East London ZOO

Cape Town has to witness
An illogical display
Wild animals in cages
Why is this today
In AFRIca in their home
A preposterous idea
Totally inappropriate
And very far from clear

We feel the desperation
And resignation there
Hope extinguished every day
Defeatists everywhere
Inconsolable angels
Desolate and forlorn
Intimidated constantly
For them there is no Dawn

Fear and intimidation
Misgivings they have many
Prejudice is ingrained
Really is there any
One who truly cares
For them
Who is resolute and aware
Who shares there state of wonder
And wants someone to care

Instead it’s reputation
Is a place of I’ll repute
It’s degrading and demeaning
Characterless at root
Ignoble and unworthy
Calls itself a zoo
A zoological garden
A mortifying brew

Inglorious perceptions
It’s reputation low
Cruelty is evident
Everywhere you go
The animals are suffering
Maligned and left to be
Ridden roughshod over
Disparaged constantly

Africa is smarting
It’s lineage we feel
Where is it’s true nobility
To actually be real
Not arrogant and hubristic
And condescending all the time
The animals are suffering
Mentally they climb

Out of themselves completely
The torture is immense
Taken from the wilds they were
How can this make sense
Humiliated everyday
With insult and affront
Hostility and antagonism
Thus is no mean stunt

The animals are painfully
Getting through each day
Zoo’s are really pushing it
What is the great display
Of inimicality and antipathy
Of Ill feeling and grief
Tension and true bitterness
Misanthropy the chief

Enemy between the gates
It’s there for all to feel
Angels made to feel like slaves
With daggers drawn for real
Incompatible completely
An aloofness you can cut
Ostracism if you like
Existing in a rut

Marooned in purdah
Excommunication
Treated like a leper
Where is their salvation
Inhospitable
Unforthcoming
Unfrequented
Left remote
Isolated every day
And those who come
Just gloat

We so need
A few loving words
This place now needs to close
The zoo is past it’s sell by date
The anger here it grows
The sullenness is evident
Everywhere you go
The bard has cried his heart out
And It’s to do with us you know

All The animals of The East London Zoo