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