by Julia Griffin

“An alpaca has confused and delighted residents of a small French town
after wandering into an optician’s shop.”—BBC News

While prospects look steadily blacker,
And news has us fuming and frighted,
In Brittany, France, an Alpaca
This week has confused and delighted

By strolling inside an optician’s
And quietly browsing the lenses.
The thought of such juxtapositions
Reduces our species to frenzies,

But camelids, clearly, are calmer
(Though possibly rather myopic).
It came and it went, with no drama;
So were I in quest of a topic

To comfort me—call it a Zen trick—
And leave my strained nerves somewhat slacker,
I’d turn from the anthropocentric,
And opt for the Opticalpaca.