NaPoWriMo 25
(This prompt is from the Poetic Asides challenge to write a poem about an event.)
At the Zoo
In the photo, he is five and she is nearly four,
Both standing with their dad in front of the jaguar pit.
Cheeks flushed from the unexpected gift
of an 80-degree April day. They stand in front of him,
and I pose them, while they force a kids smile,
which looks more like a grimace than joy.
To look at the pictures from the day,
it’s as if I didn’t exist,
such is the quandary with mothers,
in the background but not a part of it.
Look at the kids pretending to be meerkats,
Watch them stand on one leg with the flamingos.
There I am, the lone wolf, perched on a high rock
looking at all of the foolish humans with their cameras
trying to shut out the negative.
At the Zoo
In the photo, he is five and she is nearly four,
Both standing with their dad in front of the jaguar pit.
Cheeks flushed from the unexpected gift
of an 80-degree April day. They stand in front of him,
and I pose them, while they force a kids smile,
which looks more like a grimace than joy.
To look at the pictures from the day,
it’s as if I didn’t exist,
such is the quandary with mothers,
in the background but not a part of it.
Look at the kids pretending to be meerkats,
Watch them stand on one leg with the flamingos.
There I am, the lone wolf, perched on a high rock
looking at all of the foolish humans with their cameras
trying to shut out the negative.
Comments
I could picture the day very easily from your description