Ninth Life—No Cat

Ninth Life—No Cat

Wire telegraph is a kind of very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. Except there is no cat. —Albert Einstein

you manifest on my screen ready to occupy the wires         complicit in memories that sluice air
finger to lips against the murmur of longstanding kinship             we have current issues to discuss
Icara can still land safe
the river is quite wide tonight       it takes my breath mid flow       a mourning dove lands windblown
on the parapet            Indian summer finds me mellowing the pace           in a waiting room
rested and restless        cat purring close and kneading my shoulder with her paws
I shade my mind from remnants of dreams        omens of our shared natural history
you will be a cat who doesn't come back           I'll pull your tail and never know where you've gone