Poem for *

Today remains Wednesday, 14 April 2010.

“Poem for *”

My name is Joe
Black cat of the Bradleys:
Down the street and round the corner.

Mayhap you saw my happy flicking tail
Once upon a morning.

Surely, they loved me in their way.
And always let me wander in and out the dog door,
In midst of the busy traffic city.

Week ago,
They left me with a dogsitter.

The dogsitter last noticed me Monday last,
According to testimony true,
And the Bradleys have returned from vacation
Today, Wednesday, 14 April 2010,
And just now, 8.39pm, noticed me gone.

They loved me in their way, surely.

No tag nor collar
Did ever they buy me.

Slivers of vacation they bought instead.

I assume,
they imagine,
in their “Lost Cat” e-mail to the ‘hood association,
(In poet’s inbox just arrived)
That to write, “No tag or collar :-(”
As if the emoticon
Justifies
These last 14 years
When they let me wander out the dog door
And I,
(With no idea the mortal peril to which they condemned me,
As if emoticons justify cruelty,)
Walked,
Lovingly,
Trustingly,
A final time,
Out into that world.