What the Cat Thinks of Snow

oh, January snow, how

you fall, dry & light

all morning & most of

the afternoon, as if

a being — intelligent &

rational — ran the show

not that such a being

exists, no, snow’s from

a rulebook humans are

ever learning to read

these days they claim

to “know” about gravity

pressure, temperature

& yes, the ion game —

intermolecular bonds

ergo, voila, snow

yet (I’m licking my paw)

they can’t actually see

electron pairs bond

(whisker twitch) though

certain 21st-century

wunderkind skilled in

microscopy claim

to see them — but why

go on about science?

I’d rather see a mouse

running on snow

Who's to Judge

I sit in a raised box

among eleven others

while a judge (overly

fond of the qualifying

clause) delivers 

remarks about justice. 

I pay attention. I try

to map his reasoning

onto Boolean logic —

IF (x AND y) OR (NOT b)

OR k, THEN q, ELSE p — 

but I cannot parse.

When he asks me

if I believe I can weigh

evidence, make a judgment

based on the law

I say, I imagined I might

before you spoke

but you’ve convinced me

I cannot. He frowns.

He signals the clerk

to lead me down & out.

Had I stayed, I’d not

have played at being god.

The Body Does What the Body Does

purples, erupts, exfoliates

think & say whatever you will

the body is you & doesn’t give

a fig about you, it magnifies

& depletes you, elates & defeats you

your body makes or breaks you

you pay attention, fight back

or you pretend to pay it no mind

all this intention, much as it may

amuse you, wastes your time

whatever your body wants to do

it does, tra la la, despite you

Mouse Feed

one mouse steals traps — picture

one foot caught under the metal bar

three feet racing toward the hole

dragging the trap behind, she chews

her leg free, sad, but she’s alive

so far she’s stolen three traps

she’s down to one foot — picture her

slow hop to the hole, nestmates

helping her pull the trap home

feet the other mice might eat

another story is three mice lose

one foot each — picture the farce

oh, our world, rife with cameras & mics

but none expose this lair, how

mice view traps, the tales they share