We do your favourite jungle puzzle
for the sixth time
this morning
I tell you about the time I was in Nepal
on an elephant
and saw a woman hobbling out of the bush
pale as wax
her leg flesh billowing like curtains
I don’t tell you the gory parts
just that a rhinoceros ran after her
and she didn’t make it up the tree
you look at me for a moment
then you kiss the rhinoceros piece gently
on his flat wooden blade of a nose
it’s clear you have heard a different story
the one about a hulk of a beast
thumping with fear
babies nearby
or maybe just the memory
of the last time humans cracked through her jungle
armed with the strangest greed.