The White Onyx Elephant
There once was a white onyx elephant
carved of angles and light,
he sat opaque upon the high windowsill
and gathered the stars at night.
No one knew what to do with him and his
candyfloss coloured exterior, by day
thinking his thoughts very quiet,
sat on his mushroom like a cumulus cloud
perhaps calculating measures and distance
but never saying his sums aloud.
Over the years he’s been tidied away
and several house moves later, I don’t quite know
what’s happened to him but he’s completely
disappeared, perhaps he got in a rocket ship laden
with space age gear, up through the clouds
to stars so bright and maybe he got to the moon,
or maybe he just went away for a while,
and perhaps we’ll see him soon.
carved of angles and light,
he sat opaque upon the high windowsill
and gathered the stars at night.
No one knew what to do with him and his
candyfloss coloured exterior, by day
thinking his thoughts very quiet,
sat on his mushroom like a cumulus cloud
perhaps calculating measures and distance
but never saying his sums aloud.
Over the years he’s been tidied away
and several house moves later, I don’t quite know
what’s happened to him but he’s completely
disappeared, perhaps he got in a rocket ship laden
with space age gear, up through the clouds
to stars so bright and maybe he got to the moon,
or maybe he just went away for a while,
and perhaps we’ll see him soon.
This poem is copyright (©) Sarah Wallis 2024
About the Writer
Sarah Wallis
Sarah is a writer based in Scotland, with work published in journals cross genre, poetry, flash fiction and stage. She has x2 chapbooks out in the world - Medusa Retold @fly_press / Quietus Makes an Eerie @dancinggrlpress, with one due in May 2022 How to Love the Hat Thrower from @SelcouthStation. Her website is sarahwallis.net and she tweets @wordweave