The elephants trampled everything in their pathways. When they weren't killing innocent villagers or destroying ancient shrines they were pillaging crop fields and contaminating the drinking water.
T
To the inhabitants of this ravaged village the elephants were no longer extraordinary creatures to share stories about like many moons ago. The rumbling herds had merely become a deadly nuisance to the villagers and a collection of dreadful thoughts invading their sleep.
H
The elephants stomped around boastfully taking great pleasure in being so dominant. For years their rule had needed to come to an end but most of the villagers were lazy. They'd gotten so used to the unfortunate circumstances of their lives that they felt there was nothing they could do to make them better. Generation after generation complacency overshadowed their difficulties.
E
Rather than trying to overthrow their oppressive dictators when a tragic event took place, they sadly decided to turn and run. They found themselves at odds knowing their ailing families were without proper health care and all the doctors and world's volunteers were too busy helping safer neighboring regions and countries.
Y
In the minds of most of the villagers the elephants had simply become an inconvenience they were destined to endure. To the non-conformists, however, the bloodshed and devastation had gone on far too long and they decided it was time for a change.
W
Throughout the years battles had been waged against the elephants but the villagers could never recruit the number of soldiers needed for victory. Ghosts of men who died fighting those epic battles still call out to the living; you can hear them whisper when the fog rolls in in the morning. They wonder when their people will stand united again ready to fight for freedom. Who would show a grand display of uncommon bravery in the faces of their enemy, throwing themselves into harm's way to shed some light upon these dark valleys? What group of men had the determination to bring peace to those civilians whose hope has faded away, to finish the job their fathers and grandfathers could not?
I
Unlike other present-day civilizations this village did not have an existing governing body in place so there was no President or Secretary of Defense to hold accountable for all this chaos. Democracy did not exist here. There weren't any activists or special interest groups to appease, no red tape to cut through, so there wasn't any legitimate excuse not to fight.
L
It would take a battalion of determined citizens making the ultimate sacrifice to open up the minds of the villagers, to motivate them into reclaiming the land they once felt honored to call their home. Individually this uprising could never take place but their strength in numbers would surely prevail. To them a legion of twenty zealous warriors would have the same willpower as that of twenty million. But would twenty million be enough to eradicate the enemy?
L
Despite their ancestors losing in previous battles, war was still the only possible way to defeat the elephants; what else could they do to liberate themselves? If plenty of people could sharpen plenty of weapons and scheme a tactical plan there was a legitimate chance for victory. It was time to raise a little hell of their own, not cower in the corners of their homes. Because of the liberal outcry for a revolution and a desire for a better life help was finally on the way. War was officially declared and the first day of the rest of their lives began.
L
The tribe took to the open fields waiting for the sound of the daily stampede. When the elephants were within striking distance the tribesmen unleashed their arsenal of spears and knives. Many of the men were trampled to death but those who survived continued to push forward leaving a trail of mangled compatriots behind them.
I
Even though the elephants were bigger and stronger one by one the mighty giants tumbled to their deaths. After decades of oppression the people were finally going to get what they'd been praying for, revenge.
E
After weeks of fighting the war ended on a foggy November morning. The results were not nearly as satisfying as the men thought they'd be. Marketplaces where merchants sold spirit crystals and snakeskins and where families watched magic shows and participated in holiday festivals were now the bloodied battlegrounds littered with the carcasses of animals and humans alike. Across these barren plains are the ruins that used to be churches, schools, and commonplaces. The only structures left standing were a few scattered huts and a poorly constructed graveyard.
I
With tears restrained and emotions numb the warriors surveyed the landscape that was destroyed around them. What was once a naturalistic portrait of beauty was now only a collage of death and destruction as far as the eye could see. Even with their eyes closed they were still reminded of the horrors that just unfolded. The stench emanating from the dead would not dissipate for years later. Remnants from the war, the skins and bones from those animals and humans alike, would lie scattered throughout the land to serve as reminders of the revolution.
R
Even though their dictators were overthrown with victory also came defeat. The men foolishly thought that once they defeated the elephants everything would suddenly improve; that the sun wouldn't beat down so hard when they made their pilgrimages; that every cruel mirage would actually be an oasis. They realized quite quickly they were wrong. Life as they now saw it through their freshly cleaned pair of eyes was an overwhelming vision of sadness.
A
Now that their agony had subsided it was like there was no sanctity in anything anymore, nothing to fight for or to be proud of. Night skies that showed entertainment in constellations had become nothing more than vast spaces of nothingness. The only inconveniences left to tolerate was the suffocation of humidity during the day and the bitterness of cold at night.
Q
After they'd collected the bodies of their dead comrades and cut off a dozen or so elephants tusks for souvenirs they started their arduous trek back to the village. A week's worth of fighting was going to take its toll on the men as they made their way back home. The thought of everlasting peace gave them the stamina they would need to get there alive. But as dawn approached a shocking discovery was made.
W
Across a mile or so of land and fog the men could see the silhouette of a single elephant hobbling in the distance. You could tell it was injured by the way its trunk dragged in the dirt and the slow pace at which it walked, yet it kept moving steadily until the silhouette slowly faded and then disappeared. The men knew they could have easily killed it in its tracks but they decided to let it roam free even though some of them felt it contradicted everything they fought so valiantly for. It struck them peculiar that despite their hatred of the elephants the aura of the wondrous creature was still something to behold.
I
After an eerie silence passed where it felt like any one of the men would instantaneously break away from the group and charge at the elephant, they were reminded by their wise leader that this war wasn't about killing things that did not pose an immediate threat to their people. It wasn't a single elephant that would bring them harm but rather an entire population of them.
L
L
C
R
Y
).setAttribute('href','//poetrypoem.com/cgi-bin/index.pl?sitename=poetic2984&item=home');document['poetimage'].height='45';document['poetimage'].src='//poetrypoem.com/photos/poets/poetic2984-button.jpg';;WriteLayer('ptitle',null,'Just Remember');WriteLayer('ppoem',null,'There are having dreams filled with delight Hoping that someday they may see <a href="//poetrypoem.com/cgi-bin/index.pl?poemnumber=1350206&displaypoem=t&sitename=poetic2984&item=poetry" target="_top" style="text-decoration:none;"><font style="color: #18397C;font: 900 12px times;"> ... More</font></a>');WriteLayer('poetinfocus',null,'poetic2984');WriteLayer('pdate',null,'2024-04-25')){kind=small}
poetic2984
).setAttribute('href','//poetrypoem.com/cgi-bin/index.pl?sitename=dreamweaver&item=home');document['poetimage'].height='45';document['poetimage'].src='//poetrypoem.com/photos/poets/dreamweaver-button.jpg';;WriteLayer('ptitle',null,'SATURATED SORROW');WriteLayer('ppoem',null,'~SATURATED SORROW~ It proves over and over again that we are slaves of ci<a href="//poetrypoem.com/cgi-bin/index.pl?poemnumber=1350214&displaypoem=t&sitename=dreamweaver&item=poetry" target="_top" style="text-decoration:none;"><font style="color: #18397C;font: 900 12px times;"> ... More</font></a>');WriteLayer('poetinfocus',null,'dreamweaver');WriteLayer('pdate',null,'2024-04-26')){kind=small}
dreamweaver).setAttribute('href','//poetrypoem.com/cgi-bin/index.pl?sitename=poet6958&item=home');document['poetimage'].height='45';document['poetimage'].src='//poetrypoem.com/photos/poets/poet6958-button.jpg';;WriteLayer('ptitle',null,'Seeding The Storm');WriteLayer('ppoem',null,'Cotton is picked before cloth is made Footings poured to support the stage L<a href="//poetrypoem.com/cgi-bin/index.pl?poemnumber=1350222&displaypoem=t&sitename=poet6958&item=poetry" target="_top" style="text-decoration:none;"><font style="color: #18397C;font: 900 12px times;"> ... More</font></a>');WriteLayer('poetinfocus',null,'poet6958');WriteLayer('pdate',null,'2024-04-26')){kind=small}
poet6958).setAttribute('href','//poetrypoem.com/cgi-bin/index.pl?sitename=author3578&item=home');document['poetimage'].height='45';document['poetimage'].src='//poetrypoem.com/photos/poets/author3578-button.jpg';;WriteLayer('ptitle',null,'My Father');WriteLayer('ppoem',null,'Hard working Early morning rising Wise sayings Climbing the ladder The fi<a href="//poetrypoem.com/cgi-bin/index.pl?poemnumber=1350178&displaypoem=t&sitename=author3578&item=poetry" target="_top" style="text-decoration:none;"><font style="color: #18397C;font: 900 12px times;"> ... More</font></a>');WriteLayer('poetinfocus',null,'author3578');WriteLayer('pdate',null,'2024-04-24')){kind=small}
author3578
PoetryPoem.com 