Ape

My wife works
In the Geography
Department with Carrol
The senior secretary who
Owns a ranch near Austin TX
Consisting of her trailer plus a field
With a few cattle, one cowboy who
Lives in her trailer, and a Barbary
Ape who sits on a fence post
And has some anger issues.
We visit the ranch and our
Five-year-old son Matt
Sees the ape and in
A flash runs from
Our car across
The yard then
Stops in front
Of the ape
Amazed
Until
The
Ape suddenly
Reaches out with
One long arm and
Puts his hand on Matt’s
Head which causes the small
Boy to freeze, then scream no
And turn to run away, but
Cannot as the ape has
A grip of iron causing
One old gray cowboy,
One mother, a senior
Secretary, one Dad,
And two brothers,
All to try & free
Matt who is
Alarmed
By the
Ape’s
Hairy hand
Gripping his head.
Despite all the frenzy
The Barbary ape stares
Studying the boy as
If the ape was his
Phrenologist and
Searching for a
Lump despite
My son’s
Fear.
So I
Ask my
Son to stop
Monkeying around
While looking him in
The eye smiling which
Makes him calmer so
We laugh and the
Ape releases his
Grip as Matt is
No longer
Trying
To
Get free.
The old cowboy
Carlos herds the ape
Away and Carrol exhales
Knowing what might have
Happened and Lindy holds
The boy who is still shaken
By his experience but he is
Back to normal within a
Few minutes whereas
His Mom and Dad
Carlos and Carrol
And his older
Brothers are
Upset for
A long
Time.
The
Ape observes
The young boy
From a distance
But the boy’s
Attention is
On goats
Sheep
Cows
And
Not on
The ape
Whose fixed
Attention menaces.
So we hustle the
Boys back into
The car and
Do not go
Back to
The ranch
Again as ape
Solitude is much
Like human isolation,
It is dangerous
For kids who
Know no
Fear.