Watching the Wild Chimps on Public TV

Watching the Wild Chimps on Public TV

Wild chimps are not loveable.
Oh, you can give them clever names
like Francesca or Freud,
but they still aren't loveable.

They're too busy diving
daredevil from treetops,
or hooting like yahoos
as they mount each other.
Just look at that one--
throwing a temper tantrum 
against a tree trunk.

Even in calmer moments-
making beds of branches,
poking for termites with twigs--
they just aren't loveable.
They're too human for that--
with their soft smooth ears
nimble fingers and dark eyes.

Yes, it must be those eyes,
so dark and impossible,
that glint with more
than mischief,
that know more than
they are letting on,
staring straight at the camera,
offering no excuses
for themselves or us.