KOKO AND ROBIN.

When Koko met Robin Williams,
she was in mourning for Michael,
a fellow gorilla and her life-long friend.
They'd grown up together
like brother and sister.
The smile she gave Robin
was her first in six months.

Koko recognized Robin
from the television shows
where he'd impersonated Mork,
an alien befriended by Mindy,
who helped him adjust to life on earth,
while, off camera, he'd chased her,
copping a feel. Mindy recalled, "I was
flashed, humped, bumped, grabbed.
He'd look at me real playful,
like a puppy, with those sparkly eyes,
and then he'd do it and run off.
And he could get away with it."

In sign language
Koko asked Robin to tickle her,
and she tickled him back, laughing.
Baring her teeth in joy,
she played with him,
putting on his glasses,
picking his pockets.

She could have crushed him,
but she cradled him
in her strong hairy arms,
rocked him gently to and fro.
He felt himself relax,
inhaling her smell, matching
his breathing to hers.

She stroked his arms,
hairy for a human,
and stared into his eyes,
and he stared into hers.

Later, in interviews on talk shows
and in stand-up routines, Koko
was Robin's comic fodder.
He mocked her lasciviousness,
as he construed it.

                   Yet, there was more:
"We shared something extraordinary,
awesome and unforgettable."
Robin was Koko’s playmate, friend
for a day, a creature she had held
in her arms and rocked
like one of her kittens.

Consumed by illness and sadness,
years later, Robin took his own life.
Learning of his death,
Koko wept.