Elephants

By Melina Bowser

After death,

Is there Heaven? Hell?

Nothing?

The unnerving question

Hidden away in a darkened room inside my mind

A place I never visit in the day

Yet, I can’t seem to escape it at night

When my heavy eyelids finally surrender to the exhaustion

I run to shut the door

Lock it up before it slowly seeps out

I make it just in time

I’ve suppressed the hunger for answers

Never wanting to let myself wander

A place I’d only imagine to be daunting

But one can only fast for so long

On a warm evening

A few months after he left us

I allowed myself to open the door

I wanted to see the unknown

A strong image came to me

Floating through a dream for just a few fleeting moments

I saw it:

A boundless savanna

Pale yellow grasses blowing in a faint breeze

Huge African elephants marched through the brush

Laughing with their babies holding onto their tails

Gazelles and zebra grazed quietly

As the warm sunset colored the plains a rich pink and orange

One elephant stopped

Looking at me intently

His kind eyes stared into mine

With a slight nod, he left

A sense of relief washed over me.