Lord's Park, Joan Colby

The bear pit is gone as is the iron cage
Where the mangy lion paced or snored,
The stone well that held the venomous snakes.

In the museum, circa 1904,
The fusty elk heads, stuffed
Coyotes, raccoons and squirrels,
Glass bell of desiccating songbirds,
Butterfly collections pinned beneath glass
Are relegated to a dim alcove.

While the two headed calf has been removed
With the Cyclops kitten, the human embryo
Floating in a mason jar like a peach.

The rooms have brightened, interactive
Displays allow children to reach
Into the glacial past to view how ice
Rose a thousand feet right here where we stand
Observing Lakota beadwork or the photos
Of the Palm Sunday tornado
When all the churches collapsed.