Monkey on a Swing

MONKEY ON A SWING

A chimp is not a monkey

not a monkey on a swing.

A monkey on a swing will rock himself

he'll try to hold himself

hold himself the way a mother would

hold himself the way he would be held

by the people on the other side

of all this two-way glass

if only their arms weren't already full

full of clipboards and curiosity.

A monkey on a swing,

he will eventually die.

It will be slow and it will hurt

and yes, oh yes, it is going to happen.

The swing will slow, the arms go limp.

The lips will curl then freeze.

but, a chimp is not a monkey

not a monkey on a swing.