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“The city of cats and the city of men exist one inside the other,
But they are not the same city.”

Italo Calvino

I first heard about these kittens
About three long weeks ago today
They were all starving and terrified
By fireworks booming, night and day

So very sadly, around this wretched city
Human beings shoot fireworks for weeks
‘The Fourth of July’ has lost all its meaning
Except as an excuse to make noise endlessly

These three kittens would pop up in a yard
And at the first sound of fireworks, would flee
By the time I would arrive, they were long gone
They were constantly running, with no time to eat

I finally got a break in their whereabouts several nights ago
They were huddled in some bushes in someone’s front yard
I quickly baited a trap, and watched them march towards it
Normally, enticing starving animals into one, isn’t very hard

But just as the third starving kitten was about to enter the trap
A terrifying boom now erupted, almost directly over their heads
I only managed to catch two of them, the third fled into the night
And now, I wondered if I would ever rescue the one who had fled

I finally got the break that I had now been hoping for last night
The third starving terrified kitten finally entered one of my traps
These three homeless fireworks traumatized kittens are now safe
They are now being well fed and their ‘July 4th’ ordeal is over at last

The city of animals and the city of extremely self-centered human beings
Still exist one inside the other, but they are sadly never the same city.
People are still shooting off fireworks, a week after the Fourth of July.

©July 11, 2015, Mr. Ed