【by Maria Korman】

I work all week for forty hours
To pay for rent, and gas, and food
I lug the heavy bags from Stop n Shop
Up lengthy, winding, flights of stairs,
But when I’m home, you brood

I drag myself and my exhaustion through the door
I look at the fine layers of dust settling slow
And there you are, reclining on the couch like some Egyptian god
You’ve slept the day away! You do not deign to say hello

As I collapse onto the dirty, dusty, hairy couch (your fault!)
After a long and draining day
I long for just a bit of your emotional support
And all I get is one reproachful stare before you turn your head away

How quickly, oh how quickly you forget
The time when you came home all smug
And I stayed by you as you heaved and gagged
And threw up on my rug

Or when you got into another scrape
Out on a dangerous dark street
And came home crying and I bandaged all your wounds
And hugged you as you cried with defeat

Oh, I remember moonless, rainy nights
When sweetly you would cuddle in my arms
And as the rain drummed mercilessly on the roof
You’d softly sigh, your wild eyes brimming with love’s gentle charms

But now you like to sleep in some dark corner
As far away from me as you can get
And when I sadly call your name I get a glare,
A scowl, a thinly-veiled threat

And in the morning when I stumble out of bed and to the fridge,
Stubbing my toe on all your scattered toys,
You’re waiting by your food bowl, unapologetic, proud,
And very hungry, too.

I’ll keep on wasting all my resources on you,
Call me a pushover, I guess.
You fluffy, shedding, angry, hungry cat,
I’ll always love you nonetheless.