"ELEFANTE" Volume I

2013

Poetry - Pottery- Intaglio Prints

“Elefante” Volume 1 -

Location: Pop Up Museum & NJCU Art Gallery

Focus: Ethics of Animals Kept in Captivity & Endagerment

by: Melida Rodas

Excerpt :

Elephant Birth

There is no sound but the whisper of an eyelash

closing over a wild, still eye ...

like a moth resting on a tree

legs rock, position, as tail swings

cargo warm for just a few more moments inside,

the membrane

begins to drop,

suspended

a water balloon hanging from a running faucet

breaks finally,

suddenly,

spilling the infant onto the ground, red waterfall baptizing motionless mass

until mother’s trunk entwines with the innocent

pulling it, tugging it to its first breath

new born bones can barely support the weight

larger beast persuading it to move, move, move

their rest will come,

but not for now,

not even for a little while,

first to learn how to begin