7.05 / May 2012

Rubbing the Elephant

Ryan Sharp

[wpaudio url=”/audio/7_5/Sharp.mp3″ text=”listen to this poem” dl=”0″]

Three brothers are blind men
groping an elephant. The first

says the elephant’s skin is their father’s
ashy elbows. The second

says the elephant has ingénue eyelashes,
like their mother, while the third feels

that the elephant’s substance lies
in its heavy middle. The first then asks

Where is our sister? No one knows.

In the hours they spend rubbing truths
from the elephant, they
never allow their hands to touch

Ryan Sharp teaches language arts and journalism at a charter high school. He earned his MFA in Poetry from Pacific University. His poetry and reviews have appeared in several journals including Callaloo, The Pedestal, Magma (UK), Rio Grande Review, and Sleet. He lives in Portland, OR with his beautiful wife and two young children.

7.05 / May 2012