Mary Ann Hoberman

Anthropoids

Here is one of mine that is included in THE TREE THAT TIME BUILT, an anthology of poems about nature and science, compiled by myself and Linda Winston:

The next time you go to the zoo
The zoo
Slow down for a minute or two
Or two
And consider the apes
All their sizes and shapes
For they all are related to you
To you.

Yes, they all are related to you
To you
And they all are related to me
To me
To our fathers and mothers
Our sisters and brothers
And all of the people we see
We see.

The chimpanzees, gorillas, and all
And all
The orangutans climbing the wall
The wall
These remarkable creatures
Share most of our features
And the difference between us is small
Quite small.

So the next time you go to the zoo
The zoo
Slow down for a minute or two
Or two
And consider the apes
All their sizes and shapes
For they all are related to you
To you

From: THE RAUCOUS AUK, ill. by Joseph Low (Viking Press, NY, 1973)

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