melissaahowells - Stray Cats and I have an understanding... 11/23/2021 copyright

stray cats and I have an agreement
I notice them because they enjoy being noticed
and they notice me
because I've been invisible

cats understand the invisible
its a language they seek
and decry
ambling through the narrower silent roads
remaining small and away
from prying hands and eyes
(we)
both acting against our nature
though
its our shared need to be loved
to be touched

we both have avoided the bowl
avoided the comforts
kept far from the warmth
had hidden safety plans

yet we remember the days
when hands and loud voices insisted
and overstayed
directing our lives
and our directions
the memory's long and pinched
we caught our share of tails...

and yet we both understand it
in the precision and persistence
of uncertain certain thoughts

a cat is not a beast
his memory's made
by accumulative circumstance
and through experience wrought

he's a singular person w
capable of memorizing an entire book
or a single page
one who can recall all later
and then store it away

he's adaptable by necessity
and favored by his Creator
capable of constancy
but reinforced by what he's made of

never underestimate the cat
nor likewise
underestimate me

we're creatures with twin genes
human animals don't necessarily have
nor do they believe in elements in the world
until they've lived in chronic uncertainty

I am part cat
and I land on calloused soft paws
shoes do not fit
I've lost my feet
crippled by cold winters
and the persitence of time

more comfortable in an alleyway
weighing out my options
my words before
anyone's judgment I meet

Stray Cats and I have an understanding
do not pet us
we are not yours for free

and yet we are
in ways beyond imagining
in a darkness
you cannot see
for you lack the eyes
and the heart to do it

a fact
and a hardness
we live through
yet rue it

stray cats and I have an understanding
why don't you.....

LEGAL COPYRIGHT FOR THIS POET/AUTHOR MELISSA A. HOWELLS
DATE AND TIME STAMPED NOVEMBER 23, 2021 11:26pm PACIFIC STANDARD TIME
and also for this legally copyrighted and REGISTERED SITE TITLE:
MELOO STRAIGHT FROM HER TILT-A-WORLD\

MAKE ALL YOUR THOUGHTS AND MEMORIES INDELIBLE. WRITE THEM DOWN.
RE-EDITED FOR CLARITY...ADDED THE WORD STRAY...TO MAKE IT SIMPLER
FOR THE PREVIOUS PERSON WHO DIDN'T "GET IT." iTS NOT IMPORTANT
WRITERS/POETS FOR EVERYONE TO "GET YOU." WRITE ANYWAY. BE WHO YOU ARE
IN SPITE OF WHAT OTHERS CHOOSE TO INTERPRET OR THINK.
DATE/TIME STAMPED 1:00AM PACIFIC STANDARD TIME/ 12/4/2021