Neuro Logical
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.