by Terri Kirby Erickson
Reteti Elephant Sanctuary in Northern Kenya was established to rescue and release orphaned and abandoned elephant calves. It was featured recently by the AP and on PBS.
They follow her or she follows them, the babies
of Reteti. Swinging their miniature trunks, they
navigate the steep and dusty terrain not far from
the elephant sanctuary—all the while listening
for her voice and the voices of other keepers.
These calves are like little children let loose
in the playground, nowhere near ready to be
released in the wild. Most carry the memory
of a mother’s disappearance, some brutally so.
Others less dramatic. But a lost mother, how-
ever it occurs, is no small thing. When I found
my mother dying beneath her favorite azalea
bush, I sank to my knees crying, Mommy, what
happened? and I was no baby. Nothing prepares
us for losing our mothers, the loneliness of grief.
But Dorothy Lowakutuk learned the language
of elephants. She knows which of them is Sera,
Long’uro, or Sarara—how they play and walk
and sleep. She teaches them to roll in the dust to
keep their skin cool, find plants that are safe to
eat. Humble, yet as regal as a queen, Dorothy
Lowakutuk’s face is radiant as the African sun,
this kind woman and all the rest at Reteti who
talk softly, feed and sing to the children of lost
mothers. Blessed be—blessed be their names.
Terri Kirby Erickson is the author of eight full-length collections of poetry, including The Light that Follows Us Home (Autumn, 2026, Press 53). Her work has been widely published and has won numerous awards, including the Joy Harjo Poetry Prize, Annals of Internal Medicine Poetry Prize, International Book Award for Poetry, and the Tennessee Williams Poetry Prize. She lives in North Carolina, USA.