We don’t know
what kitty wants

just registered
the shift

in tone
a lost child

crying
in the hallway

at night
now asserts

its rights
but the under

-current is
assailable, very

much an ask.
Held, a hiss

rises from
the deep,

this is not
the need,

not food, not
water, now even

the spaniel’s
eyes, those limpid

pools of kindness,
are starting

to show
alarm.