The wise ape
is smiling because he
knows he’s an ape
The rest of the apes
don’t seem to see,
they give themselves
pretty stones from rivers
and chatter about
epistemology
They pretend they are
something other than
animal, violent, selfish,
reading their little books
or no reading at all
Even though the wise
ape smiles, his jaw is sore
when he wakes from
the stress of facing it.
