issue 24 > light verse > pepple

"Two giant panda cubs from China arrived
at an Atlanta zoo … after a 17-hour flight
on a specially equipped and decorated cargo jet…"
—Reuters


We're out for pandemonium in the zoos
awaiting favorites sealed by heads of state—
the Panda Express flies them out in two's.

Attractions left with aged ones will schmooze
up to Beijing to hang on just one crate.
We're out for pandemonium in the zoos.

Should Yang-Yang prefer shoots while Lun-Lun woos,
the lab will have his sperm on a glass plate.
The Panda Express flies them out in two's

though, in that dear new home, both may refuse
loving until senile at twenty-eight.
We're out for pandemonium in the zoos

as science can shake a test tube till it moos
or make pupils of fist-sized cubs dilate—
the Panda Express flies them out in two's.

Thousands are queued with tickets and bamboos,
or cuddling downy pandas as they wait.
We're out for pandemonium in the zoos;
the Panda Express flies them out in two's.