This poem is about a mother cat that has just given birth in an old mill. She tells you, in her own words, of her constant struggle to feed and defend her kittens. One night, while she is out searching for food, she is hit by a car. During her last minutes, she wonders who will find them.

"Who Will Find Them, I Hid Them So Well" by Mary Lee Harrington

I didn’t ask that they be born.  I didn’t ask that they have life;

All I asked was to be spayed, to cut this cycle of endless strife.

I’ve often dreamed of having a home and a friend, but mostly a name;

And I waited and waited, but no one ever came.

So I birthed another litter in this old abandoned mill,

Where the walls are still crumbling and the floor slowly starts to fill.

But it’s where I call home, though my bed is on the ground,

It’s where night predators are lurking;

I can’t let them be found. So I’ll move them again, higher up, a new place I must seek,

And I’ll carry each one though my legs feel so weak.

They’ll be safer now, well hidden, completely out of view,

Yes safer now from predators and sadly humans too.

Each one’s unique as I feel their breath, I will feed and defend them until my death.

I wash them and warm them; their ears feel like silk,

Each open mouth needing my milk.

It’s a small litter this time, two tigers and a grey,

I wish their life was different is what I want to say.

I’ll just wait now till they all fall asleep, Then leave for food that I must seek.

The night is cold and it’s starting to snow, The dumpster's will be empty, my search will be slow.

Sometimes I’m lucky and people are kind Mostly I’m scared; I don’t know what I’ll find.

The snow is falling harder now, more difficult to see I can’t see the cars and they can’t see me.

I should have been more careful and searched during the day It’s just that I’m so hungry; I have to make my way.

I’ll just cross this street, but wait a light is coming this way I’m too weak to run- too long as a stray.

If I should die and be covered with snow, No one will find me, no one will know.

If I could speak, I could tell, But no one will find them, they’re hidden so well.

All I ever wanted was to be a friend and have a name But no one ever caught me and so the litters came.

Now as I lay here I can’t hear their cries, They are in my thoughts and in my eyes.

I know where they are, but I can’t tell Who will find them, I hid them so well.