Zoo Bear

A class assignment brought me to the zoo,

to hunt for inspiration in a cage.

But, trapped and mean, refusing to pursue

my prey, I’m like the bear I watched; my rage

ignored, my musing spoiled, unreconciled

to bars that keepers camouflage: a faked-

up habitat intended to look wild.

We paced, we chewed our paws, our raw hearts ached.

 

The hunting’s better if I’m on my own:

I’ll grip the greasy words, and eat their life;

and spread their joy down deepest seams of bone,

and fill my belly with delicious strife.

I’m supposed to find a poem in that bear,

but what I see looks empty, like despair.