Some people put fish in their pants
When they get depressed. It’s true.

This kid named Brandon,
Who only had a sum total of three toes,

Used to put stray cats in giant blue recycling bins
And then light and drop an indoor firework

Before slamming the lid shut.
Like the firework and cat were ingredients

Seeing the other kids laughing at this
Made me want to put a fish in my pants.

Plankton have been known to wear
Jackets sewn together with

The carcasses of phytoplankton.
Now why would anyone make that up?

Once I caught my cat reading one of my Bellow novels
He mewed that there was a certain sensibility

Within the characters’ interactions
But it focused entirely too much on a degradation

That was exclusively human in nature.
He nuzzled my leg and complained

About his species’ injustice
Until his eye caught a hanging drawstring

From a navy blue jacket.
Clumsy polydactyl thing, falling with fluttering paws.

Which reminds me,
Llamas ride emus when no one’s looking.