Pescadero High

 

Pescadero High

Cops with guns
surround a school in lockdown
but this time, better news
for us and for the emaciated lion cub
in pain with a fractured tooth
who somehow wandered from the forest
into the English classroom
and curled up cowering under a desk
as I used to wish when
called upon to read poetry.

Cub sedated, transported
to the Oakland Zoo for feline dental care
and a home where cub may grow
to growl and purr and pounce,
a better outcome than
many human cubs can hope.

May we all
have dental care.
May we mix science with love.
May we rescue the fractured, the hungry,
may we emerge from under desks
to stretch,
to grow, to bounce,
to growl and purr and pounce.

……

Note: True story. Pescadero is my local high school.