Elephant
Smiling at my two uneasy children
she puckers, blows, inflates latex
to blue plumpness, fingers waving
in a cheery high-five.
Her own hands, medic-deft, twist and tie
to make four stubby legs, a trunk. A pen
pauses in note-taking to draw on ears,
a face. Bright with kindness.
She fashions one each while her colleague
reports on their grandmother, now conscious
and cleared of suspected stroke. The room
relaxes as they laugh.
Months later, I find one in their toy box,
recognisable, though diminished: limbs
less sturdy, its wry biro smile
wrinkling as it loses air.
Suzanna Fitzpatrick (she/her) is a bisexual poet who has had poems aired on BBC Radio 4 and widely published in the UK, US, Ireland and Canada. She was shortlisted for the 2019 Bridport Prize, came third in the 2023 Shepton Snowdrops Competition, second in the 2016 Café Writers and 2010 Buxton Competitions, and won the 2014 Hamish Canham Prize and the 2024 Newcastle University Chancellor’s Prize. Her pamphlets are Fledglings (2016), and Crippled (due 2025) (both Red Squirrel Press, UK).
Comments