late april: a girl and her father
at the milwaukee zoo.
he holds her on his shoulders
where he cannot see her.
she stares straight ahead
into the world her father sees:
animals in enclosures.
“i feel so sad. they’re all gonna die,” she whispers,
and her father is silent.
across the path, her mother
sees with pleasure how alike they are—
father and daughter.
peaceful creature and quiet captor.
soon the girl is laughing
her stark laugh, a noise that
should be kept a secret, for it means
she does not feel trapped.