An elephant without a face greeted me
on Facebook today,
his trunk and tusks
hacked away by poachers eager for ivory.
At first I thought it was a watermelon
sliced in half,
mistaking the pinkish blood
for the pulpy flesh of succulent fruit.
Why bother to extract excessive teeth
and risk being arrested?
Why let the poor pachyderm live
when it is better off dead?
Sometimes I wonder how human beings
created in the very image of the living God
have become more savage than beasts:
bullets in lieu of the cheetah’s speed,
knives instead of claws or paws, the gaping
maw of our greed more lethal than
shark’s teeth,
lion’s mouth,
or crocodile’s jaw.
What other creatures on this doomed planet
have skinned animals for their fur,
turned pelt into expensive shoes and bags,
carved intricate heirloom jewelry from ivory?
Ralph Semino Galán
Ralph Semino Galán is a prize-winning poet and translator, literary and cultural critic, and editor. He is the Assistant Director of the UST Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies. He is the author of the The Southern Cross and Other Poems (UBOD New Authors Series, NCCA, 2005), Discernments: Literary Essays, Cultural Critiques and Book Reviews (USTP, 2013), From the Major Arcana (USTPH, 2014), and Sa mga Pagitan ng Buhay at Iba pang Pagtutulay (USTPH, 2018).
