meowmobile

i learned the names of four cats today
not a single human being
a red holed box filled with mews
held by a young voice who only squeaked chester.
he sat the box on the parking lot
so the mews in his box could talk to the mews in my box.
and if the mews became friends for a second
i have a feeling they did not introduce themselves
with the names we gave them.
I hope my cat has a sweet name in mewspeak.
     three guesses what it sounds like...

next to me, identical mother and daughter, one black and one Inky.
lots of cats have Boots, he said
yours does too he said
(I think they're more like socks
     boyfriend says they're gloves for boxing)
so much for this deal on fixing them, he said,
don't speed west on 6th at 7am.

And little sunset-colored

Zuni

 noun \ˈzü-nē\ : a street next to where I finished growing.
(no, she was not pink.)


ii.

i learned the names of four felines
this morning - and not a single human
grey january, cats in boxes each
one pleading for us to stroke them
i always wish the breaths we can see
would spell the words as we spoke them
whisping howls escape pointed teeth
then cloud before irises golden.

iii.

a woman's words, wanton outspoken:
the moon has been tipped over.
this is why the days are warm, 
and the water levels lower.
each pair of ears stitched to a head
 heard these words then tilted
so i caught them in my fist
and hid them.

a moment breaks in ice and space:
it can vanish, or be written.