Ode, Poetry, Theme Prompt, Writing Challenge, Writing Prompts

Ode To The Elephant At Evening

Nancy's Notes 🖊️♬

Written for Wea’ve Written Weekly.
Our PoW, Heather, invites us to
have a conversation with nature
and/or any living thing written in
the form of an irregular ode.

Image by Me & ChatGPT

O great grey traveler,
you walk as if the ground were listening,
and perhaps it is. Perhaps the red earth
learns your weight the way a drum learns a hand.

What do you know of gold?
They have hung it from your brow,
set turquoise where your thoughts begin,
spilled a carpet of indigo and burgundy
across the mountain of your back
as though you were a throne, a shrine,
a festival that knew no end.
Do the little bells speak to you
with every step? Do they sound
like rain beginning somewhere far away?
I think you wear it the way a hill wears evening,
patiently, knowing it will pass.

What do you know of distance?
You who hear thunder through your feet,
who call to kin across the miles
in voices too low for my small ears,
a conversation running underneath the world
while I stand here, deaf to all of it, praising.

And what do you know of grief?
They say you linger by the bones of those you loved,
turning them gently with your trunk as if reading a letter
in a language only the living and the dead can share.
Teach me that tenderness.
Teach me to hold what is gone
without breaking it.

Your skin is a map of dry rivers,
each crease a season you outlasted.
Your ears are two continents fanning the heat away.
Your trunk is a hand, a trumpet, a question,
lowered now toward the grass,
curled at its tip like a word not yet spoken.

Forgive us our ornaments.
We dress what we cannot hold.
We lead with a slender rope
what could walk through a wall of us, and does not.
Is that gentleness yours,
or a gift you choose to give?

What do you know of the ages?
Everything, I think.
You were already ancient
when the first of us learned to kneel.
So walk on, old wisdom,
slow as a planet, soft as dust,
under your borrowed jewels;
you are the brightest thing on the plain.


NAR©2026
#W3

This video was made 8 years ago; it is “Clair de Lune” by Debussy played on the piano to a then 80-year-old blind elephant named Ampan. As of 2026 she is still alive and living a well-cared-for life in Thailand, still listening to and enjoying music. She has a beautiful spirit.

W3 Prompt #230: Wea’ve Written Weekly

Everything on The Elephant’s Trunk was created by me, except where otherwise indicated, and may not be used without permission. Thanks for your consideration. NAR©2017-present.

46 thoughts on “Ode To The Elephant At Evening”

  3. Magnificent. Nancy’s your irregular ode to the elephant—deeply reverent, rich with layered imagery, and carrying the weight of complex questions about our relationship to the natural world. You addresses the elephant as “O great grey traveler,”
    Teach me to hold what is gone / without breaking it’ Nancy, this is your ode to the elephant, but it’s also an ode to yourself. Beautiful, brave, and necessary.

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    1. You’ve left me somewhat speechless, which, if you know me, is not easy to do! I’m blown away by your extremely elegant and complimentary response. I have a long-standing affinity for elephants and their beautiful spirit. They have a natural ability to combine massive physical power with extraordinary intelligence, deep emotional empathy, and loyalty. We could learn a lot from these gentle giants. Thank you so much for this lovely comment; I am most appreciative. 🩶 🐘

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  6. Absolutely beautiful. I wanted to share the lines I loved but I loved them all. I can picture you speaking your ode to the Elephant. I’m sure they would listen intently. The video was so touching. Thanks for including it.

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  9. This is most beautiful writing, Nancy. The elephant is so deserving of this ode. Every line is beautiful. Especially, 

    “you wear it the way a hill wears evening, patiently, knowing it will pass.” 

    When you wrote “Forgive us our ornaments” That made me pause, as it sounds like saying, Forgive us our trespasses when I pray. 

    Beautiful writing my friend. Xo 

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  14. Teach me to hold what is gone
    without breaking it.

    Nancy, this sentence touched me. I love these beautiful animals too and have a little collection of them. I have one almost exactly like the photo. Another gentle tug on our hearts, Happy Saturday sis.

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    1. Thank you so much, Darlene. As you can tell by my site name, I love elephants and writing an ode to them was a no-brainer. They really are very special creatures, regal, patient, and so wise. I’m delighted you enjoyed the video and I’m not surprised it made you cry. I had the same reaction. 🩶 🐘

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  17. Oh I love this all so much – your deeply moving poem shows the immense dignity, ancient sorrow and quiet power of the elephant while gently interrogating the complex relationship between humanity and the natural world. And the video was incredible – I love that piece of music but I will never listen to it again without visualising that special connection – thanks Nance so much 🩷💞🩷

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