Big

I like elephants. Or I should say I love elephants.
I like that they chew their food slowly the way my little brother does.
I like the way they lumber, not lope.
I like the simplicity of their thick bodies.
I like how each foot has the girth of a tree.
I like how their ears seem almost razorsharp at the edges.
I like that their bodies can produce a substance as rare as ivory.
I like that they take revenge against poachers and murderers.
I like the strength hidden under the folds of skin like steel springs.
I like the harsh reality of how dangerous they really are.

I regret being born in this thin, useless body.
I regret these legs which may as well have been toothpicks.
I regret this big nose which was never big or long enough.
I regret this disproportionate brain which knew too much empathy.
I regret not being born an elephant
or I could have wrapped my trunk tightly around you
and taken you away from this place of violence and hate.
I could have moved one thick leg after the other
through the garbage and the stab wounds and the broken bones.

But you are here with your arms wrapped around me.
You are here with your back absorbing the blows.
You are here dying to take revenge.
Maybe you are an elephant and
That is why I love you.