The Elephant

Has disappeared
No one can describe
What they see / feel

Forget the three
Blind person’s description

“Three blind men come across an elephant. The first man happens upon its leg, and concludes it’s a tree. The second man bumps into its trunk, and concludes it’s a snake. The last blind man feels its tail, and concludes it’s a broom.”

– A parable with so many variations it is hard to pinpoint who said it or why, save that three blind guys were actually trying to describe what they “saw” when encountering an elephant. Like that would happen.

Let’s take the leg perspective
Since it is the only thing to stand on
But will look at it with eyes wide open

Blind or not blind, what is a “tree” is no longer an elephant’s leg, depending on who is seeing / feeling it.

A “blind” logger “sees” a tree, that is a paycheck.

A “blind” forest ranger “sees” a tree that may not have enough moisture to survive a forest fire.

A “blind” corporation “sees” a tree, feeling around for the next one to see how many can quickly cut down for a huge profit.

A “blind” carpenter “sees” a tree and figures out how many studs and rafters it can be made into.

A “blind” environmentalist, “sees” a tree that must never be cut down for any reason whatsoever. Even though the trees previously cut down to build them a house was okay.

No wonder we can’t see the forest through the trees, a big elephant is standing in the way of what it is, a forest with all the apt descriptions above, depending on who is looking at it.

The “blind” sleeping “woke” after feeling / seeing all around the elephant are having a nightmare of a time, trying to decipher which pronoun to assign the elephant.

Even though, long after the elephant is dead, the archeologists will be able to determine that the elephant that was in the room, was indeed an elephant.

“Just an observation,
Maybe I need
Different glasses.”

– Angelo Devlin

At least they are not made from a tree.