~

monkey country ( yrtnuoc yeknom )

…

jungles of oak

mountain ash or rowan

      orchards where we grow

      the money that we squirrel

nuts & bananas

both are common currency

      barter with aplomb

      swinging hairy arms

where the green is green

& the queen’s a lemur

      north west of frogland

      east of hobbit island

we, the simian folk

in this monkey country

      sing until the sun shines

      under earl grey skies

stirring rhesus blood

gibbons in glamorgan

      tamarins in manchester

      marmosets in derby

blue baboons at troon

with their balls in the dunes

      shakespeare came

      from our collective chatter

in between tea breaks

typed in a castle

      a bolthole cottage

      or a new build mews

breeding when we’re not

spanking ourselves

      spreading like the pox

      on the nine o’ clock snooze

…