A Moggy Pageant

My dearest friends’ arrival,

Clocked by the long shade,

Commences for myself alone,

A vivid, sad, parade.

Emerging first, a hook-clawed ear

lancinated through,

Dejected Calico Ruffian

His whiskers blunt and, oddly-congruously, askew.

A yellow burn is soon entrapped,

In wary, vigilant eyes,

One swollen shut, the Cryptic Merle,

Nigh defeated by her perceived demise.

Fur clumps, pale and limp wisp down,

Through aisles of concrete stage,

Tendered from a pugnacious pair,

Twin Tuxedos have no inclination to disengage.

Adjacent slinks the Tortoiseshell,

Slipping silently amidst fast-food debris,

Surveilling for an introduction,

Edging closer by degrees

Decisively, Orange Tabby

eventually ascends,

Demanding acclaim for each small victory

Butting knuckles by his great-bear head

…

Assembled, now, in transitory nature,

Yowling their attainments and antagonisms

My vacuous army of voracious orphans,

Striding in rambling courses,

Hungering always for affectionate sources,

Sets their stares on the softest touch

(which in this case would be me)

To have their burdens eased with strokes

And tins and tastes,

Rattling in my well-trained fingers

Fur blends in colorful conveyance,

The season’s latest trends-

Opposing the dusk backdrop

Arched, gnawing, keening low

Flattened by the buzzing streetlamp glooms

This feasting, foundling , brilliantly flamboyant

(though very much downtrodden)

Found-family of mine