Underfunded Zoo, by Spencer Mirabal
Every entangled stroke
of a wooden comb through the right side my beard
pulls to center stage
two adjacent white beard hairs
all zig zagged and mislead
stray, wire-thin polar bears with shared trauma
now fully welcomed in my
weekly-rent studio apartment
full of anorexic animals
the considered / passed on limeade stand.
Most mornings, they hide behind
my hoarded collection of lethargic hopes
and I try to keep them alive
overfeeding them with
a trough of refrigerated waffle fries
a feast of cold grease
which they want
no part of
obviously
so they join the rest in
going through the motions
humoring my optimism that they’ll dazzle
patches of them play a
phony game of water polo
disregard starvation for another hour
while I pace in my office
comically discouraged
staring at the crater on my chin
paranoid about being discovered
a charlatan zoo owner
vehemently prepared to burn the whole shabang down
for the tax write off.
Venmo is @spencermirabal
Photography by Austin Vaught
Design by Jordyn Raffety