to be sure

One time,
I was up a tree
with my neck stuck out on a limb
when she said to me, "Boy? Please,
cats are for trees, not you."
It was strange,
because she
was not there.
No one was there, so
she said it with the rustling
of leaves. I knew who it was,
though, and immediately
began ignoring her while behaving
ostentatiously in hoots and ee-ee's, like
a monkey, not the ape of an angel I suddenly
knew then I was  - an astute rebuttal to her feline
claims of arboreal dominance, I thought.
I concentrated, awaiting feces to throw.
No dice. I had patience at once,
and began casting hopeful eyes
about for places to throw it. But
she was not there, as noted. Suddenly I
was seized with a shame such as I have never
felt, and still haven't. However,
there was no harm done, and anyway
- I hadn't imagined the leaves rustling! 

They were rustling still. Only
they seemed to be reassuring me
"I was not crazy, we are rustling"
- with distant meows mixed in.
I purred and began looking for lower limbs
I could use to haul ass out of there in my blithe,
insouciant way. With panache if possible. 

When I fell...it was as if
the whole forest listened.
But there was not a sound.

She wasn't there. 

I knew it. 

Still, we all do what we have to,
to be sure.