A Cat Declawed
What happens to a cat declawed?
Does it curl up
Like a circle in the sun?
Or flex its little paws–
And then run?
Does it twist and turn and hide?
Or settle on the sofa–
With its head by your side?
Maybe it just purrs,
Heedless of its plight.
Or does it bite?
Better Company
Do your friends want to reform you?
Do they try to mend your ways?
Do they prod you to get moving:
Jog, recycle, fill your days,
Start your own organic garden,
Eat more carrots, eat less fat?
Well, there’s always my solution –
Blow them off, and get a cat.
“A Cat Declawed” and “Better Company” first appeared in The Providence Journal.
Felicia Nimue Ackerman is a professor of philosophy at Brown University and has had about 200 poems published in a wide range of places, including multiple appearances in Sparks of Calliope.
Sparks of Calliope 