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looking back it seems
that i mostly learned
how to be a man
by having kittens
as a boy.

something about the need
to coax the attention
felt more earned—
than say,
the desperate gushing
of an eager puppy.

such mercurial
sacks of guts and bones.
the damp noses,
the risible rate
of their minuscule hearts,
the narcotic vibrations
of their soporific purr,
the inexhaustible eyes:

intrepid
audacious
lion-hearted

looking back it seems
that i mostly learned
how to be a man
by having kittens
as a boy.