“Hello, kid,” the orangutan said.
“You look very familiar.”
“That’s because,” the young boy said,
“We’re both very similar.”
“But I don’t live in a house, boy,”
The wise orangutan said.
“It doesn’t matter,” the young boy said,
“Where you lay your head…
“The fact is, you and I are friends
“From way back deep in time.”
“If that is so,” the orangutan said,
“Put your hand in mine.”
Teacher’s note: In Bahasa (Indonesian and Malay languages), orang means “man” or “person”, while utan means “jungle”. Thus, the orangutan is a man of the forest. Many experts now believe that the orangutan — not the chimpanzee — is closest to humans in traits and characteristics.
Australian Children’s Poetry 