Scout & Boo

Awakening,

I feel like our early ancestors,

As I spy two sleeping cats

Upon our legs;

Keeping us warm, protected,

From being prey in the cold night.

Self-soothed by a purr

I escape the anxiety,

The trauma of childhood,

And the worry of a day ahead.

All concerns go

In the stretch of their claw;

You know those ones — we pay the therapists for.

Yet, now, fear seems so benign

As the kiss awakes, softly,

For the woman I love.

As they all yawn and turn,

And I watch them both,

The ones we adopted,

Or they adopted us;

So they roll in the morning sun,

Which comes like droplets of ocean spray

Through the blinds

Of the bedroom.

Illuminated little Nalas,

their whiskers glorious,

their eyes ancient.

They’re Egyptian gods.

If all the toil in all of time,

if the universe itself,

came to be, just for this,

this moment of safety,

of love,

so I could

stroke their fur,

feel their warmth,

And their tiny hearts beat;

Little lungs sharing my breath,

What a fair exchange!

A great deal, indeed.

With a meow of love,

Scratches behind the ear,

I know everything is okay;

everything was worth it.

This is my cats to me — this, is, home.