Homeward found

I live in a shelter, alone in a cage

With food, and a towel on which to sleep

I'm small, with spiky fur, and of kitten age

Folks come here looking for a friend to keep 

Some days others and myself are taken to a home

A place where strangers live, but each is alone

Once an old man caressed me gently, murmured and sighed

As his tears spilled to my shoulder from tightly closed eyes 

We also went where there are machines and bright lights

A big place for babies and children who are ill

As each child checked us over it was hard to stay still

To each patient was given the choice of us to pick

time for a while to forget they were sick

I was brought to a girl, with hair the color of night

With her hands she explored my body and face

And her touch as fragile and intricate as lace

She lifted me up so she could smell my fur

I mewed and she smiled, then stroked me, and I purred

She said, "I am blind, but you have made this moment bright."

During the week many come to the pound

Down each aisle they make the rounds

Sometimes a kitten is chosen and homeward bound

And even rarer, a lost loved one is found 

The last of summer passed, then gone, too, was fall

No longer a kitten, I'd grown lanky and tall

In the wintry months fewer folks came to call

So the kittens were gone on a visit, but not us all

Lonely, I watched shadows move at the end of the hall 

I fell asleep, dreaming of the visits I did make

When my fur was spiky and my pads pink and small

Then hands tenderly shook me and stirred me awake

As a man carried me, he took my picture from the wall 

When he stepped outside, he wrapped a blanket 'round me

Put me in the backseat of a car and drove away

I sat up, wondering where we were - trying to see

But the windows were frosty, so back down I lay 

The car came to a stop and the man turned around

His expression gentle, he took me out of the car

He climbed some stairs, knocked, then opened a door

He strode in and laid me in another man's arms 

I was hugged, caressed tenderly, and the old man sighed

As his tears spilled to my shoulder from tightly closed eyes

Thank you, my son! It is he, the one I had held before.

"Hey, fella! I'll bet you wondered where you were bound?

"Well, my furry friend, you need worry no more.

"In time for Christmas, you are, and - homeward found!" 

(© Kathy Pippig Harris, 2005)

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I would like to thank Kathy Pippig Harris for her kind permission to publish her poems and writings on my blog.