I Was a House Cat For a While

And now I’m a stray.

Photo by Humberto Arellano on Unsplash

It wasn’t love.
Not really.
It was nice to have me around.
It was company,
A house unempty,
A dinner plate full,
An illusion of unloneliness
For a solitary soul.

My soul craves a mate.
Love me, please.
I’ll give everything —
Re-centre my world,
Wave off sanity,
Retreat from friends,
Fall blind with trust,
Cringe inward, disappear.

And it wasn’t even love.
Not ever.
It was paying for things,
Tolerance of tears,
Routine platitudes and
“Course I do, you’re beautiful.”
(Not off the cuff,
Only when asked.)

It was affection that comes
With familiarity.
I was familiar. A familiar —
A human cat
Slinking round legs
And curled in corners,
Something soft to pet
Until a hiss-spit and claw.