Blamming cats

To those of you worried about cats killing birds. Before you blame the cats Blame the pavement, the driveways and parking lots with no tree Before you blame the cats Blame the cars The streets with no bushes or fruits, no places to hide Before you blame the cats Blame the lawns with no flowers, no pollen or seeds Before you blame the cats Blame the rows and rows poison at the hardware store Being lifted off the shelves and sprayed on yards Before you blame the cats Blame the mono cropping And the sterile fields Being spread full of toxins Before you blame the cats Blame the companies, the investors and politicians who designed our city and country not for people and animals, not for beauty and life, but for short term gain and money Blame yourself and the rest of us, our parents and grandparents for letting it happen And then stop blaming Get out of your car if you use one Write your alderperson or talk to your landlord Help at a community garden Stop mowing your lawn plant some milkweed for the monarch butterflies Or some dill for the swallowtails Plant some sunflowers for the finches and bee balm for the humming birds Or a honey berry or June berry for the cedar waxwings Build up the soil with your compost for the worms that the robins love And then sit on your front stoop Watch the bugs fly and the birds flutter and swoop And talk to the children on the corner as they smile at and pet the cat that has come to say hello.