The Weeping and Chirping
by Russell Edson
Hundreds of monkeys are locked in a room. The leftovers are locked
in an old lighthouse. Even so, there are still leftovers; these
are put in a trunk and sent abroad.
And still there are leftovers. These are glued under the eaves of
houses.
But they keep finding extras under tables and in hallway closets.
It’s discovered that monkeys are leaking from their storage
places; sometimes only a monkey’s paw cupping itself along
on its fingers and heel, or running upright on its fingers through
the fields; a monkey’s head that makes its way on its lips,
balancing with its ears; sometimes just a monkey’s tail weaving
through the grass, or along the rug…
Bits and pieces drip and squeeze from the storage places…A
monkey’s ear flutters like half a moth in the grass; a finger
curling and opening moves across the table like an inchworm; an
eye rolls along the floor staring at everyone!
—And monkey-hair, everywhere! People wake up with monkey-hair
in their mouths, in their hands—monkey-teeth in their food!
Oh how they wish they had never fooled with monkeys!
…And thus it is with those who fool with monkeys…
Russell Edson’s peripatetic dog will find a permanent home in Edson's upcoming book, The Intuitive Journey, from Harper and Row. (Spring 1975)
