Man’s Place

The whale sang,

But I was tone-deaf;

The leopard snarled,

So I ran away;

The wolf howled,

And I closed the gate.

The elephant trumpeted,

The tiger roared,

And the gorilla

Beat his chest,

But I knew not any

Of their languages.

Sadly, I turned around

And looked at the world,

And man’s place in it.

Unexpectedly, a tear

rolled down my cheek,

And suddenly,

I understood them all.

Together, they cried

Out in one loud voice,

“Save us! Save us!”