Like Cats and Dogs
The cat and dog are getting on.
The peace deal in place
between them means
the cat now has permission
to live here near the dog’s food bowl.
The settlement negotiated,
they lie sleeping in the same room,
the cat stretched out in the sun
the dog curled up on the sofa –
flowers in their fur.
The cat still contends
that all rights to return
had been illegally usurped
therefore any action on its part’s
the result of canine provocation.
The dog wishes to reiterate
that here is now its home
and that any scratch-led attacks
will be met with a proportionate response
of overwhelming force.
The situation on the ground remains tenuous,
for if future talks break down
we could all see a call to claws
and a return to snarls, with both sides
revisiting scenes of previous atrocity.
Still, the fence between them
seems to have either been
torn down or tunnelled under
and so with a tentative optimism
we all now live in hope.
Jack Houston co-edits Nutshell Magazine (nutshellmagazine.com), works for Hackney Libraries, and cares for Ralph, his dog, though not necessarily in that order.