Street sorrow

Never-to-be king of the treetop swingers,
Languishing under a plastic canopy,
Sheltering from the sweltering sun
In this urban jungle.

Yellow-cheeked gibbon by Dao Van Hoang
https://www.behance.net/daovanhoang

Wrenched from the mortal
Maternal embrace of
A mum who fell to earth.
Untimely plucked
From the place of my birth
By lawless long arms.

Chained by the neck to
This concrete throne.
Exiled on main street,
A long way from home,
No escape.

Ape’s inhumanity to ape:
What right do you have to dictate
Another primate’s fate;
To ordain whether I should
Fade away, or brachiate?

© Tim Knight and timknightwriter, 2014