Black Rhino
Tonight I was thinking of drawing or painting. Maybe start the Portrait project that I have been planning to do for so long. I was trying to decide on who I would paint when my thoughts drifted towards all the people that I have lost touch with- childhood friends, old classmates, ex co-workers even the people that are no longer around. It was a bit of a sad thought, so I began to browse Facebook instead.
The first post I had seen was of the news that the black rhinos are now extinct. I think what happened next was a form of transference and I had somehow felt this great loss even though I had not once seen a black rhino and the idea of rhinos, their form or their way of life had very rarely entered my mind.
It got me to think that perhaps this is how we form symbolisms in our lives. For in my head, what was once an animal so distant now stood for something more personal. And maybe next time I see a photo or a drawing of a black rhino, I will also remember all the lost conversations and the faces that have not aged one day.
