I don’t know where Gombe is,no one knows where Gombe isbut now, one can easily check,Tanzania – that’s far away,far, far away
yet war is war,we all know what’s going on hereespecially the fight for more landand, of course, Lebensraum
in Gombea separatist group Kahamalost everything it was fighting forno one survived:a story as old as the worldand equally boring
the names of the leaders are knownas are the names of all who were slain(this in itself a historical rarity)as are the names of those who were enslavedbefore they were mercilessly murdered
acts of cannibalism by the victorious clan, Kasakela,carefully described, in great detail
the only observer of this war, a woman,she would recall, for yearsthe haunting images of drinking bloodfrom the enemies’ woundsa bestial attack on the body, long dead,of one of the defendersfor the defence endures “and will endure to the end”(so says the poet)
half a century has passedI no longer know what’s happening in Gombe(well, how can one worry aboutall these wars, all the time?)
the first chimpanzee civil warabout which the world has learnedthanks to Jane Goodall,it’s an old storyand completely insignificant
still, I don’t understandwere these chimps so humanor are we such animals
translation: K. Zechenter
Photo by Dominik Scythe on Unsplash