I saw a Macaw - Clay Waters

Let me tell you what I saw at the zoo. 

There were long giraffes, teeny monkeys,

and some elephant poo.

There was a ferocious lion that howled at us

and a great big horny rhinoceros.

But I cannot stop thinking

about the last thing I saw --

a blue-and-yellow Mexican macaw.

they eat nuts and fruit, sometimes dirt

and they roost with their flock in trees--

except for this one, who perched all alone

as far as his eyes could see.

I prodded him to say my name

and asked him his own

but no attention was paid

he no longer makes noise, the zoo-woman said.

I wondered

if he dreamed of the sun of his youth,

back when he had room to fly?

Does he remember feeling safe

under his mother’s feathers,

while caged under this cold sky?

she cooed, he’s safe now, he’s calm

and I understood why;

how the silence resounds.

Fear you can fight; sadness wins every round.

How could it be otherwise

under so much empty sky

so far from home.