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Of ignorant fear gone insane

In a hysterical society

With free-floating anxiety

And feigned piety

I miss you, Ryan White

You showed us how to stand and fight

In the rain you were a cloudburst of joy

The sparkle of hope in every girl and boy

In the depths of your anguished sorrow

Was the dream of another tomorrow.

So The Elephants March

A curious fact about elephants is this: In order to survive, they mustn't fall down. Every other

Animal can stumble and get back up again. But an elephant always stands up, even to sleep. If one

Of the herd slips and falls, it is helpless. It lies on its side, a prisoner of its own weight. Although

the other elephants will press close around it in distress and try to lift it up again, there isn't

Usually much they can do. With slow heaving breaths, the fallen elephant dies. The others stand

Vigil, then slowly move on.

This is what I learned from nature books, but I wonder if they are right. Isn't there another reason

why elephants can't fall down? Perhaps they have decided not to. Not to fall down is their mission.

As the wisest and most patient of the animals, they made a pact -- I imagine it was eons ago, when

The ice ages were ending. Moving in great herds across the face of the earth, the elephants first

Spied tiny men prowling the tall grasses with their flint spears.

"What fear and anger this creature has," the elephants thought. "But he is going to inherit the

earth. We are wise enough to see that. Let us set an example for him."

Then the elephants put their grizzled heads together and pondered. What kind of example could

they show to man? They could show him that their power was much greater that his, for that was

Certainly true. They could display their anger before him, which was terrible enough to uproot

Whole forests. Or they could lord it over man through fear, trampling his fields and crushing his

Huts.

In moments of great frustration, wild elephants will do all of these things, but as a group, putting

Their heads together, they decided that man would learn best from a kinder message.

"Let us show him our reverence for life," they said. And from that day on, elephants have been

Silent, patient, peaceful creatures. They let men ride them and harness them like slaves. They

Permit children to laugh at their tricks in the circus, exiled from the great African plains where

They once lived as lords.

But the elephants' most important message is in their movement. For they know that to live is to

Move. Dawn after dawn, age after age, the herds march on, one great mass of life that never falls