Poems with Lois Letchford: People Zoo

20 Oct 2020 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:26

In this YouTube video, author Lois Letchford, known for her memoir Reversed and the educational guide Literacy Problem Solver, reads her poem "People Zoo." The poem narrates a surreal scenario where the speaker is seized by elk and caribou, tied with a vine lasso, and imprisoned in a tiny cage within a "People Zoo" overseen by animals. The verses blend whimsical imagery—being fed bread and tea at a specific time, animals observing, pointing, giggling, and spitting—with a satirical commentary on the notion of "wild people" needing confinement. The speaker invites listeners to mimic animal sounds to avoid being locked in a second cage, warning of the wildness and danger of the creatures. The reading concludes with a typical creator call‑to‑action, urging viewers to like, subscribe, and share the video.

Chapters

Hello, Lois Letchford, back with reading poems. I'm the author of the book Reversed: A Memoir and Literacy Problem Solver. Reading People Zoo. I got grabbed by the elk and the caribou. They tied me up with a vine lasso and whisked me away to the animal loo where they locked me up in the People Zoo. Now I'm here in the cage, That is as small as can be. You can't let wild people just run around free. And I'm fed bread and tea at a quarter to 3, and the animals all come and gander at me. They point and they giggle, and they sometimes they spit. There's bars on my cage so they can't poke or hit. Then they scream, do a trick! But I subdubbinly Sit, not doing nothing but thinking a bit. So if you come visit, just howl, honk, or moo, and try to pretend you're an animal too, 'cause if you're a person, they'll throw you into cage 2 of the zoo here at Animaloo. Kid, don't feed Warning, this creature is wild and dangerous. Thank you. Hit like, hit subscribe, and share.