White elephant
’Tis claimed in legend
an elephant — white,
is first, knee to bend
on Adam’s Peak’s height
at start of each year,
when none else is near
— as gospel held true
by simple folk old:
of whom remain few
— belief’s flame grown cold
with closing of minds
— which knowledge struck blind.
Is’t the very same
that first paid homage:
famed perhaps by name
in a bygone age
— as than all fairer —
Lord Saman’s bearer?
— of all given birth
throughout this wide realm,
none else bears such worth:
monarch at the helm
of all animals
— the Lord’s vehicle —
Yet few now pay heed
to strange truths, reject
as fable its deed
— scant honor, respect
pay — as to an ant —
the white elephant.