“There is only one difference

Between a long life and a good dinner;

That, in the dinner, the sweets come last.”

                              Robert Louis Stevenson

I sit and stare and ponder

At these five new miracles of birth

And I can remember my own past

When I was young and filled with mirth

Like these five newborn kittens

I couldn’t wait to leave the nest

I was young and brave and restless

Wanting to put my mettle to the test

New life is such a grand adventure

And most creatures live it very fast

But the excitement and the newness

Unfortunately never ever last

One day I awoke from my fantasy

And I realized that I was an adult

And my exciting adventures were over

What a shocking eye-opening jolt

As I sit and watch these five kittens

I wonder what their lives will be

And I truly hope they find happiness

And lives completely filled with glee

Our world can truly be a horrifying place

One filled with too much hate and bigotry

I truly hope they can escape all this

And only kindness will they see

Their mother would like to shelter them

As long as she possibly can

But eventually we all leave the nest

It’s part of Nature’s plan

And as their temporary caretaker

I would like to shelter them too

But if I dwell on the possibilities

It can tend to make me blue

Some adventures do await them

As do pain and suffering too

I hope their lives are peaceful

I really really do

I sit and stare and ponder

At these five new miracles of birth

And I can remember my own past

When I was young and filled with mirth

Many people don’t believe that cats have personalities;

When in reality, the exact opposite is true .  Each feline is unique; and felines

Can be as loving, and as loyal, as any canine I’ve ever owned.

Each of these newborn kittens has already displayed a unique personality;

Some of them are extremely shy, and some of them are quite bold.

I call the comical, yet somehow sage looking fellow, on the upper left, Groucho.

He has a delightful mustache, and four white paws, and he is their leader.

The dashing rogue on the upper right with the madcap black splotch on his face

Is the mischief maker and swashbuckler in the bunch.  I call him Slasher.

He already loves attacking my toes and fingers, and vigorously chewing on them.

And the three females in the middle are extremely sweet and demure,

Or so they pretend to be, as so many females do.

Cats can be extremely good actors and actresses, too.