To be standing
In Phra Prang Samyod
An 1100 year old stone
temple
Inhabited by monkeys
In the Macau family
A half dozen of them
Gleefully climbing all
over me
Grabbing
Jumping
Being mischievous
The smell of urine
Animal
And feces
Can be quite
Exhilarating
Their curiosity
Doesn’t settle
Even as one monkey
Bites me on my forearm
And I try to shake him
off
Without upsetting
The others
He lands
On the temple grounds
A few feet from me
Baring his teeth
Standing his dusty soil
Aggressively
I challenge him
With my foot
Balancing five other
active monkeys
I realized then
Just like the humans
Around me
Laughing
Some monkeys
Could be assholes
Too
