felix and ollie in poetry

the dog and the cat
each regards the other
as if he was a
tiny
fuzzy
malformed human
who just happens to be
the lowest on the totem pole
of my family’s pack

the cat regards the dog
as some stunted stupid oddity
to be tolerated and occasionally pitied
occasionally snapped at
when he goes too far down the idiot hole
but largely just ignored
we seem to like him for some reason
so the cat tries to let him be
for our sake

the dog regards the cat
as a tiny leaping rebel
who must be kept in line with barks
and protected from the other creatures
milling about in the neighborhood
be they canine cat or mailman
to be scrutinized and berated
but mostly just to keep out of trouble
with study
and with vigilance

the animals each
believe themselves our human equals
and the other a half formed least of us
and it is pretty funny
two neurotic loners
in opposition to each other
but bonded together to this small group
of insane humans
who love both the little psychos

it’s fun