Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
Ace Boggess
Twentieth Century Fox,
APJAC Productions, 1972
Different from the other films,
it’s about differences, evolution variations,
race (species), bigotry, slaves: four score &
two thousand years from now (ago).
It’s about labor politics, rise of the unions,
workers’ rights & violence:
slaughter the beasts. Maybe,
it’s about nothing: an hour & a half
of candy-eyed entertainment
where the other side wins
in the tennis match of sequels.
It’s not about the bomb. Not yet.
Too much of that already (still to come).
It’s not about hope, neither for us nor them.
If anything, it’s about Oedipus
killing before Dear Old Dad
could keep Fate chained in a tomb,
as if it couldn’t sing its song from there.
Ace Boggess is the author of two books of poetry: The Prisoners (Brick Road Poetry Press, 2014) and The Beautiful Girl Whose Wish Was Not Fulfilled (Highwire Press, 2003). His novel, A Song Without a Melody, is forthcoming from Hyperborea Publishing. His writing has appeared in Harvard Review, Mid-American Review, RATTLE, River Styx, North Dakota Quarterly and many other journals. He lives in Charleston, West Virginia.