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Nov 2018
Keep the pace Keep the pace
Back and forth Back and forth
If you stop you’ll feel the pain
If you stop you’ll be afraid
Pacing Pacing no way out
Cage and Bars. Can’t get out
Feel the hunger, hear the noise
Slam! Kabaam! No choice No choice
Frightened. Hungry. No way out
Bang! Blast! Smoke. Shouts
Lightening Blinding Never stops

Keep the pace, Keep the pace
Back and forth, back and forth
To the sink and to the stove
Table set and dinner rolls
To the school To the store
Keep the pace Back and forth
If you stop you’ll feel the pain
If you stop you’ll be afraid
Vacuum cleaning, back and forth
Room to room, back and forth
Kids have practice Can’t be late
If you stop you’ll go insane
Keep the pace keep the pace

Bang! Kaboom! Lightening blasts
Zap! You’re down. No pain at last
No more cage, no more bars
Now it’s quiet. Lick the scars.
Walk in circles. Look around.
Is it safe? Is it sound?
What to do? What to feel?
Keep the pace. Can’t be real.
Back and forth. Back and forth
Keep the pace. Keep the pace

Wait.    Stop.   Settle Down
Danger’s Over.   Look Around
Coast is clear. No peril here.
Sniff and stare. Feel fresh air
One foot out is all it takes
One step out to leave this cage
Scared. Uneasy. This is strange
But one foot out is all it takes
Inspired by the story of Simba, a 4-year-old lion, one of the last two surviving animals at the Mosul Zoo, Iraq, and all of the people who helped.
Written by
Kathleen DesMarteau  48/F
(48/F)   
235
     Fawn
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