bunny stops by the yard for a quick breakfast
kitty sees bunny and considers breakfast
bunny sees kitty and keeps eating
kitty sees bunny seeing kitty
one inside, one outside
only a screen between them
understanding
each is safe
but what goes on in their heads?
—
“it is easy to be brave from a safe distance. “
-aesop
ah, the choices –
to play it safe
and go for the fudge, chocolate chips, or mint
or to venture into something
a little more adventurous perhaps
like playdough or potholes?
—
“fear is stupid. so are regrets.”
-marilyn monroe
i woke up in the middle of the night
to loud screaming
coming from
glen frey the cat not the rocker
who was downstairs
in my living room
shrieking
not like
a cat
but like a rocker
being attacked by something
i
carefully
crept
down
the
stairs
tiptoeing
expecting to find him
in a death match
with a
massive rabid opossum
or
grizzly bear
or?
as i got closer
i saw who he was
running from
and
terrified of
and
his enemy
was his own shadow.
running and running and running
in a circle
it was
chasing him
nonstop
he was terrified
running for his own survival
i shut off the lights
called his name
pet him
talked to him
after a while
he calmed down
finally
he laid down
exhausted
heart pounding
i thought about
the many things
that he might have
had to endure
before he was rescued
and
understood
that it all felt very real to him
as if those things were happening to him all over again
but now
he was home
and
he was safe once more.
—
“everything that we see is a shadow
cast by that which we do not see.”
– martin luther king, jr.
—
credits: universal pictures, google images
rescue glen frey the cat not the rockstar
is beginning to get comfortable.
he still eats like a mafioso
facing the door
always on his guard
and
we still startle each other
if either of us enters a room too fast
but
he doesn’t run away and hide
as much anymore
and even
hangs around a bit longer each day
scooting off to his safe spot
when he needs to
but
he talks to me loudly
and
lets me brush him now
and purrs
and tips over
and
even has bedtime habits.
at 10:30 each night
he climbs into his cushiony basket
where his stuffed kitty friend
awaits him
high atop
the window bench with a view of outside.
for a guy who’s had a hard and uncertain life
he seems to be settling in just fine.
—
if it’s the right chair,
it doesn’t take too long to get comfortable in it.
-robert de niro
each kinder
was asked
what wish
they would like
to send out
into the world
on a piece of paper.
one said this:
she understands important things.
—
the liberties of none are safe
unless the liberties of all are protected.
– william o. douglas
—
credits: 1920s AMELIARANNE Bedtime Goodnight, susan b. pearce
