Evening

 Evening

Evening has been the loneliest time 

since my love left me, first for hospital

and nursing home, and then…

And then the cats, who used to 

still snuggle up to me in the big bed

left me too, one by one.

Always the night owl, I escalated

my bad habits, hour after hour

putting off going to bed alone.

My new cat doesn’t often

spend the night with me, but she does 

like long embraces any time.

She chooses the times, picking her way

across my desk (delicately not stepping

on the computer keyboard).

Or invites me to play chasey, running

up the passage while I lumber after 

(probably very good for my fitness).

We land in ‘her room’, the spare room,

where she enjoys the afternoon sun.

I loll beside her. She enters my arms.

All this tactile loving eases my heart.

Evenings might be playful or restful;

her presence here is enough.

I still keep late hours, I always will.

But evenings now have lost that dread

of confronting loss and loneliness.

When I do retire, I adjust the pillows

and settle in, singly, yet feeling hugged.

I believe she too feels safe and loved.

Poetic Asides prompt #29 for April 2021: an evening poem.
Linked, in July, to Writers' Pantry #81 at Poets and Storytellers United.