BACON

Here come our two cats for my breakfast,

but I am not eating, rather looking down,

making the pen move with familiar loops 

and a certain steady slide across the page.

Cats bore easily when they see that ink smears

and doesn’t taste a thing like chicken. So

the leader pushes her nose into an African violet,

which I can’t allow. Given her way, she will destroy

leaves and get soil all over the table, along with 

pretty purple flowers. I pluck her from the pot,

but not before a clump of dirt hits the table 

and she finds it didn’t taste a thing like turkey,

which was what she had on her little kitty brain. 

Off the two go to explore the kitchen, tails entwined, 

leaving me in solitude with nothing more than

steam rising from the electric facility at the end

of Korean War Veterans Bridge and downtown

Nashville waking to another day of rain.

Now I hear the cats discussing how bacon is cured

and the virtue of Costco’s brand, Kirkland,

fully cooked, naturally wood smoked, thick cut,

microwaveable, pre-sliced, ready in a mere 55 seconds,

reminding me we can have bacon for breakfast.

P.S. and by the way, I cook one piece for each cat.