I don’t care what your name is the rat says Get out I try not to look at his big sharp teeth I’m so hungry that I can still smell the turkey with cheese underneath the smell of my own fear Fear has a smell like vinegar It’s sharp and demanding That turkey is mine the rat says as if he can read my mind I haven’t eaten anything in two days That turkey is not his A brave city cat would fight him for it I think about my brother whose nickname is The Terrific Thief He’s even more famous than my mother What would he say to this rat I have as much right to be here as you I say But of course my brother wouldn’t speak to a rat He would chase it away If you take one step further I will bite you the rat says He stares at me with his fiery eyes big teeth and twitchy nose My famous brother got his nickname because he stole an entire steak while the nearby humans were looking for matches He jumped up on the rusty edge of the grill sank his teeth into the meat and took off 6
I’m told he did not share it I’m not like my brother I’m a city cat yes But not a brave one I do not take one step further Instead I jump off the dumpster and skitter back into the alley As I walk away I try not to think about that turkey I wish I were brave enough to fight a rat My only defense is that he was really big Of course I’m still hungry And sad Unlike turkey with cheese hungry with sad is a terrible combination I keep thinking about my empty belly and that huge rat until I remember to look up at the sky No matter how bad it gets there’s always the sky It’s the best part of living in the city During the day the clouds say Go find food you can do it And when it’s dark out and the big mean creatures are in big mean moods the silver stars say All is well have no fear Plus sparrows swoop and fly through the sky Of all the city’s creatures sparrows are the best Unlike pigeons who put humans in terrible moods sparrows make everyone happy And if you run into sparrows under a café table and I almost always do they only eat dropped bits of bread They leave the real food alone 7
I don’t know any sparrows personally but I like them Most city cats hunt and eat sparrows but not me Who would want to chew through all those feathers I’m so hungry today that I guess I wouldn’t mind but I’m never going to eat a sparrow Even if they tasted like bacon I wouldn’t eat one Not when they’ve always been so friendly My brother who certainly does eat sparrows when he can’t find other food once said to me Harvey you’re not a real city cat You’re just a cat who’s hungry most of the time and has no safe place of his own It wasn’t very nice but it’s true Still at least I’m not like the sad poor creatures who live indoors They sleep on beds and eat from delicate dishes Yes they are safe and always have food But they can only dream about life under the sky I do not dream that dream because the sky and I share a life I don’t mind working hard to catch food and safety if it means I can live under the sky But the sky like the city demands that you catch a third thing You can’t live out here without catching luck With out it you won’t live at all 8
2 CITY HUNTING I CATCH MOST of my luck at a bakery near the garbage cans on 10th Street It isn’t just its food that makes it lucky but a woman in a blue shirt Today she comes out from the bakery’s kitchen She puts a dish on the ground Clink Today’s a lucky day The dish always has chicken and cheese She always smells like vanilla and mint Hello Harvey I don’t know how she knows my name but she always says it It’s not the kind of thing humans know about city cats I wish I knew hers It’s on my list of things to do
