Waco Zoo July 2017

By John I. Blair

Ambling into the zoo
We hear a tiger roaring in the distance
Hidden by the trees and vines.

The torrid Texas heat
Gives credibility
To jungle animals in this place.

Paths wander here and there,
Circling ponds and palisades,
Bewildering in complexity.

One enormous compound
Draped by ropes for swinging
Hosts a sleepy group of apes.

Then, passing dik diks, gnus,
Elephants and storks
We stop to stare

At a dragon from Komodo,
Deceptively inert
But radiating risk.

Finally the heat gets overwhelming;
So after chugging down some Gatorade
To keep from passing out

We forget about aquariums
And stagger back to safety
In our air-conditioned car.

©2017 John I. Blair, 7/24/2017