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
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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.
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