Elephant Wars Poem by Kenneth Maswabi

Every person has his/her opinion
Opinions that are carelessly uttered
Regardless of the consequences
We welcome this era of technology and social media
Every jack & Jill can say whatever they like
It is a free world

But the so called human elephant conflict
Needs sober minds
To articulate the position faced by elephants
To narrate the stories of those affected by elephants overpopulation
To dissect the pain faced by rural communities having lost loved ones
To unveil the story of carefully managed conservation areas being decimated by elephants
To start the process of healing and true conservation
To address the issue without bias

We all know the story of capitalism
Manipulating the environment for profit
Disregarding the vulnerabilities of the poor
Destroying the spirit of humanity
In their reckless pursuit of their agenda

We all know the story of Africa
Abused and discarded by those with power
Permanently scarred by those without conscience
Africa is a beautiful place
A place that needs the consciousness of humanity
To carefully prune the destructive elements
To carefully manage the resources, both flora and fauna
To care for the people of Africa
To liberate the people of Africa from abject poverty
To be the guardians of human conscience

The so called human elephant conflict
Does not deserve the cunning and reckless intervention of capitalists
Does not need the voice of fly by night conservationists
Does not need the protests of those who are outside the radius of understanding
Does not need the voice of pompous and out of control egomaniacs
It needs true human beings to sit on the table of solutions
And deliberate on the future of both human beings and elephants
Seeking to find lasting solutions to the problem
In a non-judgmental and open discussion
Wild emotions cannot solve this problem
Only sober minds and progressive individuals, communities and world leaders can intervene
Enough is enough