The Monkey's Cross Examination


Mr. Scopes, you were animals once
and why now are you not?

What in head or hands
holds the holy difference
that led you from the sea,
out of the mangrove
and into your horseless cars
over suspension bridges
to your spewing speakeasies?

How do I tell you from me?
What charm did you speak
to make fingers of claws
and thin your hide to skin?

Is it love, the careless flutter
of your heart, that purposed once
to procreate you through
the cold world's harsh filter?
Has that love now removed
you from our cruel dance,
and do you listen to the band,
whispering "God was here.
All along. God was here."
and only now do you know His name?

Has evolution brought you here
only to abandon you
at your softest, weakest point?
If this is so, then I propose
that at last you should understand
why I giggle so. It is blissfully serene 
just to scratch my balls,
to point at you and scream.


Donald Zirilli
1999