London, March 2009

London Zoo - you know what they are.

London, March 2009

London Zoo - Piranhas / Sloth / Wildebeest

Berlin, March 2008

"Okay, Bernice, it's your day to be the scary one - Martha and I are going to play Scrabble in the back."

Berlin, March 2008

The Rhinoceros

The rhino is a homely beast,
For human eyes he's not a feast.
Farewell, farewell, you old rhinoceros,
I'll stare at something less prepoceros.

Ogden Nash

(I think the rhinoceros shares my opinion that Nash is wrong about his homeliness).

Berlin, March 2008

The Pensive Mandrill

Berlin, March 2008

Knut, in his salad days.

Berlin, March 2008

If you look closely, you can see his sloth-bear neighbor's black coat just above his head.

Berlin, March 2008

Knut, either a) yawning or b) singing Bonnie Tyler or Sade, the unofficial sirens of Berlin.

Berlin, March 2008

The famous Knut, now nearly two.

Berlin, March 2008

To a Giraffe

If it is unpermissible, in fact fatal
to be personal and desirable

to be literal—detrimental as well
if the eye is not innocent—does it mean that

one can live only on top leaves that are small
reachable only by a beast that is tall?—

of which the giraffe is the best example—
the unconversational animal.

When plagued by the psychological,
a creature can be unbearable

that could have been irresistible;
or to be exact, exceptional

since less conversational
than some emotionally-tied-in-knots animal.

    After all
  consolations of the metaphysical
  can be profound. In Homer, existence

  is flawed; transcendence, conditional;
  "the journey from sin to redemption, perpetual."

- Marianne Moore

Berlin, March 2008

baby elephant, getting ready t0 relieve herself

Berlin, March 2008

ma, pa, & babe enjoying a nice breakfast, Berlin zoo