Five White Lion Cubs

She was pregnant, the last of her kind in captivity,
cared for by the Chinese Zoo keepers
quiet throughout the pregnancy then on the day
of an earthquake she gave birth to five cubs

all hungry but no milk, mother exhausted
from so many births. The zoo keepers
took turns feeding the cubs by hand.

Every day they grow stronger
to be turned over to a surrogate mother,
a nursing dog, who will feed them

‘till they are big enough to eat on their own.