At the Zoo

Walking through the zoo
it occurs to me
that lions must prefer prose -

you can tell by the way they yawn,
the growl in their voice,
their fondness for manes.

It is the panthers, sleek and self-contained
in their arboreal hideaways
who are our true poets.

Meanwhile,
the monkeys chatter out
their reviews,

and the professors lie basking in the sun
like crocodiles
or so much dead wood.