the vultures at the zoo 
(all three of them) 
sit very quietly in their 
caged tree 
and below 
on the ground 
are chunks of rotten meat. 
the vultures are over-full. 
our taxes have fed them 
well. 

we move on to the next 
cage. 
a man is in there 
sitting on the ground 
eating 
his own shit. 
i recognize him as 
our former mailman. 
his favorite expression 
had been: 
"have a beautiful day." 

that day i did.