I couldn't find room for the elephant
Until I moved my keyboard out of the loft
Into the basement by the woodstove.
I prayed for Putin last night.
I prayed for Putin and Ukraine and myself.
And got a dream for all my trouble.
My wife and I were driving through a neighborhood
Where people were standing
At the ends of their driveways
With posters, singing protest songs.
Everyone was involved.
There was a lot of spirit in the songs
By the mailboxes
Like angry Christmas carols.
Then we were walking up through the woods
Looking for a certain sacred tree and we found it.
In the branches were the bones of a large animal.
The vertebrae and leg bones and part of a skull.
We thought it might be a young elephant.
The grisly backbone was draped
From the branches like a Christmas chain.
Apparently a little boy was behind it.
He hoisted the bones up there by himself.
How could he have managed?
Yes, said my friend
Who knew the boy's father.
His anger gave him super powers, so they say.
My dream could have ended there
But it continued.
We returned to the neighborhood
Where the protests were winding down.
We stopped to talk with some people.
Did you hear the song we were singing?
The woman who was speaking was so proud.
As I woke she was asking me again,
Did you hear the song?
. . . .
Notes: This poem was inspired by a dream. What follows is the dream, some symbolism and an interpretation:
Dream of elephant skeleton in the tree
In car in middle class neighborhood, with my wife. People in the neighborhood are protesting war. There are some young people of the neighborhood standing at the end of a drive with a sign, singing a protest song. Maybe we drive around this neighborhood more than once. Then l am looking for a place to build a lean-to or shelter in the woods out of fallen branches but the trees aren't big enough in woods close to neighborhood. (A male friend in my group helps.) Now we are walking through a field and then a new forest but I see further into the woods, starting up a forested hill, the trees are taller and the underbrush is good cover (golden brown leaves). Then I see, up in the branches of a large tree, some bones of an animal, the backbone and some of the leg shanks and part of a large skull . . . Moose or elephant, judging my massiveness of the skull. We decide it must be an elephant. This is slightly disturbing. Back to neighborhood . (Seems that one of the young boys in the neighborhood (or a different neighborhood) put these bones in the tree as a protest or warning of some sort but what he is angry about isn't clear. His father, a good man, is not involved in the protests and may be a Trump supporter. ) Then we are back to driving around the neighborhood. There is solidarity. It is part of our protest to witness this protest of war, to follow the progress of the neighborhood protest. But things are winding down. We stop to talk to the small group at the end of the drive that was singing and a young woman asks if the repetition of the same song bothered me like the "searing" buzz of an angry "hornet".
Symbolism of elephant / skeleton:
Elephant:
In feng shui they represent strength, protection, wisdom, and good luck!
Elephants are revered in Buddhism and are one of the seven precious treasures of the universal monarch. Like a snow mountain, the elephant embodies dignity, majesty, and power.
In much of Buddhist and Hindu iconography, deities ride on elephants and are considered honored vehicles for transmitting spiritual teachings. In the Vedic systems, Ganesha is one of the most popular and loved deities. He has the head of an elephant and body of a boy. In ancient times, elephants were trained to battle because they were so powerful that they could remove any obstacles. Therefore Ganesha is the deity that is called upon to remove obstacles.
All elephant images are symbols of protection, good fortune, and wisdom, however white elephants are especially auspicious. It is said that the Buddha's mother dreamt of a white elephant before she gave birth to him.
Skeleton:
A skeleton does not only represent death; paradoxically, it brings the symbolism of the unformed into life. And through such symbolism the skeleton presents abundance and rebirth in the realm of life
They are the last earthly traces of the dead, and seem to last forever: bones symbolize the indestructible life (it represents resurrection in Jewish tradition), yet also may represent mortality and the transitory.
Interpretation of dream:
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