Imprisons music in a cage
of teeth. From behind the smile
comes the word-barrage.
Not a parakeet’s sweet melody
or a parrot’s nonsense chatter
more like a monkey in a zoo
Hurling excrement to discourage
curious onlookers and intruders
and in his underhanded way
To demand the cage be covered
curtains pulled, shades drawn.
Then from the solitude and darkness
comes the monkey’s song.
