Ivory Tusks

There are three kinds of ivory:
The living tusks,
The bones returned to earth,
The hunter's prize.

The elephant neither flees nor fears
A time when he will not raise up
His tusks in celebration of
The spirit that enlivens him.

The earth is conscious only of
A great unbroken chain of birth and death;
She receives the tusks with patience
And molds them into breath again.

The hunter finds an isolating surge
Of momentary glory,
Which serves to sever him
From the natural order.


©2018 Michael Fraley




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