A CAT I KNOW

I’ve been trying to establish a relationship
with a cat I know, but the matter isn’t going well.
It’s not as if I’m not trying... and it’s not as if
he has all that many other friends... As far as that goes,
I’ve never seen him with anybody else, except another cat,
a black female with about an inch of white at the very end
of her tail... which I must admit I find attractive, too;
but she shows little interest in him... or in me, for that matter.
He skulks around houses and shrubs where I live,
stopping every now and then to pose and preen himself,
or to sit crying like a baby... perhaps hoping his wailing
will elicit sympathy and understanding and maybe more
from the elusive female with the white on her tail.

Now I know better than to think a cat can be owned
the way you own a house or a car or even a dog, but
my neighbors and I have been wondering to which
house this cat belongs... or, if you please, which house
belongs to the cat... Nobody knows. Is he homeless?
He doesn’t wear a collar, but that may not mean anything.
At least he stops to look at me when our paths cross
in the parking lot or on the narrow trail behind our house.

I found him half asleep under a tree this afternoon
and wanted to wake him and perhaps try again, but
I don’t know his name, and I doubt he knows mine.