Standing in a pile of last night’s refuse
Chewing at its breakfast
Of streamers and ribbon
In the early, decrepit morning
On the side of a busy, urban road
And no one cares to notice, but me
But that’s India: mad as a hatter
A million times a day
Absurd until it seems normal
From a moving taxi
Bound for Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport
Varanasi
Uttar Pradesh, India
Taken during travels, today, 2017
Last week we were true to our Love. This week? Let’s seek out the Absurd, or find something else to inspire your creativity in this photograph of a sacred cow breakfasting in the streets of Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India.
The Pic and a Word Challenge is a weekly creativity prompt offered Sunday mornings.
Each week I provide a photograph of mine along with a single word. The challenge? Use the pic and/or word as points of inspiration to create something — a photograph, a painting, 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.
To participate:
- Use any title you like
- Your response can be words and/or an image
- You may use my image in your post, or any image you have created
- Place the challenge’s Pic (if you use it for inspiration) and Word prominently in your post
- Mention that you are responding to the Pic and a Word Challenge
- Add a link to this post in your response
To help us find your response — whether on WordPress, Instagram, Flicker, Tumblr, etc. — you can also:
- Add a comment on this post to announce your response
- Apply the tag/hashtag “Pic and a Word Challenge” or “#picandawordchallenge to your post
Each week, I’ll list the previous week’s responses at the end of the new challenge. I may also share some on my social media: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, etc.

Just two Love posts this week. Thanks CJ and Serendipity! =)
View all the Pic and a Word Challenges, including the current challenge, on the Pic and a Word Challenge tag page.