Fair Game

The elephant in the room
is sick of being ignored,
presumed too thick skinned
to have feelings of its own.

It raises its trunk in protest
like a megaphone: a corrugated
tube to amplify its message,
trumpet its urgency.

But the hall threatens to erupt.
Who allowed this cretin entry?
How did a beast so monstrous
squeeze into this conference space?

Should security not have seized
its cutthroat tusks outside?
This ghastly animal must be sent
packing, dumped in the nearest jungle.

Get this elephant out of the room.
A show of hands will be enough to lend
the motion force: Let there be no free
speech for outlandish species here.

‘Fair Game’ is taken from Dear Life which was published by Anvil Press Poetry in 2012.