stray cats

this cat
keeps showing
up on your front
porch
so you open
a can of tuna
in spring
water and set
it out.
she snubs
it with a sniff
and half
lick. she wants
something
else,
meowing as she
paws at
the storm door
peering in.
but you've
drawn the line
with her,
you can't
let it in.
you are too weak
and giving
to the needy.
twenty minutes
could
eventually
be twenty years.
and you don't
have that kind
of time to spare.