By Mark Gaffney
Up you crept from the street gutters
An old gray wild feral cat
In that moment
Frozen in time
On a cold gray frigid winter day
Subzero temperature jab like a sharp knife blade
Aiming for the heart
Everywhere snowdrifts abound
Caught by a powerful gust of wind
Laced by snow
Blowing ice crystals
Currents of air etch a creviced face
Is this old man winter?
A myth come alive
Invisible forces unseen
Drawn in an instant of time
Its like a deep spiritual dream
An awakening
A hallucination
A moment time stood still
I saw lines of your creviced face
Geometric curves, angles, and perplexing tangents
laced by snow driven invisible air
Your gray fur unfolds like an ocean ships bellows
You sail in the snow laced wind gust
Blown down the street
Dancing and skipping
Your claws barely touch the pavement
You exist an epitome of joy
In clutches of death
Snow laced gust of wind
A shout of joy
A proclamation of triumph
In your defiance of bitterness and despair
You disappear behind a house
Never to be seen again
But, for one beautiful moment you danced
Like no other
A moment crystallized for eternity
If only I had my movie camera
You would be a star
If only I had my movie camera
You would be a rich cat
Now, you are where birds of the air do rest
No dead hatchlings on the street decay
Now you are where lilies of the field do not toil and spin
Now you are where one can take a long deep breath and sigh, ‘its finished’
On this earth a splendid rapture
A moment frozen in time
What injurious wrath have I bestowed
When I saw your droppings on the walkway
While things rushed go by
A gushing river of sorrow and sadness
It is like those garden spiders I remember
As a child
While picking last produce of the season
Heavy autumn due on each tread
Wreaking havoc on the spiders web
Defiantly garden spiders rewind their broken web
Alas, radiant warmth of sunlight reigns
Sparkling crown of jewels in glistening snow
Dark shadows vanquished
Like warriors in retreat
Now, what to my wondering eyes appear
Reincarnated
Resurrected again
Its true,
Cats do have nine lives
Get off my walkway you damn cat
Photo courtesy of Jose Manuel de Laa @ Pixabay
No comments:
Post a Comment