Friday, March 29, 2024
City Government and Civil Service, Entertainment, Institutions, Neighborhood: North End, Parks

Beardsley Zoo Poem

Gray pigeons and squirrels trouble

a leafless suburban street,chattering past gas stations

and forgotten hopes, while gray

people slouch in gloveless poverty,

grime-spattered jalopies clattering

through colorless slop.

 

But some children remember

that on the pine hill, hidden

from the gray houses live yellow

monkeys, screaming cosmic glee

amidst make-believe jungles,

that down the street live rainbows

of tigers,flamingos,and wolves.

 

–Eric Lehman

Eric Lehman
Eric D. Lehman teaches creative writing and literature at the University of Bridgeport, and is the author of several books, including Bridgeport: Tales from the Park City; Becoming Tom Thumb: Charles Stratton, P.T. Barnum and the Dawn of American Celebrity; Afoot in Connecticut: Journeys in Natural History; and A History of Connecticut Wine; and ; A history of Connecticut food : a proud tradition of puddings, clambakes and steamed cheeseburgers. You may contact him at elehman@bridgeport.edu.