If I could run the college zoo,
I’d hop up like a kangaroo—
If I could let new critters in,
I wonder, how would I begin?
First thing, I’d open up the gates
‘Til nothing’s left that separates
Black, polar, grizzly, teddy, panda
Bears from one another and
I’d count them all the same at heart.
For keeping different folks apart
Is something that my zoo won’t do—
So race-based grouping: “Toot-a-loo!”
Another change I’d bring this scene:
We wouldn’t have to be so green.
The green-eyed tree frogs won’t blend in,
Sustainabullies lose their spin
When climate education ends
And open inquiry begins.
That global boiling’s near at hand
Is not a doctrine I’d command.
But if I ran the college zoo,
There’s something simple I’d ask you:
“Why do we go to college zoo?
What is it that we wish we knew?”
That purpose—if I may define:
Pursue the truth, don’t toe the line.
Don’t make up meaning, gender, fact
But find what’s real, what’s right, exact.
Well anyhoo, in any case
My college zoo will be the place
Where beavers build and parrots talk
And we’d all rock around the clock.
