Prime, primates, proud and preening people,

Differ little from their kin.

Nice vocal chords, opposing thumbs,

And much less hairy skin.

 

Deep, deep inside though, little shows,

That chimp is far from chap.

Their genes show common ancestry

With little species gap.

 

In the beginning was the word,

Of that there's little doubt.

The human creature left the chimp,

When first he spoke right out.

 

But was that language handed down,

In supernatural gift?

Or did voice form from mutant gene,

To bring the specie rift?

 

Just look upon the monkey group,

And see how they behave.

Fighting, fondling, fucking free.

The weakest, they enslave.

 

Apart from upright gait and song,

These beasts are us, with hair.

Should we class them now as brutes,

And deny them human care?

 

As slavers, we owned soulless blacks,

And herded them in ships.

Those people then weren't 'touched by god',

But beasts we thrashed with whips.

 

Now! Tell me! Is a bonobo

No different from a cow?

Or should we count gorillas in.

The human family now?

 

Black and white, hirsute or smooth,

We're creatures much the same.

No god distinguished ape from us,

We share much, but our name.