Taken in 2022 at Woodland Park Zoo

We walk along the path, following children calling out to one another, and parents trying to contain excitement into single lines. The air is warm, for Western Washington, and the animals are lounging and playing. New announcements of babies born and the excitement of the unknown, heard in voices and giggles.

In an inside “viewing area,” a Primate stares at us with an intelligence people mistake for animalistic. The look in their eye says something about our joined history and the loss of what is natural. While their enclosure is large and well structured, there is a sadness that this individuals eyes caught me with.

The window is dirty from handprints, both inside and out. Chomping on a leaf while watching all the humans with curiosity, while those very humans question who is actually captive, is sometimes the only way to spend an afternoon,