I. Public Persona
She had the perfect blend of sable,
soft as silk, hair floating behind big,
billowing clouds at sunset.
Her skin, free of wrinkles caused by age
and worry. Her body, taut without a bump
or bulge, which only hope and good genes forget.
She energized a room with her grace;
a single pause and breath. Green pupils
sparked a flame in the bellies
of her guests as she entered the room.
No words spoken which we knew; only sounds like
streaking light rays passing through our flesh and
bone.
Perfect, like the hands on a Barbie,
we’re enthralled by her beauty and grace,
wondering how she traveled
far and wide and became one with the
landscape like the native flower. No one could
acclimate as she; we had not that power.
She shot piercing looks through the room while
dressed in a shiny, black coat as dark
as coal. No English did she
speak, but yet her communiqué was clear,
as we swooned at her feet, with hopes to receive
her soft caress and feel the breadth of her soul.
Eliminating bodily waste,
napping and feeding daily, absent
a single thought of hauling
greenbacks to the home; that was her job.
She earned her keep without engaging
in the toil and trouble of a 9 to 5.
She gave her caretakers unyielding
love, attention, playful tease and fob.
Her boundless love of ballet
prompted her to prance about her room
which spread contagious joy that left us all in
awe, as we sized her up and found her flawless.
II. Private Solitude
At home, alone in her solitude,
she quietly whispers her story
of drift and isolation.
Moving from house to home resulting
in rotating, enabling , faceless souls, for
whom she really never knows. Yet, she sleeps all
day to quiet her restless mind in
the outer twilight. Unable to
find inner peace, she walks through
the house securing perimeters
visiting each window, each door, until the
stroke of midnight. Sometimes her mind is scram-
bled
like a freshly cracked egg, whipped until
foam emerges and sadness peaks with
such great might. The sun rises;
she does the same as the day before
until her limbs grow weak and tire. She is
weary of the routine of catering to
her caretaker’s whims. So she seeks the
open plain and finds yet another
who calls for help and hire.
No shortage to swap services for
room and board for which she is akin. Then, she
meets and greets and starts the whole process again.
Wherever she lands, wherever she
roams, my best feline friend (BFF) Jenny can
always find a home. She gives
me such comfort when I need it most.
She kept all my secrets and held them quite near;
My BFF Jenny lived life with no fear.