I Think Continually of Those Who Went Truly Ape, <i> --Vitus B. Droscher, “The Mysterious Senses of Animals,” translated by E. Huggard, 1965,</i> By ANNIE DILLARD

During the hours of darkness all baboons

Suffer from a deep-rooted, primitive anxiety

Which continually startles them into wakefulness.

A deep, soft “O-O-O.”

An appealing “la-la-la” cry.

A soft murmur among the crows, probably

Their love-talk. “Zick, zick, zick.”

“Attention, please. I have just

Discovered a field of flowers.

It is buckwheat.”

“Here I stand. Aound me is my kingdom.”

The male golden plover goes completely haywire.

“Ga, ga, ga, ga, ga, ga”

Means: “We feel comfortable here.”

Five syllables means “The meadow grass is poor.”

“Yup, yup, yup.” “Kyah.” “Kyoo.”

A new day is dawning on the plain of Amboseli.

From “Mornings Like This: Found Poems” by Annie Dillard. (HarperCollins: $20; 75 pp.) 1994 Reprinted by permission.