you have to let
the kitten
occasionally get
the ball of yarn
that is dangled
tantalizingly
in front of it
or it grows bored
of the game

each day i wake
farther detached
from the dreams
i chase fruitlessly
as they grow more
unapproachable and i
foolishly continue
on these shaking limbs
trying to exact change
hoping one morning to
metamorphosize myself
into something worthy
of the same desire

passing through fields
filled with balls
of multicolored yarn
blowing like tumbleweeds
forgetting exactly
why i stagger along
past exhaustion
in a hollow pursuit
of placing second
in a one man race
chasing strings i know
will always remain
just outside the reach
of my gnarled paws