Tyranny
A silent telegram
echoes through the house
floor to ceiling
floor to floor,
"She stirs!"
Suddenly a flood
of cats appears,
purring
prodding
poking
provoking
knocking delicate mementos
from the table
to the hardwood floor.
Unable to stay abed any longer,
a slave by choice
to fickle feline imperialism,
I drag myself
to my assigned rowing station
to propel the Roman warship
of the Empire Felis Domesticus,
called by simpletons
merely "Kitty."
Paraphrasing the Roman general
Quintus Arrius to Ben hur,
they purr
"We keep you alive
to open these cans."
From the 1959 Charlton Heston film, "Ben Hur". Captured, enslaved and consigned to row a Roman warship, Ben Hur asks why they don't just kill him. The arrogant general, Quintus Arrius, answers "We keep you alive to row this ship." After the warship sinks in battle, leaving Ben Hur in "command" of a raft also bearing the wounded general, Quintus Arrius asks "Why didn't you let me die?" Ben Hur replies "We keep you alive to row this ship."
