appealing

The Maynard
Fall 2020

Shareen K. Murayama
0:00
 
 

What We Do When We Run Out of Elephants

Today the volume button on my phone
stopped working.
No. I should say died.
I hate saying died.
Today the volume button on my phone died:
your voicemails cradled metallic
in my pocket too thin—

They say a hundred elephants are killed each day:
a living room toothless times a hundred.
They say elephants bury their dead:
tympanic shrills and gentle nudging
shaking against what is passing: tentacular.
A limbic silence wakes the community
tossing branches and leaves on the not moving.
They say members of the herd will stay with the body for days
before moving on.
I hate when people say moving on.

Today the volume button on my phone died.
I hate saying died.
What will we do when what powers
us stops moving—
a gentle nudge, shaking against
what’s already moved on.