A Dumb Limerick

We know that apes cannot speak, but some people claim that apes can be taught to use sign language to communicate:

Orangu-Tongue

I suffer from my orangu-tongue:

I cannot speak out to anyone.

I must sign what I mean.

I must keep it all clean.

I therefore cleanse these hands with my tongue!

The tongue thus has a role to fill, to keep the hands clean so that the signing is pure, I guess, but the ape communicating in this poem is apparently also adept at typing, which reminds me of the claim that a band of chimps banging away at typewriters would eventually produce a Shakespearean play, though this ape still has a ways to go before claiming that honor.

Update:

An earlier version was better:

Orangu-Tongue

I suffer from orangu-tongue:

I cannot speak to anyone.

I must sign at what I mean.

I must keep it very clean.

I thus cleanse each hand clean with my tongue!

I tried too hard to squeeze the poem into an exactly perfect limerick. This imperfect one was better, but that last line still needs work.

Second Update:

I've reworked the poem considerably in the next blog post.