little kitty in the middle of the road
could not tell which way to go
her sight was blurry and her hearing gone
her claws were missing and her hunger was on

fear of god in her eyes
sure she was about to die
cars whipping by really fast
zooming in and whizzing past

nine-lived kitty is going on ten
those golden years have come and went
bouts with rooftops and floor-installed heaters
rottwieler pups and falling bird feeders

leaping from windows, stranded in ditches
narrowly escaping from those pitbull bitches
tom cats, alley cats, siamese stinkers
sneezing all night from those fox-tailed stickers

little kitty lived fast and lived hard
from the front porch step to the back of the yard
hunting hummingbirds and stalking the sparrows
living like a wildcat, thinking she's feral

sleeping on the keyboard, monitor or tv
climbing the curtains and shredding up the tp
ignoring her human's embraces
sleeping all night on her owners faces

her kitten youth has done gone dry
she wants it back and she decides to try
sneaks out the back door, heading down the driveway
looking for a handout from the lady down the alley

she takes a wrong turn and can't see her home
forgetting she's arthritic and her hearing's gone
she's standing alone in the middle of the road
like a pathetic furry traffic cone

little kitty in the middle of the road
could not tell which way to go
little kitty come home with me
little kitty come home with me
little kitty come home with me
little kitty come home with me

(c) m. figueroa