no roars

the zoo
is not a pleasant place
to visit.
despite
the black and white
rolly polly
pandas,
in reality they'd tear
your eyes out
with those claws
if given half a chance,
they'd be on the bus
or train
if they could find a way out.
the lions have lost
their bite,
the battle is over.
you get no roar from them.
and the screeching monkeys
deep down inside
know that it's all
for show, swinging
from bar to bar
and back again.
there are no frightened
children. they walk
along bored,
licking their wands of cotton
candy and move on
to the snakes, who lazily
curl and slither
below the soft straw
in their cage, needing therapy
for what's become
of them.