TO ORANGE CAT
Winter held
... and held and held ...
and I was stuck in a snowdrift,
couldn't cut a path
out to find you.
This is wrong.
I was not given the gift of poetry.
I was granted prose instead --
rambling long --
thinking in complete sentences
with punctuation.
But sometimes wrong is all there is.
That winter
didn't end ...
... and didn't end ...
... and didn't end ...
so where would the period go?
No, this has to be a poem
Phrases shattered out of sentences
and scattered across endless snow
White and white and white and white
And one little dollop of orange.
With the spring thaw
came healing
for everyone but you --
found shattered and scattered
on the very first day of spring.
I wish there was no period
at the end of your sentence.
-- To Henry-Cat, who went on his way March 21, 2008
6 comments:
What a beautiful tribute to Henry-Cat. I wish I'd known him. Sad to be scattered like that. The fate of so many -too many - animals.
He was loved and that's the important thing. I loved what you wrote for me.
Somehow I bet he knows.
Blessings! Barb
Sorry to hear of his passing, but you wrote it well.
This is beautiful, really beautiful.
oh man, I cried at the last sentence.. :(
Oh God, this has made me cry. Your poem is lovely and it makes me think of so many beautiful cats I've lost, especially the last one who I will always mourn.
Nothing really takes away the pain, does it?
Thanks, everybody. He was a good, good, good, good cat. He used to go around the house at night, sleeping an equal amount of time curled up with each member of the family -- other cats, dogs, and humans were all included in his nightly cuddle rounds.
He now lives on in my novel and also as my Cat-Hat icon (which just shows you how mellow he was). But I'll always miss him! He was one of those animals who just become a natural part of your family the minute they walk through the door. He left way too early.
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