Zanzibar had not wandered a zoo for a long time...
In fact, he was not so sure he had ever been to a zoo...
The thought of wild animals
caged
was not one of has favourite visions...
But he thought he would give the zoo a try...
The zoo was crowded
with people...
school groups
Mums and prams
littered the wide expanse of lawn...
Zanzibar guessed
that's what people do at lunch-time...
just hang around and have a bite to eat...
But he moved on...
There were many diverging pathways...
one was thick with tall bamboo
The sign said tigers...
So tigers he would see...
He stared... he searched... and stared some more...
No tigers...
Zanzibar smiled...
This was how it should be...
Wild animals marking their own wild world
minus human intervention...
He had hope...
He took another pathway...
It was like wandering through a lush forest...
With glassed viewing areas by water...
And there was a pygmy hippo
quietly drinking...
It seemed the glass provided a barrier and a connection...
No bars...
No feeling of cages...
Again Zanzibar smiled...
He wandered on...
There were the cute meerkats
and lemurs
Romping around the rocks and greens of their world...
They seemed at peace...
Yet somehow
He had not found that magic spark he sought...
That was...
Until he saw the long-tailed furry beauty of
The colobus monkeys...
He watched their antics for a while...
One was on a post
teasing the other below
his long tail swishing and tickling the other's face...
The one below constantly tried to grab the tail
but the teaser whisked it out of reach every time...
Zanzibar felt a glow of happiness
Melting slowly and sweetly
Through his limbs...
Yes...
They are content here...
No hunters seeking their fur...
No endangered habit
As in their original African home...
Here...
They have a chance to live
for as long as 30 years...
As they are meant to live...
Then...
One colobus monkey turned
And seemed to seek his eyes...
The deeply grooved face
The white beard...
The moment when the ancients
Spoke...
It was time to leave
Zanzibar once again passed the lawn crammed with people
And bustling with chatter...
But a flash of black and white caught his eye...
He turned
And near a pram
In a stream of sunlight
Was a child
Dancing around
Freely
In a cute
Black and white
Bearded
Jump suit
Moral #1: All cages may not be cages...
Moral #2: Wisdom can be cloaked in magic...
Moral #3: Keep your eyes wide open...
NOTES
Today I visited Melbourne Zoo.
I thought I would take you with me, knowing how much you loved animals.
The lion, notably was turned to his own world.
But he was there.
This may not be one of your original stories.
The memory details of those magical dreams are fading now.
But it has been written
in the spirit
of your Zanzibar...
Happy Birthday Ray
