Like a Kitten

At times you resemble nothing more

than a tiny drenched kitten,

lost and looking for its mother,

desperately searching for something,

anything, just wanting comfort and reassurance.

You’re not a kitten, but a person,

but with big eyes and fragile bones,

shoulders that don’t fit into adult size clothes,

though you’ve been one for years now,

and hair that sticks up wildly when you first wake up,

there’s quite a few things reminiscent of them.

Especially the broken ones,

the little ones that don’t quite manage to make it up stairs,

that fall down, or that wander into walls,

the small ones that you stay up late at night to watch

and just pray that they make it through to another day.

And you wonder how other people see you,

if they see you the same way you see the kittens

in those late night hours.

Or do they see you like the kittens in the day time,

when they ignore their size and loudly meow,

trying to jump up and play?

Maybe you can hope they see you that way,

even if you kind of wish someone would see

how fragile you are more often,

because it would be nice to be taken care of.