Voices screaming, carts zooming,          

Rides sparkling, children running.   

The zoo air filled with the scent of bacon and animal manure. 

All kinds of smells infiltrated the air, making it impure.  

Giraffes roamed around in large biomes,  
Lions slept soundly in flat terrains,  

Seals sunbathed calmly on the sun-warmed rocks, 

Fish swam quickly across the ice-cold waters.  

Walking with my mother, hand in hand,  

I peered around in wonderment.  

From tigers and roaches to pizza huts and taco bells,  
I wanted to discover all kinds of super rare shells. 

Running down a steep walkway, 

I suddenly flew halfway!  

I launched in the air in the blink of an eye, 

While I believed I was able to fly.  

Suddenly, gravity was back,  

Then, my thoughts rapidly turned black. 

I fell down, pinky first.  

I felt my finger burst.  

Confused, I quickly rose back up,   

And grabbed onto my sippy cup.  

I looked at the atrocity on my right hand  

My pinky flopped around like a big rubber band. 

 My swollen pinky finger was now as purple as a grape.  

So disfigured it no longer retained its regular shape. 

Purple like the bud of a fully grown lavender.  

Purple like my mother’s cherished lotus calendar.  

The pain was indescribable,  

Death never seemed so palpable.  

My chubby cheeks were covered in salty tears.  
My finger bloomed into a giant purple pear.

I screamed as loudly as a traffic horn, 

In my pinky finger, I felt a thorn. 

I fell down again, the cement tasted like salt.  

As my sight darkened, all my thoughts came to a halt. 

My sippy cup loosened from my forlorning grip.

Ironic, the surprising pain of a single trip.