun.
this is where the elephants come to water, from seemingly
everywhere they came plodding, trunks swinging...family
groups, in tens, twenties, dozens, hundreds...big daddies
down to the smallest needing mummy little wobbly trunked
people.
they wallowed, squirted, rolled, swished, spattered, played
sucked and sprayed,
they leaned, they touched, they watched, inspected,....
drank,
in the afternoon sun we sat, silent, entranced. I looked
for a tissue.
gradually, the the first comers moved on, over the grass,
towards us, they surrounded us, regarded us, accepted us,
and left us and, as they passed, within touching distance
there was a tangible electrifying meeting of the senses.
eyes met eyes, soul met soul. they passed, up the slope,
merging with the scrub, on silent-soft-feet. and this
pattern was repeated again and again, the grasslands began
to dim as dusk lightly touched the brightness. it was time
to leave....as we drove back to the entrance, there they
were plodding through the scrub, on well worn paths,
grouped under trees, their huge shapes melting into the
fading light...as we reached the last woody, scrubby-dense
hill by the gates, with darkness nearly complete, there was
a golden glow slanting through the undergrowth, and as I
looked a leopard moved towards us, power in every muscular
step, gold in the glow. his lean body hard, meaningful and
utterly beautiful. I could not breathe, I could not move,
he merged into the spreading shadows, and was gone.
elephant day......
I sought my room early that night,
I needed the huge night sky, and those incredible stars,
the feel of the silk-silent river close by.
Pim Claridge