“Exclusive in New York for Bergdorf Goodman” by Cammy Thomas (poetry, ’99)

An excerpt from “Exclusive in New York for Bergdorf Goodman” by Cammy Thomas (poetry, ’99), published at Nixes Mate Review:

Exclusive in New York for Bergdorf Goodman

So it says on the back of the ashtray.
On the front, a mysterious girl sits on an elephant.

She looks large or he small,
his fan-like ear brushing her knee.

Her long hair loosely braided,
she holds an elephant hook before her,

the way pharaohs hold an ankh.
The beast’s tusks are curved and short,

its trunk long, open at the end,
twisted back toward her. This elephant

has toes like a cat, and his back knees point
backward, unlike any elephant ever seen. […continue reading here]