elephant fell asleep

elephant fell asleep in the casket and dreamed
he was drifting in leafy water to tall trees and lush foliage
an old elephant scratching his back on a tree helloed him
hey whatcha doing floatin down the rivah — are you lost?
no just floatin then the old elephant said: good green stuff up here
over the hill is the city and all the people you know
you ought to come on up and see it all i betchud be surprized
with a big smile so elephant turned over and swam to the shore
shook himself off with wobbly legs
you’ll get stronger said the old elephant. now come up the hill.
they walked up and elephant said where was i who are you
old elephant snorted and said i’m the Sorter. i Sort. i pull
the elephants out of the river and take ‘em up the hill.
elephant did not understand. don’t worry said the old.
elephant ate and ate and then he saw everybody he knew
his mother and brother and sisters and uncles and aunts and grandparents
his friends and the elephants from the very far tribe
and elephants he never saw before too
elephant got to live in his own place with a bathtub and a larder
scratchy-scritchy things and mud and oil baths
a big soft sleeping place and a big changing picture wall
the food was sooo good. he watched a movie about an elephant named irif
and he slept a lot. one day he was playing in the floating tree stem thingies
his mother called him down. come to the singing place
elephant didn’t know anything about that so he found his way there
the lines to get in were endless he saw big elephants and tiny little elephants
and young and old and brown and white and green and red and even yellow
everybody was chattering excitedly and when elephant finally got in
it was a giant bowl of standing-places with so many elephants that you couldn’t see the other side
and two miles high. elephant was amazed to see a giant elephant in the center
but he figured out that it was really just a picture then the giant elephant spoke:
from the time of the oldest we bring this to the newest and let us sing
elephant saw the elephants all around him lift their trunk up and breathe in
the sound they made then was pure elephant joy and elephant was swept in
he sang until he cried and he knew all of them were taken up as well
the song swelled up to too much beauty and then crashed upon the leafy beach
elephant was sad when it ended and shuffled out with his head down so he
bumped into the largest elephant that ever lived and stumbled back in surprise
it was irif who said: hey what did you think that was the best ever huh?
elephant said you are irif the great elephant. you are known to all elephants.
irif snorted. nah. just genetics. i’m just a big typical water-snortin’ greybag like yahself
in a large. so what about you? you’re a newbie, right? what planet did you pick?

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