20160601 (Harambe)

Koko has learned much of sign language and has taught her teachers some of her own.

When I read of the killing of 

Harambe, the magnificent,

Four hundred and fifty pound

Silverback gorilla, at the zoo

In Cincinnati to prevent his

Harming a little boy who’d

Wriggled his way into the 

Gorilla cage I immediately

Thought of some lines I wrote

For a poem that discussed a

Comparable situation. The

Theme was a meditation on 

The problem of evil, and I

Used an example I’d heard:

A man in Florida once took

His little tad to see the zoo

There lost him to the reptile pit

Where nature red in tooth and claw

Mistook him for an early meal

Not Solomon in all his wit

Could tell him wrest or stay his hand

To save that screaming mangled lad

From crushing of primeval maw

As father fought survival’s law

(In Memory of Evan Rhys, c. 1986)

There have been instances where

Gorillas in zoos have come upon

Youngsters who fall into the lair

And the animal takes the child

Up in a cradling hold and places

Them at the cage door then moves

Away as if to say, “I think this is

One of yours. Come get it while

I stand aside.” Sounds too good to

Be true, but zookeepers swear such

Events have happened within

Recent memory. I sympathize with

The actions of the Dangerous 

Animal Response Team who 

Had to kill Harambe. Watching 

The video of the scene is very

Disturbing and not just because

Of the danger to the child but also

Of our age’s growing empathy

With animal life, particularly

The that of those nearest us in

Phylogenetic order. We have

Seen Jane Goodall work with

Her gorillas. We have watched

Videos of Koko signing and 

Inventing signs of her own.

We have this extraordinary

Affinity with mammals of all

Kinds, particularly cats and

Dogs. We sleep with them

And share our food with them

As I just did an hour earlier

When stripping a chicken carcass

To put meat in some soup, I 

Cut off a smidge and let Loki

Eat it from my hand. I for one

Am troubled by zoos, as are so

Many more, by the captivity

Essential to their existence.

Zoo directors may seek to make

The cage more like the victim’s

Habitat, but however large or

Realistic they get, it’s still 

Captivity. As for the child

Whose mother may clearly

Be negligent, as for the zoo

Whose cage was designed to

Keep gorillas in, not children

Out, discourse in the courts

Will determine. As for Harambe,

Though I concur in the killing,

His death signals us his

Captivity was the wrong.

c. J.S.Manista, 2016