EP: I’VE BEEN YEARNING FOR A RIOT BY CHRISTOPHER SOTO

At the Bronx ZooThe cobras unlock their jaws into safety pins // Pick

Open the locks of their terrariums & escape.

The penguins throw // Student loans at women with Prada purses.

So upset the thought // Of happiness existing anywhere seems insulting.

The albino rhinoceros pushes // Open the gates of his captivity.

How he dreamt of a road trip & camping in Yosemite.

To walk in the valley & let waterfalls empty their bladders into his mouth.

The ram rams open // The gates of his enclosure too.

The apricot parrot // Sings the same song of struggle.

Anti-capitalism means // The rich can no longer // Control us with their laws.

This whole fucking zoo will burst like a // Molotov cocktail

Once the parrot sets flame to the aviary &

Then a fly flies // Onto the spine of a gazelle // A gazelle

Who’s lighting a blunt while // Resting her hip against the ice cream stand &

The alligators are starting to pour margaritas.

Alligators used to be enemies with the gazelle // But now they’re together.

They hijack the stereo & start dancing to Selena’s

“Bidi Bidi Bom Bom.”

The pigs // A most anxious of animals // Stay locked inside.

The pigs are feeling their badges // Hiding in mud & waiting for the uproar
   to pass.

Here come the wisps of tranquilizer darts // Humans pushing giraffes whose

Necks are craned in the shape of a // McDonald’s arch &

Now we’re at the juncture where everyone suspends // we mustn’t

fold back to corn meals from the trough.

I’m dashing to freedom // My cheetah crop-top // Turns me into a cheetah.

My legs are pixelated in quick motion // Catch me

If   you can!

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