ISO #10 - On A Night of Snow

Cat, if you go outdoors you will catch fleas and ticks.

You will come back all wet and damp, and probably cold,

and you will risk having kittens I have to hold.

Stay inside, my Cat. Clean yourself, as your long tongue licks.

You patiently wait by the door to dart outside,

ready to run around and as far away as you can,

while I continue to batter away at a cooking pan.

Stay with me, Cat. You’re needed, please don’t hide.

Outdoors the wild winds blow, Mistress, and dark is the night.

I wish to see the world and everything around,

and more than cats move, lit by our eyes’ green light,

outside I see in the green grass, a hound—

Mistress, it’s out there with its will and might,

and I want to go and join it. I hear sounds...