Pongo pygmaeus,
like some of us
has a big brain,
and in the main
is quite a clever feller

But unlike us,
Pongo pygmaeus,
has little vice
and spends a life
at leisure
in Paradise.

Orang-utans,
are hedonist, epicurean,
lissom and free
plucking the blossoms
of the day,
The young orangs all swing
from branch to branch.
and sing and dance,
while elders sit,
pontificate and think

If we but knew
they sang and talked
and danced and thought,
like what we do

We’d seize our chance,
imitate their ways,
give them our thanks,

Alas, given our history
we’d soon make them slaves.

The Orang-utan (Pongo pygmaeus), lives in Borneo and Sumatra.
Its name is Malayan and means “Man of the Woods. “
There is an island legend that Orangs can speak but do not do so for fear humans will put them to work.