HAMISH Whyte acknowledges the quirky sentinel on his living-room window-sill.
The piece comes from his latest pamphlet, Hannah, Are You Listening? (HappenStance, £4).
THE GIRAFFE IN OUR LIVING-ROOM
Possibly as strange to passing folk
as the one the Ming admiral brought back
to China in 1406, our giraffe
stands at the window in hat and scarf.
We call her Carmen, we talk to her, and
prefer her to any old elephant
in the room. She's that rare thing,
a listening creature who wisely says nothing.
Cheaper than a therapist,
more meditative than a Buddhist,
she embodies being and is-ness.
She looks out and in, and this
is her strength: maybe seeming odd at first sight,
she is - long neck, happy smile - just right.
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