Orangutan Poetry (Sungai Lading, 2006)

Over the course of a few days while following animals at Sungai Lading in 2006, I jotted the following poems about some of my focal subjects down in my field notes (what can I say, living in the forest for lengthy periods of time without anyone to speak to in English can cause a person to write some pretty nutty things!):

RHOMA’S STORY

March 14, 2006

Rhoma has a big long beard

And watch out, he should be feared

He throws branches big and small

It helps not if you’re big or tall

Rhoma is lazy today

 My assistants say hooray!

Only five more hours of this

Then back to camp for sleeping bliss

I should not write on my data

But better than on the peta

I do not want to go crazy

Which I will if I am lazy

He kiss-squeaks now and will more later

I think he’s a human hater

Rhoma is so light in color

Only paler is my mother

But he’s red and she is not

Unless the sun is very hot

Well, I guess that’s always true

But to rhyme that’s what you do

Today with me are two local men

I feel like a mother hen

Here assistants call me “Mother”

It’s a place like no other

Other times they call me “Boss”

Which is better? It’s a toss

At least here they don’t call me “Mister”

Or ask me if I have a sister

I was bit by two big ants

Through the leg of my field pants

Then I sat on a big worm

My assistants sure did squirm

The worm was green

The guts were too

They’ll stick onto you like glue

Only one more page to go

Before jam golek, that I know

Rhoma just awoke from sleep

Before no not a single peep

Standing way too close to me

Is a very big dead tree

I hope that wind does not come round

And knock the tree onto the ground

Rhoma shook that tree, you see

He even tried to flatten me

He just wanted to snag crash

And after have himself a bash

Because we’re here he eats so little

He thinks we get in the middle

Of his plans to procreate

But he should just habituate

Two leaf monkeys came to eat

In Rhoma’s tree, that sure was neat

May this poem give you pleasure

Read it now or at your leisure

This is Rhoma’s only story

Hope it brings him lots of glory

Rhoma should get his due fame

And if he doesn’t I’m to blame

Studied for my dissertation

He gave me a laceration

But I am not really mad

He is really not so bad

But why not start to make a nest

So we can all go home and rest

We’ll follow him into the night

For late to golek is his right

It is we who follow him

So we must accept his every whim

He made not one nest but made two

What is it that we are to do?

First we must wait to be sure

Which nest he’ll choose to endure

If we must we’ll wait all night

We cannot put up a fight

Then he’ll start another day

By 4 AM, he won’t delay

   ELVIS’S COPACABANA

August, 2006

His name is Elvis

He sometimes long calls

But when he tries to be the star

Suni he is never far

Elvis can kiss-squeak

And throw epiphytes

But assistants they don’t run

For with Elvis all is fun

Across the flooded swamp

Elvis he sure can romp

He has missing teeth and a loud grumble

But branch missiles he does fumble

In the swamp, Sungai Lading swamp

The hottest spot north of Palangka

In the swamp

The deep peat swamp

Elvis’s yawning is always the fashion in the swamp…

 Elvis is not dead

  LALA’S FAMILY

August, 2006

Lala she has real big hair

But when we search she’s not there

She looks so much like Elvis

Lala’s family

Lala, well she is crazy

Snag riding! She’s not lazy

If she would party with Gula

A “Gulala” we’d have

VELVEETA IS A CHEESE

August, 2006

Velveeta is a cheese

She really likes to sneeze

When she enters thick rotan

You must have a good plan

Pregnant she may be

We have to wait and see

High ho the dairio

Velveeta is a cheese

Franklin knocked her up

Like me she does hiccup

High ho the dairio

Velveeta is a cheese

SUNI IS MADE FOR WALKING

August, 2006

Suni is made for walking

And that’s just what he’ll do

One of these days that Suni

Will just walk all over you

Assistants they do scramble

Underneath the bramble

When Suni leaves the trees

We all get right down on our knees

One day he came to camp

Without even a headlamp

Suni is made for walking

And for causing lots of gawking

And this bizarre little poem, written by whoever manufactures Snowman brand markers in Indonesia, is too amazingly odd not to share:

a similar caption appears on this box of Snowman markers and reads: This talk, truth was some the sad thing, Is the love and the geological features it is...FLY TO THE SKY...

SNOWMAN

6 Coloring Markers

Pencil Type

FLY TO THE SKY…

The tree

professional

everyday looks

the sky which

is the fairy

and it does

cluck cluck

and it cries