A Monkey's Proposal

To the man who called my brother a “monkey”: For you, I have crafted this modest proposal You may come and study my family’s tree Fourscore and seven simians are here at your disposal Look— see how we swing from limb to vine, Strange fruit with long, ungainly arms We are the refuse of all mankind But you can teach us human charms I understand that where you live You’ve found my distant relatives On the Oprah Network, and in D.C. Instead of the zoo, where they really should be For we are the descendants of troglodytes And can have no use for civil rights Deliver us back to the good old days When monkeys swung and white was might With you to keep us in our place We won’t forget who’s number one If you label us the lesser race We’ll never leave our forest home Please stay with us, and be our king We’ll bow to you and treat you well And we won’t understand a thing When you tell us all to go to hell You, our master; we, your slaves Bound to give our best to you Isn’t that the life you crave? Monkey see as monkey do If only I weren’t colorblind Like every member of my kind Perhaps I would see red, or green Explain to me what “monkey” means Show me what is on your mind Teach me to cower, to stay in line For I lack the knowledge to understand The concepts you, as human, can Do you realize just how right you are? I hope that you shall see When you find my brother, stop your car And drag him to the street For only a man so noble of face Could master your language With such effortless grace The clever way you play with words “Monkey!” you shout, as you strike him with boards