{"id":132053,"date":"2023-09-02T14:44:13","date_gmt":"2023-09-02T18:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/?p=132053"},"modified":"2023-09-02T14:44:13","modified_gmt":"2023-09-02T18:44:13","slug":"shouldve-asked-the-cat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/2023\/09\/shouldve-asked-the-cat\/","title":{"rendered":"Should’ve Asked the Cat"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s all their fault. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The cat rescue folks, that is. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

They sent me out to deal with this,<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

to a site reported to have <\/span>strays–by<\/span> the dozens. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Up an old dirt road that almost wasn\u2019t, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

where possibly no one had ventured for <\/span>ages<\/span>. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Potholes <\/span>that gulped down tires in stages.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The road <\/span>was endless, went<\/span> on forever. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But, eventually, ended. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Abrupt, with a cliff.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

No sign whatsoever<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

T<\/span>here, <\/span>thick on the<\/span> edge, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

like crust on a pie,<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

were <\/span>more cats than I\u2019d count:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I won\u2019t even try.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A herd of cats. Maybe five <\/span>or <\/span>six <\/span>dozen<\/span>!<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Every fuzz-furry feline,<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

and all of their cousins.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I <\/span>came ready, I thought, but that wasn\u2019t the case<\/span>: <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Fifteen carriers <\/span>would never clear out this place.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Nor the <\/span>couple cans of tuna to lure them. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

More like a convoy of U-Hauls, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

and a zoo just to store them<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

So, I got out of the car to <\/span>capture a <\/span>photos, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

for proof later, when they\u2019d say I was loco<\/span>. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

No one would ever believe this!<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I walked toward the edge. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Cat\u2019s <\/span>dashed<\/span> left and right,<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Fleeing under a hedge.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The one\u2019s <\/span>too distracted, stayed where they were,<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

preoccupied, <\/span>mesmerized, humming a purr<\/span>. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The<\/span>y<\/span> were right on the edge, <\/span>peering down<\/span> over. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Soon, <\/span>I too, was<\/span> peering <\/span>down<\/span> over the side.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

When I saw what was there, I nearly died.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Hundreds and hundreds of <\/span>pickety <\/span>bits. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Not <\/span>specifically<\/span> one thing, but <\/span>it sent me into fits<\/span>. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Rocks, cups, marbles, picture frames<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

All in great piles<\/span>\u2014<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

having been pushed off the edge,<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

likely, for quite awhile,<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

by the mysterious instinct of <\/span>each <\/span>feral cat! <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

There were breakables, edibles, mittens, and hats…<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Lots of homework.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

R<\/span>etainers.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Hi<\/span>l<\/span>lary\u2019s files.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Hunter\u2019s laptop.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Jewelry. Money in piles.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

All those <\/span>poetry <\/span>words, <\/span>perfect but lost<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

And now knew where <\/span>Hoffa\u2019s body <\/span>was tossed<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Treasure from tombs.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Alexandria\u2019s tomes.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Atlantis!<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A dodo!<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

My mother\u2019s lost locket.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Pan and the Lost Boys<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A 10mm socket.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I was <\/span>ready to go<\/span>, <\/span>with photos for proof,<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

When the cat herd pushed ME to the underside roof,<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

And while<\/span> \u2018cat\u2019apulted <\/span>there<\/span>, <\/span>dangling and taunt<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

One more thing caught my eye: Jimmy\u2019s <\/span>shaker of salt!<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s all their fault. The cat rescue folks, that is. They sent me out to deal with this, to a site reported to have strays–by the dozens. Up an old dirt road that almost wasn\u2019t, where possibly no one had ventured for ages. Potholes that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":564,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-132053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marathon-poem"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/564"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132053"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132053\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":132067,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132053\/revisions\/132067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}