page 134

Sonja Yelich

Arthritis the elephant

The man said he would pay happily full price.
And you said that will be fine thanks &
would you be after a receipt.

The man said he was not sure what
he would be after or before & gee
what's up with all the questions.

So you had to say don't forget your
change under the grill sir. & the talk
went back & forward through the no-smash glass.

Then he said maps! He would be needing a
map of the zoo to get around with. And you
had to ask for extra to the first. & that was it between you.

He was surprised a little by the minutiae
of drawings with arrows everywhere on
the gloss filmy paper.

3 bucks—& he was polite looking over
the standout times of 11.05 & 2
thirty for the Keeper & Animal

Displays around food.
He stopped first to spot the hedgerow
birds robbing stuff.

And passing with
Arthritis the elephant
Went by.

page 135

The second to last place people
recall him was at the iron rail
to the Galapagos Tortoise—

Which did a twisting thing with its neck
like the shape of 8 on its side.
It was a perfect day for radio reception

& he was on kilohertz. But these are
mere details & not relevant to the way
he fed himself to the lion.