Cat Views

She likes my touch,
she likes my warmth.
I'm a favorite possession
but hardly essential--
sometimes furniture
other times, landscape.

Her mental landscape
is built from touches:
texture of furniture,
heating vents, warm
places are essential.
She gets possessive.

I don't claim to possess
the key to her landscape.
I lack some essential
understanding that touches
at the heart of her, warm
and beating, fully furnished.

Why would a cat need furniture
or any other possessions,
as long as she's warm?
Light on the landscape,
her paws barely touch
the ground. Nonessentials

are discarded: quintessential
cat wisdom. The furniture
of past and future is untouched
by her concern. Possessions
are features of the landscape.
She seeks out warmth,

favors me with a warm
purr-and-knead, the essence
of cat pleasure in a landscape
of comfortable furniture.
I treasure, but can't possess
the simplicity of her touch.

She possesses this landscape
and furnishes with her touch
the essence of warmth.

--for Cafe Writing

Collection available! Knocking from Inside