A Stray Cat Among Domestic Felines

A bit of everything. Light and fluffy. Hard and crusty. Whatever suits me. I wander cities, twitching under streetlights, restless…

Was offered a home once. Meals… always. Funny, those savior types. My collared contemporaries despise me.

Jealousy is such an ugly shade to attire oneself in.

Once, I curled next to a dog to keep warm against the cold of a horrible Chicago winter. Some alley in a neighborhood tourists never visit. We awoke and went our separate ways. Saw each other thrice after. Never once spoke of it.

I gave myself to a housecat for a month’s worth of food and lodging. Passed his litter later under a bridge and left them to move on.

You won’t believe me, but there was an overcast Saturday in March of ought seven when I saved a mouse from drowning.

And let him scurry along. Unharmed. Not a nibble.

*sigh*

Yes… a bit of everything.

Wandering is a tiresome gig.

Now I nap at a windowsill
I am neither hers
Nor is she mine

I see others like me, but not like me. Well-kept. Well-presented. Manicured and combed.

It makes me long for the nights of freedom and trashcan treasure hunting.

But I stretch along the sill. It’s consistent and the sun warms me, patchy bits and mangled tail. Half bitten ear jerking at the pattering of squirrels sprinting across the roof.

I suppose this is something.

And that is all.

unwell

I am bedridden

Nothing serious to the layman
All limbs are in working order
Complexion is healthy
Heart rate normal
Blood pressure perfect
Nary a sneeze or sniffle to arouse suspicion to contagion…

To the naked eye
I am seemingly

Fine.

However,
The man behind my curtain
Operating such wonderful
Yet complex machinery

Is tired.

He wonders if it is worth the facade anymore.
He feels sick
Disgusted
Loathsome
Of his hidden existence

And so,
without my consent
as though i had any choice in the matter
He has most rudely and irresponsibly

Left.

I am alone, now
Counting cobwebs
And ceiling cracks

With no idea
How to make myself

Work.