Out There: the Macaw and the Hound

somewhere out there

a basset hound lives in the same house as a

macaw.

 

the gorgeous tropical bird,

bearing its staggeringly spectacular array of

intensely prepossessing &

polychromasiac

hues,

dominant in the household as an exotic

spectacle

whose mere presence in a non-tropical environment

pulls in the curious onlooker.

 

it stands upon its little

perch,

staring down at the hound---

the perpetually sad looking,

perfect model of evolution

(wherein the imperfections of natural selection can be seen in its

extremely long ears that touch the ground, its stubby legs that are far too

short for its body, etc.---one can make the argument that the poor basset hound

has not been fortunate to lose such ridiculous traits as of yet),

stands almost teary eyed

with its neck bent at an angle,

looking straight up in the direction of the macaw

its feeble attempt is noticed by the majestic bird.

 

cawing down at the hound,

the bird baffles---

the hound,

whose name is derived from the french adjective for

“rather low,”

ponders the bird’s exchange,

wondering if it is ridiculing &

taunting it for being such a sort of, um,

mistake---

it spends little time deciding &

barks back at the bird in its bellowing manner.

 

in the already unnatural cage the human owners of these two

creatures,

a new animal kingdom of two has arisen---

the hounds knows not what to make of this bright colored bird &

the bird,

rather unaffected by the odd character

way

down

there

below,

seems to enjoy the pandering back & forth,

as if in a conversation

where the both of them are understanding mutually the exchange that is

occurring.

 

and while the insanity of the macaw & the hound persists

(the hound bellowing & the macaw trying to mimic the bellow in an

effort to see how the hound’s day is going),

these two animals come to a consensus

that together in such a situation

they are both equally out of their element &

a new bond is formed,

an allegiance, if you will,

wherein psittacidae & canidae

have found common ground---

 

resist these humans at all costs.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2011

Poem

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