A macaque shares the rooftop
Lingers on the rail
As the rising sun stokes
The smoke laden atmosphere
To molten amber

It's tempting to believe
The monkey is as enthralled as I
With the iconic Red Fort silhouette
But I rather suspect the bugger's
Feigning disinterest in my breakfast

They're clever that way
To stray any further from the table
Set lavishly with silver and crystal on white tablecloth
Would invite a blitzkrieg
And the confiscation of my croissant

It's what I would do were our roles reversed

Fortunately, this angle is perfect
And near enough the table for deterrence
As the shutter clicks
I thank my little gray enemy
For the perfect pose

The croissant is delicious
Slathered with raspberry jam
I chase the last of it down with espresso
While the disappointed macaque lumbers off
In search of its own breakfast

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About the photograph:

Rhesus Macaque with Red Fort
Rooftop of Tara Palace Hotel
Chandni Chowk (Old Delhi)
New Delhi, India

Taken during travels, 2017

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A reading from the blog post:
Monkey Business ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #360: https://pixtowords.com/2024/03/11/monkey-business-pic-and-a-word-challenge-360/
From my blog Pix to Words: https://pixtowords.com/

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The Pic and a Word Challenge is a weekly creativity prompt offered Mondays.

With each challenge I provide a photograph of mine along with a single word. The challenge? Use the pic and/or word as inspiration to create something -- a photograph, a painting, podcast, video, prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction, longread or just a few words. You are welcome to use these two elements (photograph and word) literally, thematically or metaphorically. If you create both images and words, all the better.

Challenge rules are provided in the blog post link above.

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