it is late at night
on this, the coldest night

I think about the stray cats
abandoned when their
people moved away

in my head
I hear them cry
into the thick dark
molasses sky

their tiny breaths
frozen smoke

sometimes they
talk to me

they extend
their words
perfectly
enunciating
emotional
pain

tiger
tiger
left
behi­nd

tonight I want to
write something happy

I want to feel like
like those happy people

who breathe
as if they
have no bones

they have more room
inside of them to feel

they could live through
this cold dark night
without crying