Hong Kong Monkey

 

In the Shing Mun Country Park,

his hairy right hand rests

on the fence. My second cousin

 

once

removed by countless millennia.

His sad eyes stare

 

into my soul

a creature

born to be free but caged

 

by forces beyond its control.

Can he see the difference

between us? He lives

 

in the present

so can never know

his destiny but then

 

neither can I

apart from knowing

one day we will die.

 

He turns,

waves his tail and runs

to pick up a banana.

 

It seemed he looked directly at me

so intently but think again -

perhaps he could see through me.