Gradually

Working my way back in, gradually.

I am home

Gradually.

Pieces of things

Are added back in.

This week is clients.

Next week sees physical therapy.

Throughout everything

The kitten brings me

Her reindeer mitten,

A relic from

My daughter’s childhood.

I throw it.

She brings it back,

Expectantly.

I throw it again.

I am home

Gradually.

Here comes the mitten

Again.

The kitten

It may go both ways

The kitten

She has found me

On the sofa

Soft and breathing

A slight purr

She nestles against my leg

Her paws

The color

Of salted caramel

Maybe dulce

Con leche.

The kitten is a comfort to me

I may be a comfort to her

As well.

Milk ring thrower

And now I deal with the second opinion. Having a kitten helps. Playing milk ring helps.

With the kitten

I watch the birds,

Play endless games

Of milk ring.

She does not

Consider me

Disabled.

She knows me

As a good

Milk ring thrower

Who will continue

To throw it again,

From wherever I sit.

She knows

I am good

At what I do.

Father's Day

Kitten has given up, but grandfather cat is still twitching his tail. Hopeful?

Grandfather cat would prefer

Not to play

His grandfather part

On this Father's Day.

The kitten

Has been banished

With a hiss

And the swish of a tail.

This is

Of course

Until the kitten returns.

The kitten always does

Return

And sometimes

Often enough

The grandfather cat

Changes his mind.

More learning

Yep. Amazing. Both cats are now sitting next to each other staring out the front window. Kitten with her cone, perfectly calm,

The grandfather cat moves

Slowly

To his food dish.

He enjoys a mouthful

Now and again.

The kitten was fixed

She has five more days

In the cone of shame

As the occupational therapist

Calls it

Me?

I’m still learning the walker

And stairs…

And stares

When we go out to eat

I elected no church today

I have more days of moving slowly

More kitten days

In the cone of shame

And stares

And direction

Not to let this

Rule my life

Even though this

Is not where they

Are living.

Fresh kitten eyes

The world of the kitten is ever new.

The Christmas tree

Is down.

It has found its home

In the basement.

The living room

Is as it was

Mid-December.

The kitten has found

New things to climb,

New things

To knock to the floor,

New things

To watch

Out the window.

The life of a kitten

Is ever-changing,

Always new.

She offers

Fresh kitten eyes

On the world.

Fishing for socks

Life with kitten. Always something new.

She fishes for socks

In the laundry basket

Adept

At pulling them out

Through the holes

One by one.

No matter how much

I squish them down

Her front legs have grown,

Her claws

Kitten-sharp

Find them

One by one.

We play

Fishing for socks

Until something else

Catches her attention.

Another picture

Part two of the morning study of cats.

Not five minutes later

Grandfather cat is asleep

In the sun.

The kitten is silent

Watching the backyard

Tail curled

Under her paws.

They are not together

Rather

A whole room apart

But still

In the same room.

Picture

Does a leopard change its spots? Sometimes.

I thought

The kitten had succumbed

To the morning sunlight

She even smelled

Grandfather cat’s ear

And that

Was enough.

It looked as though

They would sleep

Together in the sun

What a picture

I thought

I should take a picture

I thought

I waxed poetic

About lions and lambs

Kittens growing up

Everyone sleeping together

In the sun.

Then

All hell broke loose.

Convergence of riches

Yes, the tree remains in the corner of the living room. The cats love it. In fact, so do we.

A convergence

Of riches:

Palm Sunday

Beginning of spring

Pussy willows

Fully greened

Kitten in the middle

Of the Tree

Once Christmas

Now Holy Week

Soon enough Easter.

We may drape it in red

For the Passion,

Perhaps plastic Easter eggs

To symbolize

The empty tomb

Yet one more tradition

To create

Out of scraps of spring

Branches of pussy willow

Kitten in its boughs:

Convergence

Of riches.

More sense

Before the day is fully defended.

Does it make more sense

To write

While dreams still cling,

While first thing noticed

Is the squirrel hanging

From the bird feeder

As he drops seeds

To the cardinals

Below?

Does it make more sense

To write

While kitten and grandfather cat

Sleep together,

Until they wake up,

Become aware

Of what they symbolize:

Lion and lamb

Peaceful kingdom

Before they go their separate ways?

Does it make more sense

To write

Before the day

Is fully defended?

Sometimes doggerel

Different rhythm these days.

Morning:

My beloved reads the comics

Out loud.

I write:

Sometimes doggerel,

Sometimes not.

The kitten chirps

At a light spot

On the wall.

I write:

Sometimes haiku,

Sometimes not.

Another bird

Has found the thistle seed,

It may be a goldfinch.

In winter

It is not gold.

I write:

Sometimes brief,

Sometimes briefer.

I wait for the goldfinch

To show its colors.

My beloved laughs

Out loud.

I write.

Abundant grace

Extra hours are sometimes mined from the scheduled ones. Sometimes they appear, like gifts, from the sky. Grace.

An extra hour

Has landed in my lap

Bestowed

Granted.

I hear from two

Unexpected people.

Grace is abundant.

Huge.

The laundry difficulty

Is on its way

To being resolved.

The kitten now sleeps

On top

Of the laundry basket,

Fishes socks

Out the hole in the side.

New game.

Everything

Is new,

Even this extra hour

Bestowed.

Granted.

Grace.

Kitten joy

There's something about living with a kitten.

We live with kitten joy:

Ever hopeful

Her milk ring

Will be discovered

Where she found it

Four days ago.

Last night she dropped it

In the open dish

Of parmesan cheese.

Only by chance

We opened the container

Before putting it away.

There it was.

Milk ring

Oh milk ring

Oh plastic milk ring

Such simple kitten joy.

She knew

We’d find it

Where she left it

Just as she knows

There are milk rings

Under every cushion

If we would but only

Look.

Another confession

Thinking of decorating around the kitten and the Christmas tree,

We never put away

The Christmas tree.

We unplugged it,

Took off the lights,

Put away the decorations.

The tree

Is in the corner

Of the living room,

The top branch twisted

Like something

From Dr. Seuss,

May he rest in peace.

The kitten climbed it

This morning,

Her small calico face

Made it

Almost to the top.

She,

Her scruffy self ,

Fur that goes every which way,

Long fluffy tail;

She herself

Is something Dr. Seuss

Would draw,

May he rest in peace.

Notice

Kitten noticing and being noticed.

We all need

To be noticed.

I write this and the kitten

Walks across my keyboard,

Moves on to touch noses

With the grandfather cat,

Lies down in the sun,

Work accomplished

For the morning.

While we were gone

More to be thankful for. Thank you, Jan Birchler!

While we were gone

A neighbor shoveled our walk,

Took wonderful care

Of cat and kitten and turtle;

In fact

Loved them

As we do,

Maybe better,

Way more than we could ask

Or expect.

When we walked through the door

At 10 PM

They were happy to see us

But not

Neglected happy.

No:

Well-fed

Well-played-with

Un-neglected

Happy.

There is no more

We could ask for,

There is so much

To be thankful for.

Amen.

Generosity

Generosity, one step at a time. Leave it to a Girl Scout to make it to our door on an icy sidewalk to remind us of our generosity.

We didn’t

Get the sidewalk clear

Of ice,

Yet still

The Girl Scout

Made it to our door.

She knew

We would buy.

We buy every year.

This is a generous neighborhood,

Her mother said

People always buy here.

In keeping

With the neighborhood’s

Generosity

I now work

On the icy sidewalk.

I add to the bags`

For Goodwill.

I allow the kitten

To play with the ornaments

On the bottom

Of the tree.

There's always tomorrow

Continued life with kitten.

We both woke up with headaches,

Unlike the kitten,

She thought headache-y people

Meant more people

To play with.

Even the grandfather cat

Slept

Until she woke him up.

The turtle

Is in winter hibernation mode.

The kitten

Has not figured out

How to disturb

A sleeping turtle.

Maybe tomorrow.

There’s always

Tomorrow.

Lavender

The kitten prowls in search of grandfather cat, hiding on the speaker box. The house smells of lavender. Me... I am here. It is not as simple as it looks.

The house smells of lavender.

The kitten sits

On the tweed reindeer.

I read poetry

Of being here,

Simply here.

I think

If it only were

So simple.

Day five of Christmas

The wise folk are on their way

Lavender

Kitten

Tree

Wise folk

Me in a chair

With directions

On what I need to do

Until Florida next week.

Lavender

Kitten

Tweed reindeer

The cats play chase

Around the Christmas tree

Me

I am here

Here I am.

Lavender

Lavender
Lavender.