Zebras are the whole subject here, but they work as a picture of anyone marked as different. The opening describes them as "perfectly imperfect," restless animals twitching, snorting and stomping on solid ground. Their stripes are the line that sets them apart, and the poem admits that this line makes them "unblending," visible and singled out.
The turn comes with "Unbending, they merge." Instead of hiding or giving way, the zebras press together, and the single word "Many / hooves, one herd" shows individuals becoming a group. The speaker seems to feel tenderness toward this. The final lines describe a "comfort" in being together "against this world," which was "designed / to show them as different."
The mood starts out tense and jumpy, then settles into warmth and quiet defiance. Difference is still a burden, but the poem suggests that shared difference can become a kind of belonging.