a simple soft furry person
who reads minds
asks for pets
asks to be picked up
she needs no words
tells time better than the alarm clock
but doesn't save daylight
hasn't much use for daylight
loves me in the wee hours
I am soft and sleepy and
her small heavy feet
tell me she wants to
snuggle or
be fed
or both
she told me she didn't want
to go into the carrier
as it only goes to bad places
even on the way home
it's worse than she thought
it's worse than I thought
who can't cry
then can't stop
I never cry
and I can't not
she is gone
the window-rattler
who purrs not in warning
but to make sure I know
as I am dim
I do not seem to be able to
read minds
and she could never quite
understand the truth of that
because she read mine
every thought I had
she just had
poor comprehension
But she hid when she heard
the thought about the carrier
and then decided to trust me
and came out
when I
betraying monster
called her
surely, surely,
Mama would not
do that kind of thing
again
surely
and I cried
and I cried
in front of the shelter people
all the way there
all the way home
she read my mind
she always does
and
my heart
that evil betraying bastard
broke and broke again
and shattered and
burst into a million tears
and she cried
and panted
her pink tongue
in her black shiny face
and her round green eyes
and her soft round furry body
gone
a black cat
has no business
in a shelter
and shelter is
the wrong word
she had shelter
and I took it away
I was
a monster
for reasons of my own
I cried and cried
and did it anyway
for reasons of my own
that she can't
understand
and can't read
because
we are not
together
and never will be
again
.
