Kallie Cat

A nightmare scenario in my head - Kallie Cat lost,
cold, hungry, thirsty, cold & suffering; now she is
dead and it’s my fault - her protector who did not
protect, left bereft: our tempestuous old blind cat

Who bit me as I checked whether her box on the
porch was warm and cosy enough, put my hand
in, she clamped shut, blood flowed, skin broken
in two places, and I was very angry, I confess

Decided no more mollycoddling, just left the little
demon feline alone & stopped tracking her every
move, when she was a nuisance I took her to a
sunny corner, never went to collect th’ little devil

In the end, assumed she’d be in her nest; but for
the first time she got lost, never made it back to
her den, next day found her little body floating in
the pool and now my heart’s broken; we admired

And loved the imperious little she-devil with her
voice like foghorn who kept us awake, woke us
early every day; nobody overslept where Kallie
reigned supreme; now only one sad picture left

The image of our aggressive cat-deity fatigued,
trying to find her way, getting lost waiting to be
rescued, miserable, feeling abandoned; I never
came & she struggled on, fell into the icy pool

She’s lost forever to a family who adored the
mythological proportions of her angry-cat self-
sufficiency…

[Wednesday 10 July 2019]