'LOVE' WAS A CAT

Love’s Labor Lost (in 2006)

No day is fine to die,
Or be left behind as love lingers,
Longing to know why,
But never to know
Why a four month affair,
Excursion into trust, sweetness,
Light, my choice at first sight,
A tan waif under the woodpile
Hosting worms and fleas, cried for me,
Purring need, offering devotion,
Purring, purring, unremitting purrs.

Medicated immersions I recall.
His silky coat and bushy tail.
His play, a whirl with the mundane,
A rug scuffled, a foam bird flipped,
A miniature tree climbed, a bell in a ball,
Unconditional feline love inspired all.
Each day dawned with his sun shining.
Trills for his dog biscuit treat,
Trills for his daily dinner near me,
Trills were his billboard’s song.

When I took him home the man said,
“God is with kitty today,” but he
Didn’t foresee the going away,
When purring stopped,
When venison wouldn’t do,
When ‘Love’ grew limp with lassitude.
I ask God why me for the grief of loss,
A life truncated for a lovely, loving cat,
The bond of unremitting purrs cut.
Love the price, happy ‘Love,’
Recalled to heaven as I drip tears
To one hundred and thirty two days,
Too few for a starved prince recalled home.