Two poems by Ricky Garni

Two poems
by Ricky Garni

ONCE: the elephant meditations

I

Once there was an elephant
with four legs. Wait! All
elephants have four legs!
End of story.

II

Once there was an elephant
with three legs. This elephant
was ashamed, and shunned by
his...hold on! I see the fourth
leg now. He was using it to
scratch himself–there are a lot
of mosquitos in elephant country.

III

Once there was an elephant
with grey skin. You might say:
'That's not unusual, most
elephants have...' etc., etc.

IV

Once there was an elephant
with grey skin, grey eyes,
grey nostrils, grey toe nails,
a grey mustache, a grey
cigarette holder, grey, shiny,
silky lips, a grey deed to the
old mine shaft outside of town
and one overdue library book.
It was grey.

V

Once there was an elephant
named Babar. Pretty boring–
but not really!

His full name was
Pablo Diego José
Francisco de Paula Juan
Nepomuccao Maria de los
Remedios Cipriano de la
Santisima Trinidad Ruiz
BABAR.

He had four legs and
a normal-sized penis.

VI

Once there was an elephant
that skipped rope. And yet,
when he rose from the ground,
the world trembled. When he
landed upon the ground, the
earth was still. Think about
that elephant skipping rope
and the earth trembling and
then the earth suddenly still.

Think about the blue sky
above him and the puffy
white clouds that seem so
infinitely far away. Think
about the joy coursing
through his body. Do you
think he is happy? I bet
not. One thing for sure,

there is a
lot of grey around here.
Are you happy? No?
Me neither. Are you grey?
Not me. Now what?
I love you.

=====================

RUBBER BULLETS

Rubber Bullets sound fun.

Rubber Bullets sound painful.

Fun, then painful.

Well, even after holding one in your hand, and trying to squish it.

"That's kind of neat" I'll say–but it doesn't get too squishy.

It's not supposed to.

Rubber Bullets stay firm. Don't let the 'rubber' part fool you.

Nothing left to do with this rubber bullet so I will just slip it into
my pocket and go to the movies.

THERE ARE RIOTS IN THE STREETS OF PORTUGAL AND THE POLICE ARE
PEPPERING THE ANGRY CROWDS WITH RUBBER BULLETS! in the movie

AIM FOR THE LEGS!

That'll be fun

thought at least one of the policeman, and not a very nice policeman.

But fun is always better than dead or painful. Lucky policeman,
unlucky rubber bullet victim person.

Still, I continue my thought like a dart at a policeman in a
Portuguese movie after contemplating Rubber Bullets in a more abstract
way

Or give a long, cold look to policemen everywhere, holding rubber
things in their hands

Too much of a coincidence for me to feel comfortable.

C'est imposible!

I slump over in my chair at a lovely seaside café. Guy, my favorite
waiter, brings me a refreshing aquavit.

Author bio:

Ricky Garni is a writer and illustrator living in Carrboro, North Carolina. He has many illustrations and poems available online as well as at Tortilla Ex Machina. Recently when he went to the dentist, the dentist said, "Whoa Doggie!" when Mr. Garni opened his mouth. Dentists in the south often say "Whoa Doggie" when their patients open their mouths.