The White Elephant

It’s there in the corner, it’s bulk hard to miss,

It’s hard facts and gossip, things hard to dismiss.

With friends or with strangers, it sits there so still,

And can kill conversation like nothing else will.

In the brightest of sunlight it’s shadow is there,

It even crowds in when I’m kneeling for prayer.

Conversation grows stilted when it is addressed,

Laughter chokes off and smiles grow distressed.

It separates family and friends with it’s ire,

But we all can agree that it needs to retire.

The elephant, they call him, his color is white,

He represents all that we can’t say or write.

So the word for each one who is tired of the dance,

Is here's what you do if you're given the chance.

Grab the big beast ‘fore ambition grows stale,

Pull him into the light by his trunk or his tail.

Don’t let your bygones control your today,

And don’t let your past drive you out of your way.

When bitterness dies and right words have been said,

Only then can we know that the elephant’s dead.

~ JH