The Horse and the Elephant

Author:
John Hansen
Updated:
May 15, 2022 8:09 AM EDT

A ceramic elephant plant stand and wooden horse that I sketched using colored pencils. — A ceramic elephant plant stand and wooden horse that I sketched using colored pencils.
John Hansen 2019

The Horse and the Elephant

Horse

The horse said to the elephant,

"You are so big and strong.

I envy you your awesome power,

And your trunk's so very long."

Elephant

"But, you are graceful, sleek and swift,

You race for great prestige.

I'd like to be so stately,

You are a lovely steed."

Horse

"Well, humans use me for their sport,

To ride, or race if able.

When I am not in their use

I'm locked up in a stable."

Elephant

"I hate my large and floppy ears,

My trunk drags on the ground.

I'd love to have a tuneful voice,

Not this loud trumpet sound."

Horse

"You have the freedom of the plains

To run and play at will,

The largest animal on land,

Your tusks are cool as well."

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Elephant

"Our freedom's not all as it seems,

We're sought by men with guns.

They kill us for our ivory,

Or just for sporting fun."

Horse

"It seems that we both can relate,

Mankind's obsessed by sport

That cruelly exploits animals.

This practice must be fought."

Elephant

"So, let all animals unite

Against the plight we face.

Humans are just one of us,

This treatment's a disgrace."

Horse

"I'd love to join with you my friend

To carry out this plan,

But sadly I'm a wooden horse

And you're a mere plant stand."

In Support of Animal Welfare

Animal welfare, both wild and domestic, has always been something I feel strongly about. After all we humans are really just a part of the animal kingdom, despite many of us thinking we are something more.

We do have the intelligence and reasoning ability, however, to enact measures to protect and ensure the future existence of the other creatures we share the planet with. Mankind also has the resources to ensure that and we must make it our priority. This poem was inspired by a couple of inanimate objects in my home - a wooden horse and a ceramic elephant plant stand, but I write it as a plea to protect all animals.

War Beasts: Image by Андрей Сидоренко from Pixabay — War Beasts: Image by Андрей Сидоренко from Pixabay
Pixabay Free Photos

© 2019 John Hansen

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