FOR CHINA THE BOY CAT

In the bakery

the little girls are friends

they talk about giving bread to

dogs – sometimes when I feed 

my amminals, it's quiet in the sun. 

I have humanity to thank

for the vial that contains me,

and animals to thank

for forgetting that it’s there.

In warmest January

Elise says so long

to China, the boy cat –

little macho love-bug

who peacefully patrolled

a house of human women,

a universe of

softest things,

still asking him

to stay.