Unforgivable
She pants in low moans,
Meandering through dense brush,
Shrouded by evening sky above a forest.
With damp and matted fur,
An amber-eyed predator sees no prey;
Her hunger grows.
While creatures huddle with their clans
In feathered nests and sheltered lairs,
She treks on frozen leaves, confused.
Longing for the comfort lost,
She doesn’t understand her plight;
Life had once been kind.
As dawn dismisses the sandman,
A cry I hear outside,
Weak sobs of desperation.
A child lost? A babe who strayed?
Anxiously I don my coat,
Fearing what I might find.
On this late December morn’
Listlessly she scratches and sobs,
Behind a glass door kissed by frost.
But when I turn the knob
And push the door open,
Her tragedy pinches my heart.
Dry blood encrusts her tender paws,
Infection has sealed one eye shut.
Her ribs protrude and her ears are frostbitten.
With haste, I take her in my arms.
Cradling this wayward soul,
I reach for a blanket and a tin of salmon.
A faint purr is my thanks
For warmth and food and love.
Peering into her one good eye, I weep.
Overcome with pity and grief,
I realize the selfish act
That led this kitten to my yard.
Before joyfully heading home,
College youths on Christmas recess
Had left her on a nearby road.
I welcome their tiny “pet,”
Abandoned, nearly dead,
Victim of thoughtlessness.
Fear not; the one-eyed cat will live.
A refuge I’ll provide.
But do not ask me to forgive
The sin that made her mine.
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