reruns in poetry

when you consider the lifespans of cats and mice
Tom was probably battling generations of Jerries
mistakenly thinking they were all one mouse

this one bruised him with a meat mallet
that one shot him from a tiny toy tank
another, tricked into punching the dog

some other generation
poked him in the ass with a knitting needle
stole all the food and he was punished for it
by a night under the frozen December sky but

that was years and years of cruelty
by fathers and sons and daughters
and cousins and grandsons and so on

Ahab to a whole school of white whales
always coming to burn him with a flamethrower
always wanting more

that cat
that cat and I
have a lot in common