Dependents

Daughter is joking about her cats,

Pretending to speak their thoughts aloud.

—I want a human all to myself,

She says in her best plaintive cat voice

As two kittens contend for her lap.

Father snortles a gravelly laugh.

—Not me. I’ve known too many humans.

—Yeh, says daughter, but you still depend

On us. —Exactly, he says, too much.