April 1, 2026

a moment
with a stray cat
yelling at me as i looked past the spot
i usually check
for cats

a moment
with a hawk
screeching over my head
and actually seeing it
soar
away

a moment
with all the birds
who eat the cat food we put out for the strays,
the starlings and mockingbirds and robins and wrens and blue jays
[would they all actually eat the bird food
if we put up a bird feeder, or is purina
always going to be their
meal of choice?]

a moment
with our silly dog
whining at all the other
canines walking past

a moment
with squirrels
with skunks
with raccoons and possums at night
with rats along the indoor subway line
and the pigeons flocking outside

i cannot express what it means
to me
to have all these animals around us
and
get to take advantage of living inside the city

the bronx is truly a beautiful place

January 26, 2026

trying to write poetry
as our guest cat rubs his face
all over my hands
and arms
and laptop
and screams for attention
and pines for the outside
i know he does not miss

he is clearly far more at home
in a lap
than in the snow

we named him Tab
because he seems intrigued by Computer
and we can always pretend
it’s because he’s a tabby cat

and i love him so much
but i’ll be happy
to have my own cat love me again
when we no longer have a guest feline
interrupting our day to day

but i could not could not could not leave him
outside in the negative lows
and two feet of forecasted snow
so
i let him walk into our house
and our lives
and he is so sweet
and so loving
and so nice

[and even kip is smitten]

but, like any good cat, he also hassles a fair bit,
and though i’ll miss his antics
and jumps
and hundred different meows
all made using his
whole entire face,
he’s gotta get fixed
and maybe find a home
somewhere far away from
the outside that he knows —
thank goodness for friends
with shelters
they help run

October 9, 2025

i tap at the window
to get the attention of the cat
i’ve just fed
and the puppy goes crazy
thinking it’s a stranger
tap tap tapping at our door
and so she barks
and poofs up
and howls
to protect her home
and her kips
and herself
and she’s so brave

October 26, 2024

a dream
of mine
is to coax a cat inside —
any one of our outdoor cats
whom i feed daily
and try to get them used to me
by standing
and waving
and saying
“i love you”
every time they so much as glance at me

and yesterday
i did it!

[but now we have to deal with an un-neutered male cat
with potential fleas…
but at least i have a friend who works with felines like this
and can help with all the
meds
and fostering
and surgeries

10 out of 10 friendship]

January 5, 2024

our little genderqueer outside cat
grey tabby
names:
dustbowl
dusty
sharknado
comes nearly every day to eat the food we put out for all the cats
(some days twice)
getting used to me,
but still stays more than two arms-lengths away
at all times
at all times
but sometimes
will make eye contact
and walk past
as if i’m not the most frightening thing on the planet
and i think that’s
progress