The genius of cats is that
they’re individual and hate
to be confused with one another,
although the other is their brother.

There are fluffy cats and huffy cats,
fraidy cats and lady cats,
naughty cats, haughty cats,
fat cats with gravitas,
slender cats and delicate.

There are macho cats and muscular,
alley cats crepuscular,
cats who really can’t be cuter,
but unfortunately neuter.

Cats of many different sizes.

Some are scatty, some win prizes,
some are social, some are loners,
all of them the pride of owners.

Cats of an exotic hue,
Chartreux and the Russian Blue.

Cats of interesting shades,
Tortoiseshell and Marmalade,
Oriental cats with poise
Chocolate, Seal and Lilac Points.

Cats who love to put on airs,
precious cats with silky hairs,
and Aristocats, much at ease,
like Siamese and Javanese
and Balinese and Tonkinese

Cats you only see at shows,
Somalis, Egyptian Maus,
Hairless Sphynx and tail‑less Manx,
Abyssinian, Cornish Rex.

The genius of cats, I should recall,
is that they’re individual.

It’s not so much they’re on their own,
It is the owners that they own.