so many rocks

Its mama done ate all the others, ate
them right there in the bed where they
tried to nurse but I plucked this one out
from under the crawl space, put it on
my back and we set out. We walked
down highways and dusty country
roads, and this little frost colored
kitten, she didn’t do too good with the
heat.

I told her tales as if she was my baby,
and she said thank you by digging her
claws into my back till I bled. I pecked
her little fevered head with kisses, her
heart just a flutter and I prayed out loud
to the Lord Christ Jesus to let her live.
See how I slick the hair on her head
down, but then it just stands right back
on up? She’s stubborn like that, and I think
she refuses to die even though
I can’t get her to eat none. Please
just let her grow old like she should;
keep me company as I go down the
road. Let me keep this one thing,
since I lost everything else.

When you’re homeless nobody wants
to lend you a shovel. Jesus said no, and
it’s hard to turn the dirt when there’s so
many rocks in this patch of land. It’s
hard to turn dirt, what don’t want to be
turned. I’ll just drop her here in this
hole, and she can look out over this
valley and I’ll go on.