Observation - September 4th, 2019, Wednesday

Kitty is speaking to me

she wants her taste of salt and milk-fat

her meow is plaintive, questioning

where is my butter?

 

she moves off her perch by the window

crossing to where I sit at my desk

she nudges me into the kitchen

where I lift the lid on the butter dish

dab my pinky-tip into the yellow-stick

before returning to where Kitty sits

she has taken to the arm of the couch

to receive her daily treat

    

Kitty is still speaking to me

it took you long enough, she meows

before she licks a spot of heaven from my finger

     and lays down to clean her paws

 

  

Observation - August 4th, 2019, Sunday

soft light comes through the windows

     cool air after the evening rain

 

sparrows chatter in maple

a motorcycle rumbles down Bryant

Kitty looks out the window

daydreaming

 

the news is filled with tragedy

terrorism in Texas and Ohio

angry-white-men murder dozens

mothers and daughters, sons and

fathers…victims on the altar of hate

 

it is the two-hundred and sixteenth day of the year

we are two-hundred and fifty mass-shootings-deep

today’s shootings took place in a span of seconds

twenty-nine dead and dozens more hurt

no end in sight

 

the world turns

the light in Minnesota is soft

the air is cool

sparrows flocking to the elms

keep up their banter

 

Kitty listens and watches…half lidded

to the morning traffic on the avenue

 

 

Observation - July 4th, 2019, Thursday

it is cool in the morning...and sunny

people walking by the lakeside

     pushing strollers, dogs on leashes

 

the air is still...the water's face is smooth

like dirty glass, millfoil

breaks the surface near the dock like a rash

 

listen…

 

there are walleye leaping

fantails waving in the sun

flop and splash, the sound  

of soft-soles thumping

      a woman running slowly

down the path

 

Observation - May 4th, 2019, Saturday

the sky is gray

cloudy in the big city

New York, New York

big city of dreams

 

the air is filled with mist

fine and light

people fill the streets

traffic is humming

going to and leaving from

work in the early morning

a fireman stands in traffic

bellowing and booming

he calls for a taxi to STOP!

then guides a big-rig

into the narrow garage

on 13th and 4th

 

 

 

Observation - April 4th, 2019, Thursday

it is dark outside, still

     the quiet on Bryant, breaks

as the bus approaches and rolls past

     engine groaning

     compressors squealing

     the protest of machines

 

Kitty stirs under her blanket

the orange and white stripped tent

I make for her each morning

she waits on the couch and watches

the lioness in her cave

 

Observation - March 4th, 2019, Monday

the coffee pot is gurgling

dripping, hissing

on the news there are clips of

the orange-menace is making a fool of himself

cursing on TV...lying carelessly

 

the five o’clock bus passes by my window

it is cold outside

     negative 10

my lady is preparing to leave for work

Kitty follows her through the apartment

 

 

Observation - February 4th, 2019, Monday

the refrigerator is knocking, I listen

to the heavy breathing of my kitty

curled up behind me on her blanket

 

she lifts her head and squints

she knows I am writing about her

or maybe

it's the knocking in the kitchen

reminiscent of scurrying of mice

 

clicks and scratches

random and faint

distinct from the tapping

of my fingers at the keyboard

a signal to kitty

     to get up and play

Observation - January 4th, 2019, Friday

my lady tells me about her dreams

I play string with Kitty

     she pounces into a tangle of fibers

the smell of coffee fills the house

in the dark morning

I listen to the sounds of her dressing, my typing

their warm chatter in the hour before sunrise