my elephant ghost is heavy
elephant weight being more than
one foot flat and lifted / ready to press down

I sit behind the ghost elephant’s ears 
fat thighs and frightened knees
holding on tight 

I do not know where she has come from 
or how I got here
but familiar with hairy hide
the bony brow / I allow her trunk
curling up to smell my love / to snort affectionately

I doze in her rhythm / wake to wonder
that nothing seems wasted / that I cannot explain what we have done

generous elephant spirit / powerful plod
unchanged wild and wise in bone
where do you carry my lumpy soul?

I go along / astride and humble
her foster child 
not much use / not too much trouble
watching her memory find the way

Poem by Jo Mariner