THAT CAT

that cat
that black and white cat
had the most beautiful green eyes
full of wisdom and knowing

when he looked he had every word of every book
in those eyes
when he lay still he had the peace of the heavens
inside him
when he walked he was every athlete, dancer of all
of the centuries

that cat was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen
and I will never see anything like him again
now he is gone

A LITTLE RED, A LITTLE WHITE

a fellow from a nearby room
would come visit me
then women would arrive
and they were tolerable
I let them in more often than not

we'd leave them to it
watching my tv
while we would
make it to the local store
buy incredibly bad cheap wine
a strong murderous liquid
one red one white
the taste of peaches

and when we returned
the women would be gone
we would mix the two and
watch the sun creep behind the hills
and the quick and mad fiends
of the avenue hustle by

we would say little
but it was good
we understood each other

when the wine was gone
he would say
“lets get out of here”
and we would go

leaving the place dark empty and silent
without curtains watching the world for us
while we went to look for it
somewhere
out there

SOLITUDE

I used to sit in that room
on the ground floor
wishing I had curtains
so they couldn't see me

I'd lay asleep and they
would disturb me
my solitude would be stolen
I hated them for it

only good thing was I could
see them coming down the pathway
I could hide
in the closet or behind the door
hoping they would think me dead

but they knew I was hiding
I fooled no one
when they left I would return
to my bed and watch them through
the window fools busy in their living

lift the beer bottle and drink alone
watch the sun set a peeled orange
and flying past
birds hung low like marionettes

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