Pachyderms and Dwellings

The language of this land
keeps changing all the time
but for every new word
we can always find a rhyme.

The purists may regard it
as some sort of treason
but to accept innovation
we do not need a reason.

There are some expressions
on which I wish to zoom,
one, that is much quoted,
is the elephant in the room.

I have often wondered
the meaning of that term;
why not the hippopotamus
or another pachyderm?

The phrase goes as far back
as eighteen-eighty-two
so this oft-used metaphor
is not something new.

But it is still very relevant
and fundamentally true:
if there is a big problem
you can’t evade the issue.

© Luigi Pagano 2014