In the haze of the autumn afternoon
You wander the streets
Until you pass the zoological garden
The sun makes you sweat under your coat
As you watch the crowds gaping
At monkeys and tigers
You enter a dark hall
Leading to the aquarium
And walk past schools of fish
And darting sharks
Until you stop before a window
Where, in a vast pool of water,
A walrus descends upside down
And presses himself to the glass,
Staring at you