The sky is a custard dust.
There are five elephants
stood next to each other in a line.
The one on the far left
and the one on the far right
look like they’re either playing
or just very scared.
The faint squiggles of tree in the background
are the outlines of arteries
from a thick-skinned man
I’ve not hugged in months.
The elephant in the middle is glaring
down a camera that isn’t there
pretending to know what it’s doing.

© Carl Burkitt 2020