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Duncan Richardson

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All these black beetles

Washoe the chimp,
taught to discuss philosophy
and the price of good champagne
found to her dismay
that when the papers were all published
the programs made
she was expected to give back
the clothes
the colour TV
and join the other chimps
in a Gulag no less terrifying
for all the familiar faces
passing by.
“Let me out,” she signed.
“Take me away from all these
black beetles.”

But to the other chimps
Washoe was feral and inarticulate,
revulsed when asked to check for fleas,
she’d sit there twitching
the victim of some inexplicable
bi-ped’s disease.
One chimp told ancient stories
of eccentrics who felt confined
by the forest floor
and sought the plains.
It had always been assumed
leopards had claimed these loners
before long
but if so
where did all these
nude stretch apes
come from?



Untitled illustration


Page(s) 19-20

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