cats all around
and your eyes surprised me
startled me out of myself
startled me into you
a cat with piercing eyes
that said
stop
I said to my wife
“I keep coming back to this one.”
we were looking for a cat to adopt
and bring to our home with rooms and stairs
and wonderful windows
we took your brother also
everyone said you loved to be together
and they were right
you and your brother
are almost perfect companions to each other
and to us
and the home has changed just for you
with special scratch proof screens
so you can smell the air in spring, summer, and fall
and everywhere
perches, toys, nests
special cardboard boxes
and under the piano bench
a paper cave
cat
adventures
tearing after each other
from one end of the house
to the other
and exploring
a newly discovered wild world
in the basement
and the seasons
at the end of the time of always open windows
preparations pots and pans
and then turkey and every other smell you can imagine
emerging from everywhere
and from guests and their food flooding into the house
and in winter
more commotions and collections of people
a Christmas tree
and
lots of wrapping paper to attack
and
birds outside gathering around bird feeders
always different
through two blizzards
and after
still
your eyes can stop me
and your brother
who also deserves his own poem
standing on a counter
reaches out with his paw to also stop me
so we can rub heads
and sometimes
get a hug
Thomaston Maine January 18, 2018
© 2018 William C. Eberle
