Song of the Ape

An ape does not believe in evolution.
How could he? It’s a thing he’s never seen.
Don’t mention it, he won’t know what you mean –
to him, all change would equal diminution.
An ape stays put and follows his routine;
not moving is his finest contribution.
He seeks a life both structured and serene
in forests high and wide and densely green –
an ape does not believe in evolution
because it is a thing he’s never seen.
An ape may not excel in elocution,
or understand his monkey constitution,
but forest life, he knows, is safe and clean
(quite visceral at times, but not obscene) –
the plains would make a lousy substitution.
Besides, an ape is caught up in between
life’s hardships and the quest for absolution.
He dreams about that juicy tangerine
which beckons apelike gods to intervene
and end all poverty and persecution.
Until they do, the years are long and lean;
because it is a thing he’s never seen
an ape does not believe in evolution.

Lennard van Rij