Compo Cola

In the van..
The Man
gave him .
                     some soda

peter looked at the opened
can of Compo Cola
and said
he'd prefer
an unopened can

                                  The Man smiled and patted the top of Peter's head.
                                  "you're a smart kid...huh"

The Man reached in the back
and pulled out
a closed
     un-tabbed ...
              can of pop

 The Man began talking
                  Peter had little choice but to listen
                        They drove east
                                  away from Los Angeles.
                                                away and away from
                                                           lights and towns
  the further away they got from cities and towns
 the more comfortable
   the man got..
even placing the funny looking head set upon his head
     after making   funny faces

                                  at Peter

the further away they got fro m cities and towns
      the more uncomfortable
           Peter got..
  wondering where they were possibly going
                                    The Man began speaking
                                          and being a passenger
                                        Peter had no choice but to listen


   """"""...what's peculiar
is that man
thinks he's
the most intelligent life form..
but mankind.
was
a fluke
...a mistake...
..man is the weak link
..aberration of primate
one ape..
could SWING with the Clan
maybe he broke his arm.
Apes have arms ..and no doubt they break them
so this ape ...lets call him Adam
couldn't swing. Couldn't pull his weight
forage for food and all that all that
so he sat under a tree.
in the shade..
and thought and thought
picked up a stick..
and starts moving the stick around
he doesn't have much to do
this ape
cuz he doesn't pull his weight
but play with the stick
and starts makin doodles in the dirt
..
the other monkeys
soon see these pictograms
this ape drew
and some monkeys go with this Ape
and the other monkeys think he's a fag or some thing

The Man in the Van talked and talked.
Peter half listened and half dozed off....

Now if you were a monkey
...seeing all that man has made
with his TOOLS
if you could turn back time
which
tribe would you  "roll" with ...
the ape that made tools
or the apes
that
instinctually knew how to survive ...like all animals but man do?
not only instinct...
but biology


the apes that went with
the egghead ape...they were punished
they lost their fur
the lost their might
and became bald all over their bodies except their heads.
the hair on man's head is a reminder of what he lost.
without Hair.
man could no longer survive winters...


..
Peter wondered if he was supposed to say something...
instead he just nodded his head.
He was too tired.. to think about what the Man in the Van was saying...
they drove east and east
to the desert ...

Peter looked at The Man
            and realized The Man's mouth was not moving

"
all these insects...
all these birds
every fucking animal but human
can survive
his terrain
except
humans
know why
cause
eventually
the
apes
got taken over by their tools
and innovations
and began to sell their souls
for
security .comfort
and any
new tool that
made
it easier to get by"

which peculiarly enough
 made Peter have to listen
       even more