which being which

i did not ask the monkey for her name
nor wait to hear the pig's lame old excuse
for one more century's worth of abuse
the peacock simply tells us of his fame
and has not heard of modesty or shame
for calm and good sense monkey has no use
such concepts are too complex and abstruse
the whole of life is just a silly game
we are all stuck here in the viewing case
objects of alien fortune and desire
and sapient only when the master says
the critical part is that we know our place
never arouse the least flicker of ire
and we may get a treat one of these days