My dear little elephant thank you for the bruises on my legs

My dear little elephant thank you for the bruises on my legs,

thank you for the broken lip, thank you for pushing me in bed

just so you can sleep with me

in such a tight embrace it feels like forever right

as if your big little body had always meant to hug

mine

and it makes me feel so light and bubbly as if by mistake

I am now your blanket

And you apologize while your eyes squint

and you dream of all the words you want to write

with such perfection and tenderness as if words

could be cotton candy and dripping honey.

You paint such a beautiful picture in your dream

I sigh and dream of being the green paint

with which you will start your sketch...

I still can't read you so well my dear baby elephant

but when you sleep by my side

and wake up hungry, starving and bright, so very bright

and I feed you honey and coconuts

you twirl your trunk and make space for us to go back to sleep again

as if there was never to be another sun rise

in an eternally summer night sprinkled with stars

up above

birds that rest and nest over the trees and us, 

caught in such an awkward cosmic encounter

no one doubts it happened on purpose.

But why would God give such a beautiful big little elephant

to such a person as me in the middle of New York city?