through my cat’s insistence
I telegraph regret
at my inability to save everyone.
an inadequacy I should have accepted years earlier
my sweet feline friend
cuddles with me on the living room sofa while I read
at night in bed,
I sleep on my side
he sleeps on me
he asks for nothing
vibrates a cure
of self-forgiveness
or so I like to imagine.
here, boy, be the messenger
take my mistakes
walk through a crowded room
tail up, flagging the news
desire and intention
my metaphor for
perfection in a hallway mirror,