Hellen Masido | + Follow Poet |
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To My Cat

Dear cat,
I found another cat
Don’t be jealous now
I love it so
Because it looks like you
Only younger
Like you were
When you first came home.

I don’t know if it’s a he or a she
But it’s a playful little thing
It has a grey mummy
Who takes care of it
Who bites it when they play
And licks the dirt
Out of its fur

It is trustful
It comes under my armpit
When I write in bed
Or crawls on anyone’s lap
And sleeps
When it’s cold outside

Unlike you
It never sleeps alone
Never seeks its own space
Never wants to cuddle alone
With no one close to it
Maybe it learnt to trust
Unlike you do
Because it has the kind of mother
That you never had.

You grew up independent
Looking after your own back
Coming to the house 
Only when hungry
Or when you wanted 
to sleep in peace
Maybe they took you 
away from your family
Too early

Why you never even play
With your twin sister
You’re suspicious of your own mother
Every time she passes by
You shriek
And your father
That cat blacker than the night
You’re always fighting him
I hear you most nights
Then I see blood on you nose 
In the morning
Or a patch of fur missing
And claw scars in their place

If you were human
Yours would be called
A dysfunctional family

I hope I have treated you well
All the days you’ve been my pet
I hope you had a little taste
Of what your mother
Didn’t give you

I miss you plenty
When I come back- if I come back
Will you remember me?
Will you remember I left?
And feel I neglected you

I am only human,
More than that
I never stick around
And move around I must
Sometimes I come back
This time I may not

I hope they take care of you
Give you food
To be stronger against your daddy
I hope they hive you space
To be the independent cat you are

And I
I will remain with memories
When I meet other cats
Like the kitten I have now
Cats with White with black patches
 Over their eyes
Who look a lot like you

Or better still
I‘ll just look at your photo
The one I put on facebook
And when I miss you real bad
I only have to look.

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