Poetry Corner: The Self Portrait of a Monkey as a Scholar

The Self Portrait of a Monkey
as a Scholar

My talent is as long as my tail,
perhaps thicker than my whiskers,
my shrieks creep into jungle soup.

My teeth chatter when I lecture
and my nose scratches like chalk.
Until I scream at a snake hissing,

My mate picks fleas from my fur
which I kill with my teeth. I hunger
for knowledge. Awesome!

— Harry Waitzman
May 21, 2012

  Harry Waitzman, poetry, poetry corner, the self portrait of a monkey as a scholar