local_library Before one could recognize another

by Blair Benjamin

Published in Issue No. 272 ~ January, 2020

Ruth 3:14

 

 

In the dark

an elephant strokes your fingers with its trunk

 

You are a tiny cactus without your spines

says the elephant

 

Never mind how you found yourself

in the dark with an elephant—

 

imagine it’s before light

before continents—

 

or how the elephant ever found itself with a cactus

tiny or grand—

 

remember it’s before climates

before distances and Darwinism

 

Wonder only what happened in the dark before

to make you lose your spines

 

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My previous work has appeared in The Threepenny Review. I’m the Founder/Director of the Studios at MASS MoCA residency program for artists and writers in North Adams, Massachusetts.