The Animals in the Garden

The elephant started drinking
Because she was gone
Because she was there
And then gone
And nobody knew why

God wouldn't tell them why
He just said--

'They're gone. That's all there is to it.'

The elephant thought--

But she gave us our names...

God didn't want them to love her
This much was certain
He wanted them to forget her
But how do you forget someone
When every time someone else says you're name--

There she was

In a pool of water
In a shadow cast by willow tree
In a scattering of sand

She was there

The leopards weren't speaking to each other
Because one thought that the other
Knew why she was gone
And just wouldn't say
So as not to get into trouble with God

'You kiss up to him!'
'I do not! I don't know where she went!'
'She talked to you!'
'She talked to all of us!'
'But to you mostly.'
'I DON'T KNOW WHERE SHE IS!'

And they fought

This was the first time anyone had fought
In this place

And God didn't like it

This was supposed to be paradise
Even with the Man and the Woman gone

But now it rained
When it had never rained
Only water falling before
Now, rain

They asked God to stop the rain
But he said he couldn't
Because if it had to rain
It had to rain

And he couldn't tell them why

The gorillas a baby
And they wanted to name it after her
But God said they couldn't

The lady gorilla yelled
She yelled at God
And all the other animals hid
Somewhere in the garden

Because they didn't know what would happen
If you yelled at God

'Why can't I call her Eve?'
'Because Eve has been cast out.'
'Why?'
'You do not ask why.'
'I want to know.'
'You do not ASK why.'
'But I want to know.'
'YOU DO NOT ASK WHY!'

And she didn't
She couldn't
She couldn't speak
Not at all

She ran to the male gorilla
And started to cry into his fur

Why couldn't she speak?
Was this--

'Does anyone else want to know why?'

All the animals in the garden
Put their heads down

Even the giraffes
Whose heads reached into the very sky itself
Lowered themselves
To the ground

Then...

'Why?'

A tiny mouse
Smaller than any other creature
But with a voice
That rang out against shame

Asked why

Suddenly, a chorus sprang forth
A song of questions

All the animals
Inspired by the mouse
Asking

'Why?'

And God was shamed

But like humans sometimes do
God responded to his shame
With anger towards others

And the voices were silenced
One by one

And the rain began to fall again
And with each drop
A different voice
Disappeared

And so did God

A few days later
He returned to the garden
But the animals were gone

He thought maybe they were hiding
He thought perhaps they were afraid of him
But when he started to search
He knew they had gone

Some had gone to find the Woman

Some had gone because they were embarrassed
That they could no longer speak

Some had gone thinking they could find their voices
Like lost objects
Somewhere outside the garden

Some had gone because a paradise that is not paradise
Is a place with no name
And the animals knew what it was
To not have a name
And they did not want to live in a place
Without one

And so the Animals lost their voices
And so God lost the animals
And so for the first time

Something was lost
Simply because someone
In this case, God
Could not imagine what it was like
To be someone else
And be in pain

And wonder why