"Silk and Chains" // a Poem by Emily Palmer
Ekphrasis Poem (of Dovima with Elephants by Richard Avelon)
Linked chains link majesty,
wrinkled tree trunk legs
to cement slabs sprinkled with hay.
The elephants’ eyes stare straight,
pay no heed to the woman.
Her arms long, stretch, reach
out with slender hands.
She grasps one, its trunk curled
in recoil from her greedy touch.
The other, just out of reach.
Wisdom of beasts shackled
the way her torso is bound
by a silken sash: tight,
restricting. She posed
for elegance, a scene
of tacky adolescence presented
by free spirits now enslaved,
chained to a living tomb.