We watch each other … what entertainment …
when one isn’t worried about the neighbor’s dog…

within the wildlife corridor
the backyard borders
kittens cavort among pine cones
play-acting ‘hunt-for-prey’
pouncing one upon the other
each the mother watching
for shadows in their patch of sun
where fun’s chasing butterflies
and love’s stalking chipmunks
chickadees & ‘ganging up’
on squirrels bigger than they
catching nothing …
while for wilder others out there
sneaking up, the deadlier game …

she’s wilded, not wild, feral her fate
feline mother – because she’s afraid –
part timid, part trusting
maybe abandoned, betrayed …

I watch, heart caught in her cares
my hopes for them, for her,
I’d salvage, find them homes
their lair’s too far from where
I’d catch, so close without approach

three kittens tussle and tumble
there beyond the hedgerow
a playground peril of forest thicket
twisted limbs, rotting logs, festooned
in tangled vines and predator terrors
a jungle on their friend’s suburban fringe …

Stealthy they foray birdbath and feeder
hide-and-seek peek through planter petunias
I’ll try not to trick them to gain their trust …
One just like them, I adopted last year …



copyright © Helga Ross 2004