Life And Death When Nobody’s Looking –<\/p>\n
There were feral cats on my two hundred
\nAnd fifty mile route through rural upper New York State<\/p>\n
– One Night a week, on Fridays
\nThe Weekend Papers came out at midnight
\nand we, the victims of economic warfare,
\nhad until 8 am to deliver them.<\/p>\n
One night, in the middle
\nof nowhere
\nI saw a cat
\nrun out from a roadside hiding spot
\nright under the back wheels of a car
\nwhose driver never saw what happened<\/p>\n
– I pulled over and stopped
\ngot out and knelt down beside the cat
\nHer back was broken
\nher insides were crushed
\nfrom the stomach back<\/p>\n
I tried to comfort her, what?
\nTalk to her – Tell her she was on her way
\nTo the Kitten Happy Hunting Grounds?<\/p>\n
– all she wanted to do was crawl away and die in peace
\nAnd me, with my human sentiments and sensibilities
\nhoped I wasn’t scaring her to death while I knelt there and cried<\/p>\n
– She tried her damnedest to crawl – drag herself to cover
\nBut she couldn’t move at all<\/p>\n
I stayed with her until the light went out in her eyes
\nAnd twenty years later I can’t forget that moment<\/p>\n
– Can’t stop hoping I didn’t make her final moments in this life unbearable-<\/p>\n
I hope she understands.<\/p>\n
—– Jim Wellington<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Life And Death When Nobody’s Looking – There were feral cats on my two hundred And fifty mile route through rural upper New York State – One Night a week, on Fridays The Weekend Papers came out at midnight and we, the victims of economic warfare, had until 8 am\u2026<\/p>\n