.

The Animals are Leaving



One by one, like guests at a late party

They shake our hands and step into the dark:

Arabian ostrich; Long-eared kit fox; Mysterious starling.





One by one, like sheep counted to close our eyes,

They leap the fence and disappear into the woods:

Atlas bear; Passenger pigeon; North Island laughing owl;

Great auk; Dodo; Eastern wapiti; Badlands bighorn sheep.





One by one, like grade school friends,

They move away and fade out of memory:

Portuguese ibex; Blue buck; Auroch; Oregon bison;

Spanish imperial eagle; Japanese wolf; Hawksbill

Sea turtle; Cape lion; Heath hen; Raiatea thrush.





One by one, like children at a fire drill, they march outside,

And keep marching, though teachers cry, "Come back!"

Waved albatross; White-bearded spider monkey;

Pygmy chimpanzee; Australian night parrot;

Turquoise parakeet; Indian cheetah; Korean tiger;

Eastern harbor seal ; Ceylon elephant ; Great Indian rhinoceros.





One by one, like actors in a play that ran for years

And wowed the world, they link their hands and bow

Before the curtain falls.







by Ted Kooser, US Poet Laureate 2004-2006

.

    Peter Kemp

In Brussells at Vorst National, 2006