The Sand Hill Review               http://www.sandhillreview.org 2011

Approaching Seven Billion

Everyone ignores the elephant

in the room. At first

he lurks in a corner, swinging

his trunk like a pendulum,

then slowly advances

on our dinner party.

He throws out low guttural

grunts we don’t listen to.

When he steps onto the table,

no one challenges him.

We don’t even look

in his direction. He pisses

in the salad, and we talk on,

though never about him, stuffing

our mouths with the last of the seared

tuna, one more éclair,

growing drunk

and boisterous.

Now, crushing plates

and knocking over carafes of wine,

he heads for the densest knot

of diners, where we’re wedged

together, two to a chair,

too sloppily sozzled

to notice him.

With a trumpet, he raises

one front leg, and finally

we turn to gape at the underside

of his huge foot, stained

with zinfandel and arugula,

poised inches above

our heads.

Patricia Zylius