A Dancing Bear

Oh! My beautiful dancing bear
What have they done to you?
I remember when you danced free
Pirouetting through the forest
Like a ballet dancer
Graceful and agile
Thick, luxuriant coat, gleaming eyes
A confident demeanour

Then they came – they took you
You’re freedom gone forever
Trapped in a concrete enclosure
You sway and pace with lack-lustre eyes
My heart breaks

Children watch with fascination
They don’t know what it was you came from –
A paradise where you were free
Now a butterfly trapped in a spider’s web – my beautiful
Dancing bear
In the hands of humans I cry for you
And wish your death to come quickly
You would be better off
Yes, better off!