Mandrill

Our photo of the Mandrill at the zoo didn't turn out well, but I had to post it because I found a poem to go alongside...



The Mandrill
by Conrad Aiken

In the Mandrill
unrefined
Beauty and Beast
are well combined.
How would you like
to have that face
to look at in your looking-glass?
And all the other
jungle creatures
what must they think
of those strange features?
And that odd name
the Mandrill - can
it be he hopes
to BE a man?
But that face
won't
wash
off
with
soap:
I fear poor Mandrill
has
no
hope.