CHOOSE YOUR BATTLES

CHOOSE YOUR BATTLES ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only **

consequences follow
their dilemmas
milk and honey
to a curious
cat

it was easy once
when he was young
staring back
at evil eyes
now it got him
only less
milk
and
honey

he knew when
the man
was going to
take his
things
away

his mouse-toy
his soft bed
the inside
of the
house

it doesn't take much
to throw a cat
sideways
into a cold
night's
garbage
bin

but there are
battles for
wandering
cats

even ones not
homeless
for he had
a home
just
wasn't
wanted

he knew
of rains so hard
they soaked
his whiskers
down

so that he couldn't
test the winds
of newer storms

he knew
of snows so hard
they froze
his lashes
up

framing blue eyes
forming crystals
that lit the
way at night
when the
streetlights
hit just right

he would beg
to come in
soft whimpers first
on the windowsill

then painful
guttural cries
a frozen
paw stuck
to
glass

the man would
peer back
laugh from the
other side
of an icy sheet of
glass that
separated
them

then closed the curtains
closing off
any last chance
for his
toys or
warmth

that he used
to remember
before the
man forgot
how
to treat
a
cat

consequences follow
their dilemmas
milk and honey
to a curious
cat

his appetite changed
he knew there
was
more

he knew
it wasn't only
humans
who choose
their battles

he walked away
this time for good
something told
his frowning
whiskers
in the
wind

he wouldn't
be
missed

he chose his
consequence
to leave
this dilemma
behind

thought of
the mouse-toy
as his
only
loss

these things
good cats
will eventually
do
once they

know they
can never
win
the
war