Day begins

when our neighbor's sometimes cat
miaows at the early morning window
his rose-pink nose close for stroking.
I don't want to easy him in
in case he makes windowing a habit
so I leave warm upstairs quiet
to open the slider below
climb a low wall
my slippers sinking into snow
and lift him, slip-sliding
off the hard-to-reach roof.
For a moment he'll let me hold
his damp furred self then
with paw push and arched back
struggles for down
my slipper-slap leap
makes him cringe
then up tail straight
for the triumph of in.