homeless in Los Angeles
Monday, November 10th, 2008 4:48 PM
the sooty white kitten
has a gentle personality
she does not make tiny hisses
when I touch her
she sleeps in a cardboard box
on a pink velvet blanket
on my back porch
sometimes her mother sleeps with her
does that mean they are no longer homeless?
I think of the people sleeping
on benches along the sidewalks
here in Los Angeles,
covered with newspaper
or along the streets
covered with cardboard
does that mean they are no longer homeless?
I bring organic cream and dry kibbles
to the kitten and her mama
the mama makes lion sounds as she eats
is she crying out her hunger?
Is she crying out a warning or
gratitude?
I stay and watch, to make sure the baby
gets a chance to eat too.
I donate warm socks for the cold feet
of the homeless
I work at the soup kitchen
I vote for Obama
hoping against hope
that change will happen
for those most destitute.
Hoping against hope
what does that phrase really mean?
I look it up on the internet
and find meanings that
don't really change anything,
at least not the meaning
of this poem.
This morning the sun is out
This morning I can feed
one sooty kitten
who huddles on the pink velvet blanket
on my back porch
gentle, patient, soft
she hasn't learned to make lion sounds
when she eats
perhaps she never will.
