A Litany for Survival

A Litany for Survival

For A.L.

An elephant walked into my bedroom

reciting a litany for survival  

She spoke about her brown mother

and sister having died too many deaths

that were not their own 

She spoke about redemption

and a new religion

She spoke about winter people

taking off their blood masks

and monuments for the children of war

She spoke about hunger and blind feet

trying to find their way to the sun

She spoke about a greedy black unicorn

that was not free

She spoke about having two faces

and a frying pan to cook up her daughters

She spoke about two men with stone eyes

making love in the hallway

they were lying like felled maple

Soon the hallway was covered

with these beggars
and I couldn’t pass over them
Perhaps I wasn't meant to survive