Returning
I arrived with
four blonde little girls
making their daily pilgrimage
to my neighbor Sam's house -
and found myself, against my will,
invited in to witness
the miracle of kittens.
A large, silky gray cat
stretched the length of a long
cardboard box
while children ripped the sucklings -
with violent adoration -
from her nipples.
The big mother cat
never growled or bit.
Sam, a broad-shouldered
joyous old man,
said that's because she trusts.
Patient and kind, he explained
to the girls
that the mother cat
needs nurturing, too -
describing how they should speak
quietly to her, stroking gently.
He held the only black-colored kitten
up by her downy, kitten tummy
so I could see her face -
human like a clown's face -
eyes enlarged by white paint -
cheeks widened by stripes -
a pudgy, flattened nose -
And I felt the dusty comfort
of Sam's old-fashioned parlor
wrap us all up whole
and close.
