Of Mice and Men

Illegitimate son of man
Living alone
Two cats playing downstairs
Its morning
Wolfquest

Breakfast table
is set for one

He notices she
is pregnant
not more than 9 months old
How many in human years?
He pulls her close

On his desk
A faded copy of a magazine
called Heavy Metal
Pencil and ink drawings seem to come to life
The nike of samothrace
Two views from the group of laocoon
showing
the horror of being eaten alive
the texture of stone and skin
the frozen expressions of horror
in black and white

slowly
he brings the cat up
stroking the soft fur
his weathered face
gently
forcefully
deliberately buries itself in the kitten

Last night
she killed a shrew
for him
her drive to live
goes beyond herself
but for her simple companionship
he cares for her
all the days of her life
and she
will kill again
for him