Mahadevi elephant mother smelt
another being on earth
she said to her friends
it’s time for us to walk the world
and so they set off with Mahadevi
in the lead they walked across
the African veld
they walked
across the seas to the hot lands
they spread out all across
the tundras in the north
crossed land bridges and
waterways an isthmus or two
snow-capped mountains
some of the time they carried
thick fur on their backs which they
shed in the desert lands
eons went by as they walked
seven times around die Welt
and one day Mahadevi said
it’s here where we started
now I know the common smell
those small four-limbed creatures
whom we’ve passed in the latest
circumambulation the hairless ones
there is something about them
that worries me
as she said this
a group of these small four-limbed creatures
climbed over the hill and stared
mothers daughters aunties
formed a circle around
the calves and sent
out a low call to others that rumbled
seven times around the world
Mahādevī: Sanskrit, great goddess
Die Welt: German: the world
Notes
This poem is from my book Cow which is a kind of meditation on the female as default. The cow is one of just a few creatures for which the female is generalised. Children learn the word cow before the word bull; a paddock filled with bovines is usually referred to as cows even though other words exist. The cow also refers to the female of the elephant, dugong and whale.
There are a host of mythologies about cows in many different regions of the earth. And while I have severe misgivings about the presence of cows in Australia and especially the way in which industrialised meat and milk farming is carried out, it is helpful to look at the mythologies and the critical role played by the cow. Mahādevī is the great goddess, the progenitor, the wish-fulfilling cow, the one who gives milk and dung.
This poem is also a mediation on climate change and the destruction that humans have and are creating. The elephant mother senses this future a walks around the world to spread the message.
The cover image is a collage of photos I took during the year I wrote my book. They are from India apart from the photos with road signs.
(Meet Mago Contributor) Susan Hawthorne