Father of the Apes

Poetry

Luke Fiscella

My father Loves (with a capital ‘L’) apes.

Who knows where this fascination

began. Does there need to be an explanation?

We used to go to the zoo together,

and see the apes in action. Usually, they’d

be doing ape stuff. You know, sitting around, shitting,

eating their shit. My father would laugh his ass

off watching them do that. I would be,

too. 

My father loves Planet of the Apes,

specifically the original

movies and the long-forgotten TV show. 

He would ‘ape it up’ and put on

the show while we ate

dinner. My stepmother hates

it, though. She’s usually the voice of

compassion, reason, and open-mindedness, but

she really, really hates Planet of the Apes.

My father used to have this

wind-up chimpanzee toy. It had a massive boner

and it would jerk off once it was wound up.

I hope he still has it; I would like

to have it one day.