“What would you like?” Mom says to me

As we move through the aisles of Pet Expo

Passing animals with eager eyes

Sweet as they are, I don’t really know?

Perhaps a dog? A fluffy Maltese?

A Golden Retriever with cuddly paws?

But in their gaze I see remnants of wolves

Slashing me up with the power of their jaws

Maybe a cat, with pretty black fur

Who purrs as she rubs herself against my leg

Or is she a tiger, hungry for flesh?

Is there bloodlust in the way that she begs?

An emerald-toned lizards shimers in the light

Flicking out its tongue in the most charming way

But I feel he’s the spawn of some great anaconda

Who’ll swallow me whole like an enormous egg

I smile at birds who parrot each other

Squawking in a colorful musical phrase

Though to me they are hawks who will circle my home

And scoop me up like some pitiful prey

In the end, I walk out with a bowl in my hand

A beta fish dips silently up and down

She will sit comfortably on a shelf

Where I won’t be so frightened to have her around