Political Reflection
loquitur the sparrow in the Zoo
No bars are set too close, no mesh too fine
To keep me from the eagle and the lion,
Whom keepers feed that I may freely dine.
This goes to show that if you have the wit
To be small, common, cute, and live on shit,
Though the cage fret kings, you may make free with it.
September 1956
Copyright Credit: “Political Reflection” from The Collected Poems of Howard Nemerov. Reprinted by per- mission of University of Chicago Press.
Source: Poetry (April 2012)