Jane

Her unforgettable name—
that of the ubiquitous jungle mate
in the novels she loved as a child
and moniker of legal female privacy
followed by her inspiring surname
whose compound syllables
speak the highest mission
of global intentions—
will forever be on our tongues.

The kind (of) woman
whose tenderness took her
into the inner sanctum
of Nature’s secret lives—
places where family interactions
were so startlingly familiar to ours
that textbooks on homo sapien’s
prideful primacy required rewriting.

With the focused attention
of biologist, photographer,
anthropologist, mother, she
cherished her threatened subjects
as hours passed into years
and then onto new generations,
her patient presence leading
to our shared observance
of thick, dark fingers grasping
her slender human hands
and hairy arms wrapping her
in hugs of hello and goodbye.

Now we, too, offer our farewells,
to the best friend of chimps
and children, our world
transformed by the education
she gifted us—the lesson clear:
despite all else, being humane
is the best way to be human.

Anne McCrady, 2025

NEWSLINKS: CNN; NPR; BBC
AUDIOLINK: SoundCloud
ESSAY: SubStack

Find out more about Anne McCrady at InSpiritry.com