We who with songs beguile your pilgrimage / And swear that Beauty lives though lilies die, / We Poets of the proud old lineage / Who sing to find your hearts, we know not why ... (James Elroy Flecker)

2.3.22

Learning From My Cat

We want the tactile. 

When I take my cat in my arms 

and cuddle her, she purrs. 


I purr too, on the inside,

squeeze her a little closer

and rock, as if to music. 


We both shut our eyes

and breathe in deep

as I sway and murmur.


I tell her she is the best

cat in the whole wide world.

She’s deaf, but she gets it.


In her mind she is the best

and only cat in the world 

and I am her person.


She lures me to come and lie down 

on the bed. Then she finds 

a place to snuggle. 


Today she settles on my thighs

which are nice and plump.

I’m happy to be her cushion.


She is happy I’ll now spend time  

here with her. This is how love

is made real. Touch. Togetherness.


















Sharing with Friday Writings #18: Moments of Joy
at Poets and Storytellers United.







18 comments:

  1. "This is how love
    is made real. Touch. Togetherness" - Imagine the times we live in that these lines become hearbreakingly poignant... I love this verse too:
    I tell her she is the best
    cat in the whole wide world.
    She’s deaf, but she gets it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is a terrible irony, isn't it? (Suggested in my first line too.) I am more blessed than many, in having at least this little pet with whom to be close and tactile.

      Delete
  2. Awesome the cherished connection you have withnyour pets. I have no pets. I do not want any.
    There is joy for me in cloud watching and dawn birdsongs😊

    Much💜love

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Clouds and birdsongs are great sources of joy for me too.

      Delete
  3. So sweet. Makes me sad I've never had that with a cat. But love is love and you speak well of it. Reminds me of my love from little children. They adore you until they grow up.

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  4. How incredibly sweet ... and so true. My first kitty Snowball, a white Persian slept with my sister and me. Later in life, Snowball #2 loved to cuddle. Kasper our last cat lived to the ripe old age of eighteen.

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  5. Such tenderness in this poem! But that's what love is all about, isn't it?

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  6. The symbiotic relationship between person and pet is magical. You found the best cat and the best cat finds the best person.

    May each scratch behind the ears return a purr.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. So far your wish for us is coming true.

      Delete
  7. Sweet moments so tenderly described. A. Joy to read

    ReplyDelete
  8. Such of feeling of coziness and love in this piece. My corgi can be a cuddlebug when he's in the mood for it too.

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  9. I smiled the whole time while reading this one. And was left with a smile when I finished. This is, indeed, "how / love is made real", when we refuse to drown in all the horrors... but remember to celebrate the small magics.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think sometimes that a focus on those 'small magics' is what saves our sanity in stressful times.

      Even better than experiencing them is being able to then impart them to others. Making you smile like that means my poem has succeeded!

      Delete
  10. Lovely and meaningful. 'This is how love

    is made real. Touch. Togetherness.' True.

    ReplyDelete

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