The Feral Cats Are Watching

Copyright c 2008 by David Paul Christman

The feral cats are watching the building tonight
After the night watchman falls asleep by his nightlight
A few hamburger patties bolster their furry courage
They’ll be groomed and ready to leap up and discourage

The workmen during the day trip on them underfoot
And spill coffee and Gatorade every which way
The kitties stay clean even with all the dust and soot
But occasionally need to be freed from the Port-o-lays

Pranksters, tool stealers, those in search of privacy
Wanna-be dealers of drugs, sex and minor forms of piracy
Are no match as they patrol in their two-tone uniforms
In these nine stories of soon-to-be filled college dorms

The workmen during the day trip on them continuously
But it’s a small price to pay for their lionine job devotion
The cats patrol with their night eyes religiously
And only occasionally cry from a locked Port-a-John

The feral cats are on the job this evening
On the fifth floor there’s some caterwauling
That wakes and knocks the security guard from his chair
Under the moon like a big cat eye way up there

The workmen during the day give them many names
“He looks like an Ikaika or Kai, don’t he?”
Working without them wouldn’t feel quite the same
When one dies on the job, they bury him with ceremony
under the port-a-potty

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