stray cats in athens

sitting atop a hill

watching the sun rise behind a hill out in the distance

with pearl jam’s

“long road”

humming warm in my ears

the light shone over the city

& i could not hear the meowings

of the

seven or eight stray cats climbing up the hill that i myself had been

sitting on

& now i see these cats approaching

all bearing different scrapes

all mangy & differently shaped

coming towards me

in an effort, no doubt,

to get something to eat,

prior to being scooped up by the little

van that rolls around the city

looking to nab strays &

drag them back to the butchery

to meet their demise.