lord of the loos

i try and walk in confidently

deliberately looking away

he stops sweeping and glowers

at me, five rupees he says

a child, the broom as big as him

he’s dressed in a shirt and shorts

he stands blocking the way

and a price of passage he extorts

what? no no, two only, i insist

but he shakes his head, adamant

i don’t have my wallet, amele

but, no no, he won’t relent

amele, later, i cajole, plead

no no, go away, he says

summarily dismissing me

with a sideways nod of his head

the lord of the loos

the master of the grounds

i went in later though,

when he wasn’t around

and then i saw him get five

for everyone sooner or later pees

and off he went happily to buy

peanuts for the monkeys

and he handed them out slowly

in their hands, individually

to each one gathered around

like he knew them personally

the boy gleefully beaming
and the monkeys giving food cries

in a carefree world of their own

the lord of the loos and his monkey allies