Thursday, Jun. 21, 2007 - 12:56 p.m.
Walking Wounded 2
******************
Last night Jinky
was looking sore
from his coyote bites
and limped out of the studio
I guessed to bed
but a half hour later
at midnight I get a phonecall
concerned man on a crackly cell phone
asks if I own a small red cat
he was there
and he looks like he's been injured..
___WHAT ! what happened???
"He's been bitten by an animal
looks like an animal got him"-
coon. coyote, fox,
something was trying to eat your cat "
____oh that. yeah
that was Tuesday
ya I know all about that
thanks..
I thought it was something else
something more recent
he was just here a minute ago
i guess he slipped out for a walk
where do you live please?
Ill come and fetch him immediately
I learn the address is just a few doors down
" Well hes here
just walking around "
said the nice man
"in our house
like he owns the place
very curious
very friendly
we can pick him up
and carry him around
no fussing , not one bit"
I felt proud Jinky is so well behaved
even when he's crabby and injured
"We have seen him over here before
the nice man filled me in
" but this is the first time
he has shown up injured
I thought you might want to know
...If he was my cat
... I'd want to know"
___Do you have cats? I ask
" yeah, we do
we have two old lady cats
Amber and Natasha
and they are sniffing your cat out right now
giving him some serious attention
What do you cal him?"
.......
Jinky
" JINK_ EEE ?
the guy seems puzzled
" how do you spell that?
hallayoula
this guy is
not only decent
but efficient
When I go right over to fetch him
the mans wife
tells me that my red cat
follows her sometimes
upgrades that to
" he follows everybody "
and cautions i better take him to the vet
the decent efficient guy adds
that a vet will just tell me
your cat has been injured
and put hydrogen peroxide
on the wound'
tell me to put
hydrogen peroxide on the wound
and charge me $150
he tells me to put
hydrogen peroxide on the wound
i tell him I already put
hydrogen peroxide on the wound
but Jinky licks it off
and that i noticed his teeth
were bleached white
they stare at me like i was insane
the no nonsence sound
of their koo koo clock tick
donminates the night
somehow I don't think these people
are gag and joke oriented family
ghost silent Amber and Natasha
spy on us
from behind an
extreem neatly arranged
recycle box
I say goodnight
thank these good people
for their neibourly concern
& carry Jinky home
we arrive back here
in under three minutes
he sighs in anguish
and dramically limps
into his box of towels
and falls asleep
--Good night Jinky
* * *
This morning he is seems sore
and rather stiff
looking more than a little subdued
barely limps over to get his food
and then clumps back to bed
and flops down to digest in private agony
At noon
a huge transport truck full of
ceramic tiles rumbles down the street
beep beep backup alarm peeling
as the crew make preparations
to deliver a load of ceramic tiles
to the new house
under construction
across the street
this delivery is loud and proud
I watch Jinky rise from his bed
limp across the room.
thump down the starirs
drag himself down the driveway
and get close to the action
as two huge shouting men
manouver a sneezing forklift truck
to unload a few skids of clanking tiles
Jinky just has to be there
to particiupate in the chaos
even though hes pretty chewed up
rising from his sickbed
to hail the truck yonder'
and get a face full of
warm deisal exhaust
an earful of air brakes hissing
and an eyefull of
beefy ceramic wrestlers
hurrying to unload
their square earthenware cargo
from the bowels of a roaring beomoth truc parked across the street
why any one would be so keen
to watch this monster truck
abandon a trama unit bed
on their own power
is something special
there was nothing else there to see'
I looked
... no girl cats
...no spilled hamburger
...no catnip samples
just a noisy truck at noon
- nothing else
It is a great mystery
why my little red cat
loves trucks so much
