Charles Bukowski is my favorite poet.  I love Charles Bukowski.  Charles Bukowski loved cats.  He wrote many poems about cats; there is even a book of his collected poems about cats.  His poem “My Cats” is about what I believe and what I have been studying.  Cats are my teachers.

My Cats

I know. I know.
they are limited, have different
needs and
concerns.

but I watch and learn from them.
I like the little they know,
which is so
much.

they complain but never
worry,
they walk with a surprising dignity.
they sleep with a direct simplicity that
humans just can’t
understand.

their eyes are more
beautiful than our eyes.
and they can sleep 20 hours
a day
without
hesitation or
remorse.

when I am feeling
low
all I have to do is
watch my cats
and my
courage
returns.

I study these
creatures.

they are my
teachers.

– Charles Bukowski