Heaven in a rage

Finally made it to the zoo yesterday.
I walked for almost three hours. Sometimes it was tough to look at some of the animals, even for a moment, let alone longer, contemplatively. I learned my lesson in Washington last year and avoided the gorillas. (Long story.) But the pacing panther made me think of Rilke (he wrote my favorite poem about that very beast).
I tried to take a photo of the giant panda early on in my walk, but he had his back to me. I took it anyway, and as I saw more animals with their backs to the onlookers, I saw that I had a photo essay in the making. I will make it available some time in the future.

Here are two of the cats I saw.

Sand cat

Jaguar

"A robin redbreast in a cage/puts all of heaven in a rage," said William Blake. I wonder what he would have thought of large or even small carnivores being cooped up like these are in Berlin - and in countless places around the so-called modern world.

Sand cat