Monkey’s Uncle

//Wayne F. Burke

They played classical music
to calm the apes
who were intent
upon rape and
mayhem until
they heard Brahms,
then they sat back
and put on the
tuxedoes the women
gave them to wear
and the apes went
to the ball smelling
like perfumed frauds
with their hair combed
back and during the
Concerto in E-Minor
sat rapt and only
scratched themselves
during intermission.

//Wayne F. Burke's poetry has appeared in Lost Coast Review, Bluestem, Red Savina Review, Phantom Kangaroo, Locust, Brickplight, Ricochet, the bicycle review, and elsewhere. His book of poems WORDS THAT BURN is published by Bareback Press (2013). He lives in the central Vermont area.