The Zebra Understands

The zebra understands
That the elephant can't be invited to the party
Or nobody will come
But he feels bad

He does, he feels bad

Because that means he has to lie to the elephant
The next time he sees him

It means he has to go out of his way
To make sure the elephant
Does not show up
Or find out about the party
By accident

It means he has to endure the looks
Of the other animals
When he tells them not to tell the elephant
They'll judge him for not inviting the elephant
Even though the elephant not being invited
Is the reason they'll attend in the first place

The hyenas will debate going
But will decide to pass at the last minute
Because how lame are the zebra's parties?
They're incredibly lame

The zebra knows this will happen
But he feels compelled to invite the hyenas
Because they always laugh at him
And so he wants to earn their respect
Knowing full well his eagerness to earn it
Is what will keep it from him
And so it is a viscous jungle circle
And not of life, but of mockery

The lions won't come
Because they'd be tempted to eat
Everyone there
And the zebra feels bad for them
Because dieting issues
Are always a sore subject
And so they'll RSVP and say they're coming
But really they won't
But the zebra has to invite them
Or they'll know it's because they're predators
And that will make them feel bad
About being who they are
And the zebra doesn't want that

The giraffes won't come because they're snobs
And they'd rather stay by the watering hole
And look down on the party
Which is possible for them
Even if the party is quite far away

They can survey and make comments
From a safe distance
And then later say
The party looked to be a failure anyway
Despite the fact that they'll spend all night watching it

The zebra knows this, but, similar to the hyenas
He has to invite them to try and impress them
And if they ever saw a party going on
That they weren't invited to
The zebra would become the pariah of the jungle
Even more so than the elephant

Oh, and the elephant

The elephant will come to the party
Pretending to be walking by
Just as it's going on
And there will be the zebra
Standing by himself
Waiting for animals
He knows have no intention of showing up

And when the elephant asks to stay
The zebra will say 'Sure'
And remind himself
That next time
He should not make this mistake again

But he will

And the elephant
Will understand