A Walk in the Zoo, Year 2200

I walk through the zoo
to find that all the animals are dead -
they are stuffed, black-button-eyed
puppets wearing zebra furs and elephant skins.
My daughter asks me why
they don’t move, and I tell her that dead things
will always be dead.
 
Why are they dead, then? she asks,

stricken and sick, and I try so hard to tell her
that there aren’t any live ones anymore.
She asks me why, then, we still had their furs;
and I whisper, So we can play pretend.
 
Her eyes look so wondrously
these fantastic faux-creatures that had once traipsed
the same earth as she, and oh, how her irises light
as she asks me why we didn’t save these wonderful things
for her to see.Some things, I try to say, don’t matter much
to people. We like the things we make ourselves. 
 
She asks me if one day
there will be a zoo with people, and if
one day we’ll die too, and if they’ll pin
our skins to the models of Styrofoam still-lifes,
and I just pull her hand and avoid the button-eyes
of living things that used to be as she runs her mouth
and I try not to see the show-and-tell skins 

gape open-mouthed and laughing in their cages.

Reviews

[zainul]

This is so interesting and mind blowing.
I read these piece on two days and wanted to learn more about how you wrote such lovely one.
Congratulations!!!

[Temerity]

Thank you! :)

[zainul]

You are always welcome :)

[Girl Friday (Sarah W.)]

My daughter asks me why
they don't move, and I tell her that dead things
will always be dead--these are wow lines in my opinion! Incredible.

I quite enjoyed this one...it reminded me a little of a nightmare in the waking world. The whole idea of a zoo is interesting to me. I love animals, and I'm not one of those crazy PETA people (I own horses, dogs, cats, etc.), but there is something about going to a place to see creatures on display for our own amusement that just makes for odd feelings within me. Great imagery throughout, and I honestly felt the emotion. You have talent, my friend!

[Temerity]

Thank you, as always. :)