Peephole

I collage the rug with their fur
their paw-prints engraved with coal
framed inside our domestic skein
the kittens lounge at the velvety noon.

Sorrel pastels their dreamy notes
as I cut the cages from the page and let
the birds sing semitones. Labradors stop
their singing, howling a chanson:

a community of cut-ups in a surreal assembly.
There aren't collars in the sepia photograph
but a tangled film reel the playful cats pull
from the kinetoscope. With their help, I glue

the motion pictures, knit them on a mesh
and project the film on the parquet flooring.