The Stars of Jupiter’s Darling

In this crumbling photo from Look

magazine, some elephants

are spray-painted red, blue, yellow, green,

and, nearly hidden in the back,

a solitary purple.

They're moving in a circle in the middle

of a primitive road,

that winds into the distance

out of view.

I suppose this group of nine could see

where things were headed

on a road like that.

Now a few, small, indistinct figures—

human—

observe politely from the side,

while these elephants wade

in circles through the dust, in the sun,

in their remarkable skins.

Two in the foreground are traveling

directly on top

of their shadows, and staring straight down.

What could those hoary flags of African ears

be hearing

down there?

Some news, something modestly recent, say

about parentage,

for God's sake, would do.

But I doubt they could bring themselves back

enough to give me

any such story.

They keep working and working that circle

in order to drowse, in order to dream

themselves up—

in order to live, half-live

if nothing else,

cardinal, lavender, gold. . .

in the world.

[After a long-lost magazine photo of a scene from Jupiter’s Darling, a George Sidney film staring Esther Williams.]