This poem is a parody based on the well known poem “The Blind Men and the Elephant” by John Godfrey Saxe (1872). Saxe’s poem is, in turn, based on a well-loved Indian fable.
The poem below is a critique of human misunderstanding, especially when dealing with complex problems such as post-growth, sustainability and boundaries of exponential economic growth.
It was six men of UNistan,
Completely blind, but eager to debate.
and argue in endless circles,
Amidst the babel they exclaimed:
“Behold! The magic unicorn– our new ray of hope”
They wandered far and wide,
In corridors of packed libraries.
Long meetings each endured,
To describe this mythical beast.
She promised a land beyond growth,
With a climate calm and predictable,
Where forests creep back into cities,
And seas retreat from sunken towns.
They bound their eyes with patches —
One labelled “Post,” the other “Growth.”
All were hopeful to be chosen as —
A new prophet, a new Noah, a new pope.
The First approached the Unicorn,
And bumped into her well-fed belly.
He declared: “God bless me!
This Unicorn is nothing but a wall!
She has boundaries to keep the planet safe.
We must go back to the Holocene!”
The Second felt the splendid horn.
Imagining its curve, she cried:
“This is that elusive line —
The never-ending J curve!
It rises on and on, exponentially fine!”
The Third touched her ear and said:
“Even the deafest can hear this gramophone.
It tells tales of fear.
Beware of famines and wars — they’re here!”
The Fourth, a poor man, bent with hunger,
Was slapped across his wrinkled face
By the unicorn’s technicolour, swooshing tail.
Bruised, he screamed:
“This beast has whips for each of us!
It’s much worse than we had dreamed!”
The Fifth, a cunning shark,
Drawn in by her scent,
Lustfully touched her powerful leg.
She kicked him hard, with disgust.
“Watchout!” he cried. “Post-growth’s a whore!”
The Sixth, an ignorant bum,
Gently stroked the unicorn’s face.
Nuzzling with affection, sincere and soft,
The unicorn sighed kindly.
“Tis a creature of pure love!”
The illiterate whispered.
And so, these men argued on and on.
They were all completely wrong,
Yet somehow partly right.
If you perceive just a fragment,
What chance do you have, even with great might?
So oft, in theological wars,
Disputants scream in ignorance,
Blind to what each other means.
As we shriek on and on,
we hope the unicorn won’t bound
further and further away.
Could we all try not to scream?
Instead reflect and answer to this:
What can we do so she gently trots into our real world from our thoughts?
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These terms and their meanings help highlight the poem’s context and significance.
UNistan: A fictional place used in the poem. The prefix “UN” suggests the United Nations – a place of unity and cooperation but also of confusion and misunderstanding.
Unicorn: In the poem, the unicorn symbolizes different visions of hope, post-growth, and solutions to big societal problems. A mythical horse-like creature with a single horn on its forehead.
Holocene: Geological period that began around 12,000 years ago after the last Ice Age. It refers to the assumptions in the Planetary Boundaries framework that holds the Holocene as the benchmark for the rating of 9 earth systems.
Reference- Rockström, J., Steffen, W., Noone, K. et al. A safe operating space for humanity. Nature 461, 472–475 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/461472a
J Curve: Represents exponential growth symbolizing endless economic or technological growth.
Noah: A biblical figure seen as a saviour in a crisis. He saved people and animals from the Great Flood by building an ark.
Post-Growth: An economic concept that focuses on sustainability and living within the planet’s limits rather than focussing on continuous economic growth.
Author
Megha Shenoy is a freelance scientific consultant working with research teams worldwide. She completed an Integrated PhD from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and her postdoctoral fellowship from Yale University’s Center for Industrial Ecology. Megha has served as an editorial consultant for the Journal of Industrial Ecology and as Research Director at the Resource Optimization Initiative (ROI), where she led projects focused on applying industrial ecology to optimize resource flows in various systems. Previously, she taught high school science at The Valley School, Bengaluru.
Editors
Ananya Sen and Roopsha Sengupta
Cover image- created on Dall-E
