if a harness is keeping
this cat on the ground,
I ask myself
what she
could have done
to deserve.
moistening suitcases
and tasting a freckle,
I stop to marvel
at another
celebrated
custard-whipped dictator.
humming as her mustache
clips itself,
while a child
has delighted in
pinching her
floured neck.
tiptoeing ’round to find
that ammonia’s not like bleach.
*Cat No. 29 of the 500 Cats Project