zoo canals

I am out walking on the property where a cabin I use as a studio sits high up in the foothills above the Mohave desert. It is hot and dry, the ground is littered with sharp rocks. I find myself walking along a desert highway, down in the flat land in the wash of the valley. On the right there is a gate, and a dirt road leads out to the North of the road.

There is a large pool of water here, artificial like a reservoir. I see something red floating on the surface, so I get into the water and swim out to it. It appears to be an algae bloom- little foamy poofs of color in the dark, murky water. Now I see that there is some kind of fountain-like spout, a jet of red rising up ten feet or more above the water and scattering color on the surface. Satisfied, I swim away towards structures on the North side of the pond.

The structures are holding cages, apparently for a zoo. Blocks of concrete (the size of a cargo van) with many little hallows covered with iron-bar gates make up the cages, each block rising up out of the stagnant canal water. There are different animals crammed into too small spaces, dirty and derelict. Most look thin and ragged, and as I swim along past them I argue with myself about what the right thing to do is. Finally, I float up next to a small, dark, furry animal's cage and begin to pry open the door. Just as I reach in to pick up the animal, I wake up.