[New-Poetry] An Elephant Poem

[Anny Ballardini]

:-)
that is funny. 
While I have the birds shitting all round my balcony, people passing by will soon say, you see all that bird shit, that's where Anny Ballardini lives...

Yes, because since they were destroying my beloved plants, I started feeding them seeds which they did not notice for a month, but finally one day they did, and so, instead of the blackbird couple only, I had the two (they just _love_ me!) plus a discreet number of swallows.
Believe it or not, when I got back from the States, I opened the window, filled up their cup and added some fresh water, the male blackbird was the first to notice the new goodies and sitting on the railing started singing such an incredible and loud song that it broke my heart, and then he flew down and had his lunch.

At least he is a Gentleman, besides being a superb black bird!
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: JforJames at aol.com 
  To: new-poetry at wiz.cath.vt.edu 
  Sent: Friday, May 09, 2008 2:50 AM
  Subject: [New-Poetry] An Elephant Poem


  Rossetti’s Elephant

       The British painter and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-82) 
        announced that he wanted to buy an elephant.   
        When his friends asked what that could be good for, he said,
            "So I can teach it to wash the windows of my house."
         When they still seemed puzzled, he added,
            "Then everyone would stare and say, 'That elephant 
              is washing the windows of the house in which lives 
              Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the famous artist."

  At first the elephant stood steadfast and confused,
  They handed him the sponge to grasp
  instead of using it to scrub his hide of the dirt
  and vermin. They prodded him with sharp 
  bamboo sticks, forced him to hold the sponge aloft, 
  to make circular motions with his trunk, 
  first in air, and then over glass. Of course he broke 
  some panes along the way, But he was the kind 
  of beast that took to training, and in a week or so 
  he was dipping and sopping, raising and washing
  each window in its turn. And people 
  did come by. 
                      People loved to see
  him trampling the shrubbery, absolutely 
  obviously, or would gasp and feign dismay 
  when he relieved himself copiously on the front lawn.
  Sometimes he would press a large eye 
  against the glass. Nothing to eat…Persian carpets
  and ornate furnishings, walls hung with paintings.

  When Rossetti died the contents auctioned off,
  and the elephant sold to a circus in Leeds. 
  For years afterwards people called it 
  The Elephant’s House. It was remarked 
  that it had 22 bright windows and 18 times 
  that number in facets of glittering panes, 
  but only an oak tree now to cast a shadow upon it. 
   






------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists on family favorites at AOL Food.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------


  _______________________________________________
  New-Poetry mailing list
  New-Poetry at wiz.cath.vt.edu
  http://wiz.cath.vt.edu/mailman/listinfo/new-poetry



------------------------------------------------------------------------------


  No virus found in this incoming message.
  Checked by AVG. 
  Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 269.23.10/1421 - Release Date: 5/7/2008 5:23 PM
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://wiz.cath.vt.edu/pipermail/new-poetry/attachments/20080509/3665cf8d/attachment.html