Old Italian man, hunched over with a cane. Once again feeding the neighborhood cat grapefruit. He thinks his neighbor, Adelina, needs to stop feeding it risotto with tomatoes because the cat is getting to fat. Calvino had a cat when he was a child, her name was, Dolce. She would come and go as she pleased. Calvino gave her food for every mouse she killed, she was fast and strong. The best place to scratch a cat is on its back. The old wizened man stands over the cat to be reminded of his childhood where life was simple.

    Life in Italy was easy in 1919. No dictator or war, Live on a farm was good. Get up when the rooster crows. Go to the barn and milk the cows, feed the chickens and go to school. Come home and harvest grapes and eat dinner with my 3 brothers and parents. Not much happened, just a non-complex daily routine. When my dad brought home the kitten it was so nice and soft. He let me decide the name, its name was Dolce. It was an independent cat but I felt that it was my duty to feed it. So every mouse it caught I would feed it. I loved that cat, she was fast and strong.

     The old man stands over the cat watching it, remembering his childhood.
               
Old Italian man,
Hunched over with a cane,
Watching a cat.

The cat is getting fat,
Adeline, his neighbor,
Won’t stop feeding it table scrapes.

The wizened man watches the cat,
Reminded of his childhood.

In 1919 life in Italy was easy,
No dictators or war.

Get up with the rooster,
Milk the cows,
Feed the chickens, go to school.
An everyday routine.

The kitten was nice and soft,
I named it Dolce,
It was so sweet.
Independence should have been that cat’s name.
I loved that cat,
She was fast and strong.

The old man stands, watching the cat, remembering his childhood.