there is a congress of cats on the block tonight out among the garbage cans and potted palms the chipped ramshackle patchwork-pavement and detritus of last night’s poker game they seem to be looking to me for answers i cannot provide and i am comforted by the questions they are kind enough not to ask
i am smoking a slim cuban cigar and wondering how long it will be before i am again somewhere lacking in these inconvenient embargoes somewhere rum is cheaper than milk i am wondering how many of our respective 9 lives are spent and who among us holds rank and i am doubting - rather gravely - that it is me
seems there is a dog causing problems half a block down the noise is met with cautious derision by my feline compatriots we all nod in agreed understanding that dogs are always causing problems it seems there is some rain coming in from the gulf and this is where we split hairs, the cats and i because i welcome it welcome the soft tropical breeze that rustles the branches of trees and touches these vespertine shadows with some sort of anticipation
now the crazed barking intensifies and the cats scatter the cigar is spent and the ice in my drink is melted there is a siren from down by Claiborne and something that sounds like a snare drum yes, something is en route for sure if not a storm blown clear across from Africa maybe just a train from Chicago or a time-tested ballad on WWOZ maybe some kind of notice in the mails or better yet, a full page public service announcement in the Picayune repealing rent, hunger, fear, and war something to the effect of: attention all creatures great and small don’t you weep no more
-April 4, 2022 New Orleans, LA