At the Zoo

Here is the festival of science
in reverse parade--an acreage
compressing continents
to make a panoply of life.

Irony prevails; endangered species
take their hope in handfuls.
Notebooks unfold, as if recording insights
from an urban jungle.
Here the realm of ego is no more
and eyes flash signals back and forth
across the bars, a message
never lost among young visitors
who see reflected, mirth and pain--
a fountainhead of furry hearts
that drum as ours
in threnody for home.

Truth is there, this plot
a tribute to the family
of man and beast united for an hour
of contemplation and delight--
a time of silent eucharist--
a quiet dialogue of joy.
Here too, forboding truth
within the posted hours,
and gates will close too readily.

The laughter fades as leaves blow cold
against the fences.
Winter takes away the children
for a final time.
Sadness rules the pathways
worn a little more
by ghosted footprints these poor animals
will never see again.
~