On the window
That’s just out of my reach
No furniture nearby
No surfaces to climb
Nothing to give me a boost
It’s torture
The bug is just…
Waiting there
Waiting for something
To put it out of its misery
I would try a running jump
But that wouldn’t be enough
I could maybe get enough traction
To launch myself up to the sill
But nowhere near
Where the bug is
He’s almost at the top of the window
And as soon as he sees a cat
Come flying towards him
He’ll fly across the room
Towards the other window
The one that’s open
And my Cat-urday will be ruined
I thought about coaxing the bug down to me
Using my best purring
Hypnotizing it
With my soothing
Rumbles of pleasure
And contentment
I imagined he would hear it
And think—
My, my, my
Whoever is down there
Sounds very satisfied
Perhaps I should go see
If I, too, can be satisfied
And then—
Wham!
A Mercy killing
That’s what it would be
Quick and painful
But quick
And maybe not painful
I don’t know
Since death is a post
I’ve never quite scratched
But regardless of the execution
The result will be generous
I can’t believe he’d want to go on living
As a bug, I mean
Who would want that?
Do you realize how small he is?
He’s much smaller than me
Imagine living in a world
Where you’re smaller than a cat
Who, in turn, is smaller
Than so many things
But intelligent
Also intelligent
Never forget that I’m intelligent
But also small
Not small enough
To sit on a window
Staring out of it
Probably wishing some nice cat
Would come along
And end the madness
That is
The life of a housefly
But still—
I’m very aware
Of my power and placement
In the world
And my position
Which is ‘Bug Killer’
Because bugs don’t really wish to live
If they did
They wouldn’t bother
Flying inside of houses
So that housecats
Can strike them down
In my lifetime alone
I’ve swatted twelve bugs
I ate four of them
But those aren’t my proudest moments
My proudest moments
Are when I’m up in the air
Claws outstretched
A bug trying to fly somewhere
And me, realizing their torment,
Ready to send them to whatever Heaven
They believe in
And feeling them between my paws
Knowing I’ve done a good thing
A very good thing
There’s not much you can do as a cat
Eat
Yawn
Destroy sweaters
But when you find something
A task
That you can accomplish
That really makes a difference
That assists one of your fellow creatures—
Albeit one of the gross ones
--It really makes you feel good
So here’s hoping
He comes down
Sometime soon
Help me help you, little buddy
That’s what I would say to him
If I could talk
And he could talk
And we could communicate
Help me, help you
End your terrible life
I guess until then
I’ll just sit here and wait
Sometimes waiting
Is all you can do
But I’ll be honest with you—
It isn’t my favorite way
To spend the day
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