if anyone should ask me that
damned question again
what would I like to be
fishing for the manifesto of a Ph.D.
or promise of grandchildren
I will tell them I would like to be very stupid
to run barking after trains and cars
to gnaw on a great many things
sacred and profane
and know the world between my teeth.
I would like to see no further than my whiskers
or the end of my nose
and to be both scared and loving
to whine even as I bite and fawn.
I would like to be adopted
by a young ambitious couple
the ohtheSmithswhatlovelyfolks
that just moved in on the corner
because they have money to spend
and an empty house
and for them to toss me away
having decided that their rescue project
who keeps chewing up the furniture
wasn’t really worth it after all

(or despite everything
despite the cowering and howling
shattering the soft moments
to be loved like a nervous warm body
jumping into bed at night)