The Great Red Ape

The great Red Ape
atop a huge tall Durian Tree
80 feet above the forest floor
nimbly,clutching what for her
is one of her favourite fruits
it has such a luscious flavour which
permeates one’s roots
it gets into one’s system
with an enticing taste
and a curtain of aroma
ecstatically embraced
holding onto one branch
whilst grabbing this great shell
as spiky as a Porcupine
but her powerful jaws
know well
she bites through the exterior
into the cocooned flesh
and sucks out the creamy
segments with so much true
relish

Fruit of all kinds are the
way
she takes liquid supply
filtered through these
massive fruits
and thus she’s seldom dry
she will drag leaves through
her lips and take her carb from
here
and loves to crack the hardest
nuts
a herbivore its clear
she will eat insects
and eat eggs
but is inclined to be
much more of a vegan
than some it seems to me

Her pregnancy is fairly long
Close to ours its true
around the 8 and 1/2 months
and she’s a good mum too
gentle with her baby
who has a lot to learn
up there in the canopy
clearly shows concern
its easy to fall that’s for sure
so mum must be on guard
and she is, she’ll remain stalwart
and work however hard
such love she gives her baby
and the wealth of knowledge she
has experienced in her life time
at her school the canopy

These great souls are so powerful
but have problems as we know
logging out their habitat
for the Palm oil that they grow
tears the heart out, of a forest
and their larder of rich fruit
and puts stress on relationships
which are really at the root
of any Red Ape’s life
their genetic make up
much as ours
and they are very intelligent
with lots of
interpretive powers
they identify as many
as 400 or so trees
those which can’t be eaten
and those which always please

Everyday they make their nest
and they sleep always on high
it seems precarious to observers
but the great apes love the sky
up there in the canopy
they are very safe, and they
can see and hear the forest folk
as they go on their way
they are very sensitive
and can pick up our flu
so we have to really
remember that and make sure
we do not do
what some do that’s get close
to them
that’s a very selfish thing
any form of sickness
keep our distance
always
we do not want to bring
it anywhere near to them
for what appears to be
a simple cold or a touch of flu
can kill them tragically

The person of the forest
that’s the Malay word, for
The Orangutan a specialist
in forest life, for sure
but now needs to be
hopeful that his cousins
that is us
allow them to live where their born
with the minimum of fuss
When you look into their wondrous eyes
such a depth of feeling shows
and the more you peer
they just endear
themselves, with a love
that grows
so in many ways
it is hard to see
why the perils of today
have become so very serious
and have led to the dismay
but its there the habitat
is being sawn down
as we speak
great logs are lumbering
through the forest
as havoc some do wreak
agenda’s of the financial kind
corrupt the hearts and mind
and the disparate thoughts
of the Corporates prove to
many just how blind
they are to the long term
prospects, and the balance that we see
it can all be torn to pieces
and create uncertainty
Those of us who appreciate
the forests and the souls
who live and die where they were born
must hope now some controls
are put in place by Governments
to protect the countryside
and not destroy the canopy
where the great Red ape does hide