311 Poem by RIC BASTASA

today the cat and the dog of this house
have a holiday of their eternal quarrel
and jealousy

none speaks a bad word for each other
none of them
initiates an argument about whom
of them the master
loves better

none of them
speaks ill about the other neighboring cats
or dogs

the dog does not speak about the bone
the cat does not speak about the rats

both of them are silent and sad
and none wants to speak
beside their master

he is sick and dying.