Two Owls

Two owls

found themselves in the zoo.

Disoriented in the criss cross branches

and mistook the oversized lanterns

as real life butterflies.

The squeak of their wings

and the flicker of the lights-

a beacon within their night time flight.

The first owl swooped first,

but as got closer-

reality plucked a feather

And it landed.

The owl, a celebrity

to a group of small children

and their parents;

got trapped within their squeals.

Their pointed fingers and gazes

created a perfect cage

and the owl tried to retreat

back into the darkness.

But the paparazzi squeals, fingers

and crowds clicked out their awwws, ohhs

and looks until they ricocheted

off its wings into the growing spotlight.

The second owl gave the first owl a shove

back into the spotlight and past the blinking cages.

They swooped and sailed across the path

passed the artificial butterflies, the criss cross branches

and the mounting gasps and squeals.

They disappeared into the black backdrop of the zoo.