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FOX IN A CAGE AT THE ZOO
Discontent, restless pacing
The young red fox
Dreams of the forest
And the darkness there
Wearing away the cold cement
Pausing to lick its bloody paws
Then to watch the grass
Where the tourists picnic happily
Amongst summers shouts and giggles
The young fox glances to blueness
A kitten awed by the butterfly
It spies some swift white seagulls
It hears their cries of freedom
Through the harsh grey wiring
Where its fluffy white belly shivers
A tiny red paw, fearful and bloody
Reaches playfully through the wire
Through the two inch space
Imprisoned ... false arrest.
No judge ... no jury.
Only the senile zookeeper
Who thinks he owns the zoo
The supplier of stagnant water
And mashed up dog biscuits
The fox cub shys away
As a small tubby girl waddles by
Clutching her grandmother's hand
She tries to feed it bread crusts
But it doesn't want them
Only to reach the grass
Five long summers pass
The little girl remembers
She returns to the cage alone
But the little fox is gone....
She treads on her biscuits
The fox didn't need them now
It had never wished for much
Only to feel the grass
The soft green grass of summer ... |
