The Tomcats Poem by Benjamin Chiu Uy

The Tomcats

many of these cats came from the bins on the streets,
wandered into your homes,
a shriveled tiny load, not even a wad of flesh,
tiny bones, of structure and smallest of features
a sodden nose and an agonizingmeow

or i took him from the streets corners near the marketplace,
one of them from the middle of city road with a near mishap death from an oncoming carwheels.

but winning into your sympathy and animal caring
heart

as you seek amongst the fridge clutters for remnants
of milk left over from unconsumed cartoons boxes

for an instant quick feeds for such the scrawny creatures

small and alive, a kin sharing a biological
spacein a hostile world, needing defense and shelters
in the cold nights doom.

and you allotted a year and more of constant care
never forgetting fresh fish or tin sardines in your daily diet so you could share the food with your tykes


now he is able and grown
you are to wander into the unsafe motor streets looking for them and among their catfights and their despondent world, constantly
concernfor his safety.