Bronx Zoo Visit, 7/16/14

by Frank J. Tassone · 17 January 2019

moving dinosaurs
the animatronics that
bring battles to life
his smile when T-Rex
downs triceratops

The tiger lies on his side, eyes closed. Another one—the next enclosure over—at least lifts his head. As indifferently as the gorillas at the Congo Rain Forest: eating, gazing empty-eyed toward us, scratching buttocks before climbing trees.

safari riddle
far too many deer
for Wild Asia
She’s not shy complaining
as we pass two elephants

The gibbons, panthers, sea lions and snow leopards show the most energy. More than we have at the end of the day.

cool afternoon
pass a dozing polar bear
on the way out

Photo by James Hammond

Frank J. Tassone

Frank J. Tassone lives in New York City's "back yard" with his wife and son. He fell in love with writing after he wrote his first short story at age 12 and his first poem in high school. He began writing haiku and haibun seriously in the 2000s. His haikai poetry has appeared in Failed Haiku, Cattails, Haibun Today, Contemporary Haibun Online, Contemporary Haibun, The Haiku Foundation and Haiku Society of America member anthologies. He is a contributing poet for the online literary journal Image Curve, and a performance poet with Rockland Poets. When he's not writing, Frank works as a special education high school teacher in the Bronx. When he's not working or writing, he enjoys time with his family, meditation, hiking, practicing tai chi and geeking out to Star Wars, Marvel Cinema and any other Sci-Fi/Fantasy film and TV worth seeing.