Cosmic Cat From Berkele

I next encountered the divine Many years later in Berkeley, California I had gone home to be with my Mother While taking leave from my job in the Foreign Service I had two weeks there by myself My wife came later near the end of the trip Every morning I woke up Had my coffee, and breakfast Did yoga while listening to music And looking out at the garden Then spoke to my mother Who was sliding into dementia Day by day losing her reason Then I would go out And explore the city Go to a museum Go to one neighborhood And just be there Rediscovering the Bay area After years of being away Having dinner with old friends Seeing movies etc Every morning a black cat came to visit The cat was friendly and waited for me And then would join me in my morning rambles Following me to the bus stop I stated talking to the black cat He looked at me with the spark of divinity In his dark eyes I called him the cosmic cat He seemed to like that He would look at me And I opened up to me Told the cat all my dark secrets As I walked the streets Of the old neighborhood Every morning and every evening the cat Would be there to greet me And to carry out our endless conversation Then I had to leave And in our final conversation I asked the cosmic cat Say, Cat are you just a cat Or are you a demonic cat Are you possessed by God Or by Satan The cat looked at me And I realized that God Was indeed residing in the cat But that god was residing everywhere All I had to do was open my mind And the rest would follow So I said Good bye to the cosmic cat And he purred and came up to me And I felt the comforting presence Of the divine spirit of God As I said goodbye to the cosmic cat And said goodbye to my mother As this was the last time That we would be able to really talk I told my mother about the cosmic cat She smiled and said that the cat was there for me and her to comfort us both in our hour of need and that the cat was indeed a cosmic cat published in Scarlet Leaf Review November 2017