Shame

(Found here)

In the zoo,

peering between bars and netting,

I search for an animal

that knows what is shame.

I say, keeper!

Might there just possibly be

in those monkeys’ red posteriors

at least some trace of it?

What of the bear’s paw, perpetually licked?

Or the seals’ whiskers,

or maybe the parrot’s beak?

Is there really no trace of it there?

Since shame has vanished

from this city’s people,

I came to the zoo to look for it.

~Ku Sang (English translation by Brother Anthony)