we say imagine
a zoo animal
now roams the halls
what hunts?
call it a tiger
(their minds make a tail
stripes one yellow eye)
we say stand stiff as statues
between copy paper towers
flash cards faux leaf
garlands waiting for fall
and nobody breathes
(ears peeled to catch
a huff snarl clack of
claws on linoleum)
how absurd to picture
such a beast slinking past
life cycles of beans
sniffing lunch trays half
eaten still warm macaroni
clarinets strewn mid-coda
or maybe a tiger makes
some sense—a child could
safely dream a tiger
padding through rows
of empty desks but
we never explain why
heartbeats must either
fill supply closets or
become lists of names
we never say imagine
a toothless tiger