exactly right by Charles Bukowski

Cat, Q. Cassetti, 2010, vector

the strays keep arriving: now we have 5cats and they are smart, spontaneous, self-absorbed, naturally poised and awesomely 
beautiful.

one of the finest things about cats is
that when you’re feeling down, very down,
if you just look at the cat at rest,
at the way they sit or lie and wait,
it’s a grand lesson in preserving
and if you watch 5 cats at once that’s 5
times better.

no matter the extra demands they make
no matter the heavy sacks of food
no matter the dozens of cans of tuna
from the supermarket: it’s all just fuel for their 
amazing dignity and their
affirmation of a vital
live
we humans can
only envy and
admire from 
afar.

 

“exactly right” by Charles Bukowski, from The Night Torn with Mad Footsteps: New Poems. © Black Sparrow Press, 2001.