Larry

Cat seventeen winters weathered
to his credit
dodging cars coyotes and dogs
asserting territory with his own
claws and teeth with
the torn ears to prove it
now warms with forced hot air blowing
from the vents in the kitchen
curls into
a gray toaster
and sleeps on the pile of newspapers
we never recycle
saving them for him
then at night
when we turn the oil furnace off
to save money in this burned-out economy
he finds the electric blanket
a comfort to his bones.