I go to the falls and watch him

collecting cabbage 

cupping streams

exigencies

his only concerns.

Sure I share them

but invent others when bored 

worrying about things that haven’t happened

that wouldn’t have happened

then do.

I worry I won’t sleep 

so I don’t sleep

while he scratches his silver ass and naps 

through the hooting of the brood

his and mine.

Sometimes I think 

evolution has failed us 

offshoot of a branch that still exists

the great ape doing great 

whereas we’re the worse for wear.

I’m inclined to pound my chest 

but instead of making fists

use these thumbs to write it down 

worrying over the words

always worrying.

This one’s no Koko

he can’t even sign his name 

but when he wakes up he’ll watch me watching him

each of us wondering

“Who’s the lesser fool?”

---

Yance Wyatt is a two-time Pushcart Prize nominee whose work has appeared in Grain, Los Angeles Review, The Normal School, The Pinch, and Zyzzyva. He teaches at the University of Southern California, where he formerly served as director of the Writing Center. His debut novel, The Watersmith, is forthcoming from Regal House Press.