new one of mine...

the monkeys


the chattering monkeys have left me speechless -

perched here on a barren limb of silence
i watch them, their nimble dance,
how in their mirth they swing from branch to branch
a tail just as useful as a hand, a foot,
how anger swells and then again joy,
how easy to reconcile, child, mate, the
members of their restless band,
how easy to share, the reddened fruits passing
quickly from paw to paw

i wait and watch from a distant treetop
a makeshift platform that sags underfoot
in the cold of early morning.
the orange African sun is slow in rising
and here in our human order
each gesture so hard to learn,
each glide such peril