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| www.robertmargetts.com |
Daddy left me at the zoo:
Daddy
took me to the zoo today
so all the animals could meet me.
I didn’t know what they would think.
I
don’t like to eat bananas,
and I don’t like to chase my tail.
I can’t swing from a tree
or howl at the moon.
I
made some faces and waved my arms,
grunted and pounded my chest
like all the other kids were doing.
The primates just gazed back at us.
Some scratched their heads,
while others scratched their butts,
just like my daddy does
when he comes home late at night.
Some
snarled and others howled,
while a few just sat motionless,
staring back at us
with pitiful expressions on their faces.
I thought one looked at me and smiled,
a sarcastic grin at best.
A
mother sitting on the ground
appeared to be crying
while holding her baby firmly to her chest.
He clung to her
for fear of the strange creatures
behind the iron fence.
I felt panic in his stare,
tears in his eyes,
and boredom
in his body posture—
just like my daddy does
when he comes home drunk at night.
And
I felt hatred from everyone
locked inside that dirty cage.
They looked terrorized,
like prisoners in a Russian gulag,
not knowing their fate.
Yes,
they lived in a cage,
and yes, we lived in a house.
One had bars and cages,
and the other had doors and windows.
Daddy
always felt trapped
in a life he never wanted.
Mommy said the door wasn’t locked
and he could leave whenever he chose.
“Open the cage and leave,” Mommy screamed.
I
heard her tell him more than once
that marriage wasn’t a prison sentence.
He was not obligated to hang around
with tarnished, heavy chains
weighing him down to a sad life.
“You are not a simian,” she said.
“Open the cage and just leave.”
Yep,
Daddy took me to the zoo today
to see all the lonely animals
huddled together inside a concentration camp,
with degrees of depression
on their wrinkled faces.
I
grabbed my daddy’s big, cold hand
and looked into his eyes.
He was sad, just like the monkeys in the cage.
I thought he was going to cry.
He attempted to smile,
then pulled away from me,
turned his back, and walked
towards the exit.
That
was the first and last time
I ever went to a zoo.
And that was the last time
I held my daddy’s hand.
I
hate the zoo,
just like all the monkeys do.
what is the meaning of this poem written by Robert Margetts?
The poem looks playful on the surface — a kid visiting the zoo with their father — but underneath, it’s carrying something much heavier. The zoo becomes a metaphor for the father’s emotional state, the family’s dysfunction, and the child’s first experience of abandonment.
The Zoo Reflects the Father’s Inner Life
The animals aren’t just animals.
The child sees in them:
sadness
boredom
fear
captivity
These are the same emotions the child sees in their father when he comes home late or drunk. The zoo becomes a mirror — a place where the child recognizes the father’s emotional imprisonment.
The Child Is Trying to Understand Adult Pain
The comparisons are deliberate:
monkeys scratching like Daddy
a mother clutching her baby like Daddy clings to his unhappiness
animals staring blankly like Daddy does at night
The child is observing, absorbing, and trying to make sense of adult emotions they don’t have the language for yet.
The Father Feels Trapped in His Marriage and Life
The mother’s words reveal the tension at home:
She’s telling him he’s free to go — and he’s already halfway gone emotionally.
The father’s sadness at the zoo isn’t about the animals.
It’s about his own life.
The Zoo Trip Becomes a Turning Point
The moment the father pulls his hand away is symbolic:
This is the moment the child realizes something is breaking.
It’s the beginning of the father’s departure, whether emotional or physical.
The Zoo Becomes a Symbol of Loss
The final lines tie everything together:
The zoo is where the child saw the truth.
The zoo is where the father’s sadness became undeniable.
The zoo is where the child last held his father’s hand.
So the child says:
“I hate the zoo, just like all the monkeys do.”
It’s not about animals.
It’s about the pain of watching someone you love slip away.
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| robert margetts |
