Jerusalem’s cats are small and lithe,
Survivors of a distant past.
Agile, they have learned to live
Upon the scraps that people give,
Among the rubble of the stones,
Which for these cats is all they own.
Spying shadows, they paw the air,
Trying to catch what can’t be seen;
A moment stretched out in the sun,
Then suddenly gone to worlds below.
Weaving their lives of light and dark
Wasting their time on future dreams
Amid these ruins of life and death
Where nothing’s ever as it seems.
Jerusalem’s cats are quick and smart,
But cannot tell a friend from foe,
Not knowing when it’s safe to stay,
Or more important, the time to go.
Jerusalem’s cats are Jewish cats,
Sometimes fearful and sometimes brave,
Who cannot understand the world,
That simply refuses to let them be;
Hoping and praying from where they lay
That tomorrow will be a peaceful day.
- Finding the Light of G‑d, page 99