Elephant up a ladder

The rain horizontal, past the kitchen window,
till gravity pulls, like an unseen shadow.
It falls back to earth in a gradual ark,
slapping the decking, like a captured shark.
The plastic gutter has buckled and failed,
falls the water to feed the weeds and snails.
Reminds me of a zoo elephant, that I once saw,
as it stood there peeing on the concrete floor.
Born in captivity, he could not see,
the point in his life if he’s not free.
No Serengeti Savannah, or wandering herd,
his eyes see fences - his future is blurred.
He’d fix my gutter from the top of a ladder,
for a chance to empty - in Africa his bladder.