A Taste for Meat

[TrevorConway]

As if they know,

bending leaves into their mouths,

that bodies yearn for protein,

can feel it like a dull thirst

driving them over the forest floor,

shoulder-heavy and quiet.

 

The colobus swing

in their leafy playground of twisted bark,

fast and light, with little to fear

from the slow chimps observing below.

But these chimps are taking position –

one to drive the monkeys on,

two – conspicuous – to block each side,

while another waits behind a trunk.

 

A chorus of screams begins their business.

The colobus make reckless bets

of wild flight through the air.

One, in haste,

chooses a trunk that will be its last –

a firm grasp of its furry tail,

and the chimps clamour.

 

Portions are carried to the forest floor,

where the young and female profit,

as if their cries from far below

were a tacit piece of the act.

 

And what craving propelled them

to leafy heights in chase –

the taste of protein

or the thrill of the hunt?