A Trip To The Zoo

By Manavi Chandra

How this Poem uplifted me: When I visited the Columbus Zoo in Ohio last summer, I was astounded with how connected I felt to our origins in nature. The last time I had been to a zoo was more than a decade ago and I felt a new sense of happiness and renewal.

How this poem uplifts others: We often get so used to our urban lives with school, work, and everything in between. A retreat to the zoo or somewhere in nature can help us reconnect with ourselves and put things in perspective.

A Trip to the Zoo
By Manavi Chandra

A lion slept on the roof of his house,
With people gazing behind a glass.
Suddenly it stood and roared
like the king of the forest,
falling back sleep as people laughed.

Two apes chased each other on a play course,
tugging on the monkey bars.

Three kids threw their hands in their air,
for a photo, screaming “roar”
with scary faces.

Walking around the zoo,
like a maze that’s never ends.
Feeding a giraffe lettuce, first time coming that close to it.
Seeing actual bats in a cave,
hanging from the ledge.

Eating lunch with the giraffe’s home in view,
land not overcome with city filth.
A thing I never saw before.
Urban dwelling hid real wonders.

I see the buildings, the perfectly paved roads, cars.
But the zoo was a collective of living things,
Of humans,
Of animals,
Of food,
Of nature.
Making us remember what our true origins are.
Family, belonging, and coexisting.