Deciding on a swim
a herd of plunging pachyderms
form a necklace
trunk to tail across the lake

as our frail boat floats
between mainland and island,
a whitewashed crouton
in the pea green soup.

Oblivious to maritime right-of-way
these weighty water nymphs
gorge our course
emerging dripping

onto an island, stripping it bare
for a jungle snack.
Instead of the cinematic mixing
of jungle noises of the Kookaburra

our ears are assaulted with the trunk twisting,
fiber wrenching, molar crushing,
churning of cellulose,
a grinding organ of digestive grumbles

that rumbles this Indian jungle.