Our meditation on the first bull elephant we ever met in 1995;
Understanding
By Olly Williams
One morning, we came
upon fresh elephant spoor
in the gritty sand.
It emanated.
Adjacent in the ochre
soil, sign betrayed
primordial tracks
I struggled to encircle
with my arms. Finely
etched, hot we followed,
dimensions raised into light.
Meandering we
marched along the brown
Ewaso Ng’iro did in,
silent thorn, spy bass
reverberation
with our ears. Our camel train
not one Bunduki,
or Safari car
in support. On blistered shanks
we trod, brutal mile
on mile- endowed of
Samburu skill. Yet, tracking
as grey Acacia
shadow browsed, then melted,
made all the sense in the world.
We felt no fear, just
profound awareness
and helpings of awe. Instead,
of cigar sized six
hundred, I plucked a
single graphite stub. As we
bowed to draw, to my
impressionable
mind; Karamoja and Bror
might to African
skies have raised their eyes.
But this bull understood
our intention.
Dark bull
Dark bull
£15,000
Size: 5x4 ft.
Aquarelle , ink and oil stick on 400 g paper