Crying with the Elephants
By Dallas Rising
An Animal Rights Poem from All-Creatures.org

Crying with the Elephants
By Dallas Rising

Crying with the Elephants
Is not so hard to do,
If you know what is done to them
In a circus or a zoo.

They don't look a lot like us
But you would be surprised
Just how much we share with them
If you look beyond their size.

They could live as long as us
They grow at the same rate.
But not many make it to old age
As humans change their fate.

Those who run the circus know
Elephants aren't easy to obtain
They'll pay someone else to do it
Hunting is out of their domain.

The circus men find poachers
To do this nasty deed.
"We'll pay you for an elephant.
It's a little one we need."

The poachers just want money.
Cows are shot and left to die.
They're desperate to protect their young
They struggle as they try.

Mothers love their babies,
As you cherish your own.
They grieve when little ones are stolen,
Taken far away from home.

The baby weeps for days
In fear and disbelief.
He aches for his mother's touch,
To offer some relief.

The calf is meant to play
with his elephant kin,
Instead he's crying all alone;
Only pain where joy had been.

The circus needs to "break him"
To force him to perform.
They don't tell us how that's done
They'd rather misinform.

The Elephant is beaten
With big clubs and bullwhips.
The little babe cries out in pain,
Until his spirit rips.

They puncture him, they burn him,
They use electric prods,
Will he ever be free from this?
Just what are the odds?

Most of the time he's kept confined,
Days and nights are spent in chains.
He no longer has a home,
Traveling  'cross country in trains.

The box car is a filthy place,
They don't keep it clean for him.
He's chained there in the heat and cold,
His life is very grim.

They say he makes too much mess,
This he's clearly demonstrated.
So they give him only so much water,
To keep him dehydrated.

He is a social animal,
He needs to be with friends.
But none get any social time,
They're all kept in seperate pens.

They force him to perform "tricks"
He would not do in the wild.
All for a few dollars from a
Poor Misguided Child.

How sad that captive elephants
Often suffer from tuberculosis,
And a sad mangling of the mind
Resulting in madness and neurosis.

This is the truth behind the lies
This is Reality.
Elephants across the world
Suffer from this brutality.

This is the life he's forced to live
Though it's not his choice.
Do you think it's fair or right?
Will you be his voice?

- Dallas Rising © January 2004