Nature Versus Nurture (Poetry)

Perhaps I should have drowned her
like a kitten down a well
her nature wasn’t obvious
no way on earth to tell
if she’d be sweet and kind and good
or vicious, cruel and mean
and she kept her claws well-hidden
till the age of seventeen

Then she tested my affection
and turned spiteful as a stray
who bites the hand that feeds it
before it runs away
for there’s really little difference
kids and kittens are the same
a loving home’s no guarantee
God knows who is to blame