Lucky monkey feeling fine,
swinging on a lucky vine.
Monkey never had a fall.
No, not really. Not at all.
Lucky monkey. Lucky he.
Lucky monkey. Lucky she.
Lucky him and her are dating.
Lucky her and him are mating.
Lucky wedding. Lovely spouse.
Monkeys find a lucky house.
Baby monkey makes it three.
Lucky monkey family.
Monkey eat and monkey sleep.
Monkey mouth is full of teeth.
Eyes and ears and limbs intact.
Monkey lucky. Monkey fact.
Lucky monkey go to school.
Lucky monkey use a tool.
Look at what you have become
with your lucky monkey thumb.
Lucky birthday chimpanzee.
Monkey friends sing loud off key.
Hungry primates very nice:
let lucky monkey eat first slice.
Lucky monkey sing hosannas
o'er organic-grown bananas.
Lucky monkey pick and choose.
Privileged shopping. Privileged foods.
Monkey neighbor hard to love.
Monkey want to scuffle shove.
No no, monkey go inside.
Make crazy neighbor yummy pie.
Monkey don’t like where you are?
Plane, train, bus or bike or car.
Lucky monkey take a trip,
vacation on big monkey ship.
Monkey job make monkey cross.
Bossy ape is monkey boss.
Yet monkey live in luxury:
holidays and salary.
Lucky monkey student loan.
Lucky monkey mortgaged home.
Monkey credit score depressing?
Even what you owe’s a blessing.
Lucky monkey monthly fee.
Water, gas, utility.
Flush and O away it goes!
Where it stop no monkey knows.
Lucky monkey hear the storm
on the roof while you are warm.
Lucky monkey crank the heat.
Take a shower. Rinse. Repeat.
Monkey gripe and monkey groan.
Monkey grouse and carp and moan.
Lucky monkey picking nits.
Speech is free where monkey sits.
Lucky monkey talking stick,
singing bowl and magic trick.
Lucky monkey you are free
to choose thy own cosmology.
Lucky monkey watch TV.
Other monkeys howl and flee.
Flood and fire, bombs and tanks.
Monkey bend down low in thanks.
Lucky monkey ergo sum.
Wherefore art thou? Boom boom boom.
Hear the tuba. Hear the drums.
Something lucky this way comes.
First world monkey don't forget.
First world monkey fortunate.
Monkey birth is game of chance.
Monkey lucky circumstance.
Gorilla, gibbon, lemur, loris.
Different monkeys sing in chorus.
Lucky genus. Lucky us.
To live at all is glorious.
Lucky monkey. Lucky me.
Laughing in a lucky tree.
Lucky monkey. Lucky you.
Remember that you're lucky too.
This has been stuck in my head all weekend, and I am newly delighted every time I think about Wherefore art thou? BOOM BOOM BOOM!"
ReplyDeleteSo many things to be grateful for. Thank you for the wonderful reminder.
Thanks TK, this is so much more effective than ranting. My question: Does our privilege really make us lucky? What would stanzas/another poem be like where lucky monkey uses her/his privilege to connect across continents with other species? What does Lucky Monkey teach his children or grow in his organic garden? I could see this being a series, a la Wendell Berry's Mad Farmer poems!
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