poem of the day 08.24.09

cat lover

hot and sweaty
i come down the street
at night
he’s coming out of my
apartment building
we know each other
the way tenants
know each other.
we hold elevator doors.
we grunt hello in the hallway.

in the window
is my ten year-old tabby cat.
i stop outside of it
to say hello to her
and that’s when he stops.

“you know, every day
your cat is in the window,” he says.

“yes,” i say
wishing that i hadn’t stopped
but waited until inside
to say hello
to the cat.

“well, i guess that’s what
they do, cats,’ he says.

i don’t say anything
but just stand there
until he turns and walks
up the street
like he’s in a hurry.

there must be another guy
on the next block, i think,
coming back from his own
eight hours of hell
who hasn’t yet been hit
with a dose
of obvious, superfluous conversation.