We love it when our volunteers are creative in their ways to aid animal conservation, and this is most certainly the case with Tony, a volunteer who helped out at the Samboja Lestari Orangutan Project earlier this year. After his experience with the orangutans Tony sat down to pen his poem "Remember Me" which is all about the plight of these beautiful animals. To celebrate Orangutan Awareness Week 2017 we wanted to share the poem with you, alongside some of Tony's amazing pictures so we'll let Tony take it from here!
Remember Me - Tony Buckle
It was good to meet you, but now you’ve gone
I hope you’ll remember what went wrong
In my life, when I was snatched
From a caring Mum and then dispatched
To a horrible place and kept in a cage,
Where they called me a pet and ignored my rage.
I hope you’ll remember to tell everyone
How my days of misery were begun,
With a chain round my neck and little to eat
Unable to swing by my hands and my feet.
Beaten, deprived, starved of love and affection
Vulnerable to every infection.
There are many. of which I am one
Of my tribe, who could not run
When our World came crashing down.
Destroyed by humans from a nearby town.
Then one day my life improved
At Samboja to where I was moved.
In the nursery I could play all day
And when it got dark had a mum who would stay
To keep me company all night long.
I was well fed so I grew strong.
I made new friends of my own kind
But was sad for those whom I’d left behind.
When I started Forest School
Learning to climb trees was really cool.
All day long we would climb and swing
Until it got dusk and our mums would bring
Bananas and melons to bribe us back home,
But I long for the days when I’ll be free to roam.
I’ve come a long way since my mother was shot
But thanks to Samboja I’ve been helped a lot
By carers, vets and volunteers
Who’ve looked after me for several years.
So thank you for coming, but keep me in mind
By remembering me to all Mankind.
All credit for the images and poem goes to Tony Buckle.
