Have you heard the news?
There’s an angry ballerina dancing on my rooftop.
My
cat says the shingles are raining down on the azaleas, but this may be an exaggeration
on his part.
The ballerina only exists in the mind of the warthog living
in the basement, who happens to be the fraternal twin of my imaginary friend,
Captain Hitherto, so this may be my fault.
Indirectly.
My cat’s
searching for a shingle-proof hat on e-bay, so I’m starting to take him
more seriously.
I wonder if it’s going to rain, like the warthog said
this morning in the pool, after he sniffed the air.
I picture a wilted tutu
and slippery slippers.
My cat says I can’t save an angry ballerina
if she or he or otherwise doesn’t want to be saved.
Captain Hitherto
doesn’t agree, but then again he’s very disagreeable, even for an
imaginary pirate.
I ask my cat why our rooftop and why me.
He says he
doesn’t know, and he says the secret to his happiness is that he doesn’t
care.