There’s a wonderful children’s book by the Canadian author Nadine Robert, illustrated by Valerio Vidali, called The Shadow Elephant. The eponymous elephant, drawn in dusky blues, lies on the ground in the shadows, filled with sorrow. Other animals on the savannah - monkeys and ostriches, cheetahs and crocodiles - try to cheer up the elephant with food and funny stories, but the blue elephant remains in the shadows. Until a mouse arrives one day and asks if she can sit next to the elephant, simply to rest awhile. The mouse opens up and shares her own melancholy, and it moves the elephant to tears. The story ends with the elephant lifting the mouse onto his back, offering her a ride home.
It’s the third week of September and we’re hearing writing along the theme of shadow this month. Today, Jodeen Revere shares a poem by Heidi Kraay, titled “At the Bottom.” Kraay is a playwright and multidisciplinary writer. Her plays include Take Me Away and How to Hide Your Monster. Kraay was the inaugural Boise City Writer-in-Residence in 2023 and her memoir-adjacent book, 12 Lifetimes: A Century Cycle, was published in 2024.
Something I Heard is supported by Idaho Commission on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
