Human Elephant Conflict Poem by Kenneth Maswabi

The house of humanity has expanded
His heart has continuously been stretched
His power to save and destroy tested
His passion to conserve and love examined
He is at the boundary of his compassion
Threatened by this humongous paradox
The human elephant conflict

Are human beings in conflict with elephants?
Or is it a matter of overpopulation and human needs
Do human beings have to go hungry for elephants to survive?
How do we open this can of worms?
And not talk about human suffering and sacrifice
How do we open this can of worms?
And not talk about conservation of a magnificent creature

Human beings have lived in harmony with elephants for eons of years
The very survival of elephants has been linked to the sacrifices that human beings have made
Nature is an open field of survival
But nurture requires human compassion and sacrifice
As we stand at this boundary of defeat
We call upon our fellow human beings to come to the table
Not to dine on the table of blame shifting and finger-pointing
But to bring lasting solutions
And to work together to conserve our beloved elephants
At the same time alleviating the suffering caused by overpopulation of elephants
Together we can do this
Together we can
Hope is in our pockets
And the light in our hearts will guide us
We are for elephants conservation
And we are for humanity's welfare
There is nothing like human-elephant conflict
It is a disaster we created
And a disaster we can re-construct into a mutual and harmonious existence