The Elephant in the Room

The elephant is the only animal

which ever gets mentioned

in the context of rooms.

‘We need to address the elephant in the room.’

say the couple whose marriage is on the rocks,

as if they are thinking of sending it a post-card.

Mr Elephant, The Room, Our House, England.

But other animals might also be present

in the metaphorical rooms

of our troubled existence.

‘We need to address the crocodile in the room,’

say the couple

who have seen beyond the elephant.

Rather than addressing the crocodile in the room, though,

surely they’d be better off

running away from it?

‘We need to address the cat in the room,’

say the couple whose furniture has all but been destroyed.

Although, in this case, they might be talking about addressing

an actual cat.