Monkey Do

Took a ride on an unmanned space craft,
just me and the monkey 
goin round and round
with the earth outside the back window
and the moon in the front

Spent years in orbit around the sun,
learned every switch and dial
and fixed every crack in the walls
while the monkey sat in the captain's chair
feeling important

Stepped outside to go for a walk,
tripped over the garbage cast off
by the intergalactic shuttle,
got turned head over heels
until upside was down 
and the compass shifted
three degrees to the west

Can still hear the monkey 
chattering away, 
carrying on a conversation
with the echo of it's own voice
bouncing back off the walls;
don't even think it notices
that I'm gone




april 2011
Janet Reid