Cats in Jerusalem

After being awakened by screeching cats for about the hundredth time here last night, this morning I wrote a short poem in their honor. Enjoy.

The Cats of Jerusalem

for Janet

Like babies, they cry

in dark hours.

We, the wakened cannot know

what drives their fierce desire:

hunger, fear, or love?

Like prayers, they greet the dawn

light, leaping forth

as we, the earthbound

stumble clumsily

amongst their prey.

Like our hearts, they hunt

for shelter from the brutal

noon-time sun.

Like ghosts, they gather

in the twilight,

plotting mischief,

while we fight to stay

awake until the bedtime

story’s end.

Like beings human and divine,

they prowl Jerusalem

beneath the waning

Tammuz moon

and howl, howl, howl—

as if they might

remind the whole world

how full it is

of their glory.