Taking My Turn - Lincoln Park Zoo Poem by Ima Ryma

Standing atop a rock I do
My meerkat duty standing guard,
Here at home in Lincoln Park Zoo,
For predators - the job's not hard.
No swooping down of big birds that
In the wild would grab us as prey.
We're safe here in this habitat.
But by instinct we still display
The taking turns to watch around
As sentinel, eyes to the sky,
Cuz we meerkats be duty bound
To constantly be on standby.

Sentinel duty's not much fun,
But is a job that must be done.