Sarah Kay - Raccoon

I am too young And too New York City to know that this is a raccoon Staring back at me through the sliding glass door of my uncle's house It could just as easily be a cat who has not gotten enough sleep lately Or a cat who got popped one in the nose and earned himself two shiners which might be what he earns again if he keeps digging through the trash cans on the porch. I'm too young and too alone in the den to know not to slide open the glass door for a closer look While the grown-ups are cleaning up dinner in the kitchen and the cousins are shooting at ducks on a TV screen with a plastic orange gun that they do not share with me I'm too young and too small to scare him So he does not run just holds tight the scrap of fish skin he has found and I know that cats like fish But I have never seen a cat stand on his hind legs before and so maybe this is a Magic cat I am young enough to know that if you meet a magic cat you must bring him a gift and so even though he already has some fish I offer him my plate which I was taking to the grown-ups in the kitchen But now serve with both hands as an offering The magic cat hops down from the railing and now we are face to face and now two more tiny magic cats appear from out of the dark and they are all sharing my gift together And for a moment I am a sorceress Because after the magic cats come the magic fairies I know and the dragons and the wolves and the ninjas and the spies, the adventures and the quests for a moment everything is possible and here and licking at my plate and I am lost in the darkest eyes and softest fur and then Everyone is screaming behind me And the cats disappear and the plate is taken from my hands And the trash is double bagged and the lids are weighed down with rocks and the glass door is locked and the uncles are shaking their heads and the cousins are laughing and the ants are trying to explain the difference between a pet and a wild animal and I'm so young. It's so embarrassed and so painfully unmagic And later when I'm old enough to know The animals you can keep from the ones you cannot when I'm old enough to know a cat from a raccoon a sorceress from a lonely girl magic from survival Later, when you knock on my glass door and come in from out of the dark night Is it any wonder that for one entirely holy moment I am sure That I have seen you somewhere before

Channel: Button Poetry

Views: 84,231

Keywords: Slam Poetry, Button Poetry, poetry slam, performance poetry, spoken word, poetry, poets, poems

Id: 9thtDwM_wlE

Length: 3min 39sec (219 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 23 2020