Affection

Like a cat

you have learned 

how to annoy 

and be beloved 

studied the thickness 

of the skin

so you may pierce us

just enough 

so that we bleed a little 

but don’t wince away.

I find this admirable

first for the restraint 

that you must exert

on yourself 

and secondly 

for the way you can

play a solitary game

against the rest of us. 

Also you are good 

at scowling 

and that too mimics  

the baleful and yellow-green

look I have grown to love

from this monster and

companion 

I share a bed with.