Leaving Time

Jenna Metcalf speculates about the myth of an elephant graveyard, where all elephants go to die. This tale has been told around the world, but such a place doesn’t exist. Jenna wishes it were true and also applied to humans because then she might be able to find her lost mother.

Alice Metcalf recalls her fascination with elephants, beginning at the age of 9. Her mother eventually drives her to a zoo, where she can see an elephant up close. Alice is traumatized by the terrible condition of a particular elephant at the zoo and writes a letter to the town mayor demanding they help the animal immediately.

The mayor responds, and the animal is moved to a better zoo. Even with better care, her condition deteriorates. Alice concludes that a lifetime of trauma will take as much of a toll on an elephant as it would on a human. She says, “some stories just don’t have a happy ending” (8).

Part 1 begins with a poem entitled “The Elephant,” by Don Chiasson, which is told from an elephant’s point of view. It describes the abuse that careless humans inflict on