my huntress awards me
with dead moles and mice
trophies not food
her stalking never witnessed

until blackbird wings shimmer
between kitty’s teeth

until she drops the bird
belly-up into the grass
its chest heaving
rapid terror
trying to play dead

until kitty’s motionless wait
for the wildly flapping escape
she can chase down

my soft sweet kitty
captures but doesn’t kill
again and again
not ready to end
the game

nonchalant cruelty is
her other nature
hauntingly human
like severing
traumatized children
from their parents
at the border
just for the optics
of power
the heady scent
of fear