by Julia Griffin

“California zoo animals returned home after wildfire evacuation…
The residents of the Big Bear Alpine zoo [include] rehabilitated animals that are unable
to be released into the wild, many of which are elderly and have injuries. … [On Thursday, the director] loaded up an array of birds—cranes, hawks, barn owls and a pelican—and made the winding two-hour
drive back to the animals’ mountain home.”
—The Guardian

An eagle blinded in one eye;
A fox cub amputee;
A sandhill crane too lame to fly:
Sick, wounded, elderly,

Saved from a fire! The story brings
Balm for mankind’s distress:
A pelican with broken wings,
Back from the wilderness.