Front Porch Review
A literary magazine for the young at heart and mind

They strip bark,
trample underbrush, uproot
bushes in wide swathes, topple
enormous trees.

To deal with such destruction,
officials in Zimbabwe
cull whole families
leaving none to mourn, none
to remember.

But South Africa lets nature
take its course,
so this family grazes
the vast reaches of Kruger Park
approachable and unafraid

though the wind whistles
warnings through the large round
symmetric hole
in the matriarch’s flapping earlobe

its tune the triumphal march
from Aida,
the part where women dance
with tambourines

the crescendo part where all
hail the parade
of real-live horses
and elephants decked out
with conquerors.



"No Secret Where Elephants Walk" by Carol Kanter and the accompanying photo by Arnie Kanter are from their book No Secret Where Elephants Walk, which includes Carol's poems and Arnie's photos from three trips to Africa. You may preview the first twenty pages of the book at www.dualartspress.com.

By Arnie and Carol Kanter

Arnie Kanter: "I try to give the viewer of my photos much the same thing I try to give my consulting clients: a unique perspective, a different way of seeing the world.  I don't attempt to alter reality, but to present it in new and creative ways that offer the viewer, or client, new insights and possibilities. I do that in different ways, depending on the situation. Sometimes I try to accomplish it through the composition of the elements of the photo, or problem, sometimes by focusing in only on certain elements and sometimes through the use of humor.  If I succeed occasionally in changing somebody's perspective, I'm happy." His e-mail address: arnie@kanterprofessional.com

Carol Kanter: "As a pre-school child I would visit Miss Jim the elephant, feed and ride her. She was my gentle friend, larger than life and lived at the St. Louis Zoo. Going on safari was my dream trip. In part to celebrate her, in part to celebrate life – complex, fascinating, larger than itself. I write to try to unmask some small pieces of the complexities I encounter – for myself and for any who wish to come along or use what I offer as a jumping-off place for their own thinking, feeling, sensing." Her e-mail address: cnkan@cnkanter.com