A poem about animal sentience and how we can understand chimpanzees’ facial signals
Since we descended from great apes,
Their gestures form familiar shapes,
We can tell if a chimp seeks some food,
Wants to groom or is in the mood.
Reading the signs upon their face,
Comes from our shared genetic space.
Calling animals dumb is simply unfair,
We know they can think and share and care,
They have their own sets of social rules,
And some can even work with tools.
They’re much better than us in many ways,
While we risk causing a nuclear haze.
We weren’t the creators of conversation,
So, let’s master the art of conservation.
