The Purple - Faced Langur is an Old World monkey endemic
to Sri Lanka. They are long-tailed, arboreal, mostly brown species
with a dark face and a very shy nature. They live in closed canopy
forests in Sri Lanka's mountains and the southwestern part of the
country, known as the "wet zone". They are mostly folivorous, but
will also feed on fruits like Dimocarpus longan and Drypetes sepiaria,
flowers, and seeds. While they normally avoid human habitations,
fruit such as jak, rambutan, banana, and mango may contribute up
to 50% to their diet in cultivated areas. Their digestive tract,
with its specialized stomach bacteria, has evolved to derive the
majority of their required nutrients and energy from complex carbohydrates
found in leaves. Males are usually larger than females and both
have black to grayish brown coats, and whitish to gray short 'trousers'
rounded off by purplish-black faces with white sideburns. Part of
the back is covered with whitish fur, and tail is also furred with
black and white mixed colors. Feet, and hands are also purplish-black
in color. They use vocalization to alert members of predators, attract
mates, defend territory, and locate group members. Like humans,
adult males are the most vocal among the entire group and their
defensive whooping calls are also accompanied by intense visual
and locomotive displays. Their range has constricted greatly in
the face of human encroachment, although it can still be seen in
Sinharaja, Kitulgala, Kandalama, Mihintale, in the mountains at
Horton Plains National Park or in the rainforest city of Galle.
Populations are critically low within and between sites. Threats
to this species include infringement on range by croplands, grazing,
changing agriculture, road production, soil loss/erosion and deforestation,
poisoning from prevention of crop raiding, and hunting for medicine
Little Johnny is learning to read.
Look how he forms his 'o's and 'a's.
He rounds his mouth silently,
Drags his attention along with a finger.
He will do well on the standardized tests,
Fit in with the statistics we want to show.
Little Johnny works along at just the right pace.
This is not too difficult for him,
Though he finds surprises, and can
Be proud of the grammar text tentatively pushing out
From his workman's unlined shirt pocket.
We are not making him any great thinker:
But he will make a remarkable citizen,
At the end have the education he needs
To be a serious consumer, a maker
Of debt, someone who shows up
On time and tends to his cares methodically.
Our processes nurture him to his own best ends
And he can be assured with the fact
That, one day, his yet-to-be-born one-point-four children
Will have the same large, backyard-garden sized menu
Of life-achievement opportunities as he has now.
In a moment, Johnny will be on
To pre-algebra. He will be tapping
His thumb to small numbers, and drawing
Imaginary symbols on the palm of his hand:
His not yet scarred, square, muffled, worker's hand.
We keep close to our hearts the hope
That, one day, that hand, steadily and proudly,
With the numbers both friend and foe,
Will write sufficiently safe and solvent mortgage checks;
Will give, so we will not have to take.
Ken’s latest collection of short, wiry fiction, “Constant Animals”,
and his latest collection of surprising poetry, “Victims of a Failed
Civics”, can be obtained from Barking Moose Press, at Barking
, or Amazon
, or Sundial
. He often serves as strange, bewildering eye-candy at his
wife’s power lifting affairs. His poetry of late has been sunning in
“Analog”, “Asimov’s”, “Poet Lore”, “The Kentucky Review”; and his fiction
has yowled in “Spank the Carp”, “Red Truck”, “Café Irreal”, “Bellows
American Review”. More to come.