Hail thee, itinerant alley-
cat softly licking,
a little matted,
still full
of grace, still fat—
absent
(there are abundant milkwhite
adjectives like that)
but not
agonized—
I see you.
I, too, am
like that—
absent not
agonized
(though this
licking thing, for me
is a coarser feeling exercise),
royally tonguing holy
sores wet with vulgarity,
these repetitious attempts
to recognize—does that look like
the kind of
nipple you can drink from?
to figure—was that a
shrug, or was it
a shiver?
to decide—do you run
out to pick some up, or
get it delivered next-day?
to discover—what's the very best way?
never to have to rule
out any possibility.