When you are owned by a cat
you must be constantly wary,
for every kindness hides behind it
a claw poised as a reminder.

Cats realize we are uniquely difficult
to train, that we can be finicky,
slow to respond to their demands,
and they will forgive that, but only to a point.

There is much they would teach us
about the natural world, its minute
sights and sounds, its beauties,
but they understand our senses are limited.

They love us, they tell us, and it only
seems that love is conditional, but
raising people is a difficult task,
far harder than teaching a kitten.

Ultimately they will forgive us
our myriad limitations, physical
and behavioral, for we are their children
and that is why they adopted us.