Old Brother Vincent came to me in a dream last
night
through dark fog I heard a rustle
felt a brush against my leg
heard his unmistakable voice
he said he was returning
from beyond the Jellicle Moon
and, tilting his head to show,
noted that only because of his latest name
[and the entwined love of those who gifted him
it]
he had decided to keep his withered ear
we walked for a while and he told
stories of mousing, roaming and near-escaping
(not to mention the art of executing
the perfect cat nap)
he had begun a journey into the great beyond
it was cold and he felt it was time
life #7 must be completed
so across the road and down a gravel path he’d
wandered
and just stopping to lick his paw when
out of curiosity
(and thus it seemed like destiny)
we all know how the saying goes, he chuckled
he felt inclined to inspect a miraculous pool
that had appeared
behind the big red house
he said he’d been surprised
the transition was so easy
and even more peculiar
to find humans in Cat Heaven
for surely that’s where he had arrived
he sent word to his great old aunt
Lord knows it was her time!
and was only mildly appalled that his dark
cousin came along
but that’s how I knew it was Heaven,
and the humans must be angels, he said
he sat on his haunches and purred
then turning a smiling
amber eye up to mine
that Mowe was always a pestering
little shank,
and they named him Sparkles anyway
he began to drift a bit
and I felt myself awaking
so I asked him where he would go now that he’d
seen
beyond the moon
and he began to pad away into the mists of dawn
as morning crept into my mind
I’m going back to that Cat Heaven, of
course!
then I heard a distant fluttering
and the gray mist swirled where his tail had
been
I have a few lives left
and I always
wanted to fly
so I asked for wings this time…
rLb 09/29/2013
rLb 09/29/2013
