VIII.
Molly, the immigrant.
Petite, polite, and personable,
the perfect tabby.
We adopted her while vacationing
in the Bahamas
upon my daughter’s persistence
and insistence
that the little stray needed
a permanent home.
Molly arrived in the States
nestled inside a scuba bag
without protest,
and quickly assimilated to
a new culture,
a new climate,
a new family,
with grace and a good-natured
sensibility.
Molly’s love of chasing lizards
replaced by her fascination in
the suburban foxes
who integrated into our neighborhood
by the dozens.
Molly is mostly an indoor cat
but she enjoys her
early evening porch-sitting.
Yet on occasion,
she has slinked out of our yard
to mingle with the foxes.
Her flirtatiously submissiveness
is bold for a nine pound cat.
The foxes never hurt her.
But in their confusion,
they yip and bark
and run skittish circles
around her.
Molly is a dog lover.
She’s bestie with the family pooch, Ivy.
Pack sisters, soul sisters, play sisters.
You mess with one,
you mess with the other.
When it is time for dog walks
Molly turns up her frisky monitor
and trails along behind us–
sprinting between parked cars,
scurrying up tree trunks
messing with Ivy
who she knows is a worrier.
Molly makes human friends easily, too
She waits on the boulevard
for walkers to pass by,
then quickly trots out to introduce herself.
She uses a full body roll technique
which scores belly pets
followed by back and forth side rubs
against human legs.
Strangers are so convinced by Molly’s
affection, they assume she must be lost.
Our phone rings
messages from callers,
standing a few yards from our house,
they ask if we own a cat named Molly
whom they fear may be abandoned.
We open the door
and give a wave of thanks,
“That’s just Molly.
She loves making new friends.”
Now in her twilight years,
Molly spends most days
nestled in her heated bed,
or in the crook of the couch cushion
or on a blanket of warm afternoon sun,
dreaming of the wilds,
a Bahamian-American life well lived.
IX.
Ollie, the pandemic kitten
this fall, my daughter struggled
with Covid related anxiety
and thought she might benefit
from owning a cat herself
“a comfort animal”
so she and her roommates
adopted a little calico
draped in a cheetah pattern
with a caramel undercoat
all ears
it has been a long time
since I have been around a kitten
since I’ve been around
the blur of speed and energy
since I’ve been around
three pounds of downy soft
but over the winter break
my daughter brought Ollie home
with her for an extended stay
and I discovered a newfound joy
in spoiling and fussing over my first
cat grand-baby
It’s been such a joy to read these poems. I love the word play in the section about Molly. “Petite, polite, and personable,the perfect tabby.” and “upon my daughter’s persistence /and insistence”. And love how you ended with a grand-kitten. These brought smiles to my day.
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As a fellow cat parent I take delight in reading your poems. Molly is such a character and must have a special place in your heart.
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I so enjoyed meeting Molly and Ollie. And I truly feel like I met them through your descriptions. The teacher in me imagines sharing this poem and asking groups of students to mark it up to notice the word play and the craft moves. SO, SO many! Such a rich poem and your love of animals comes through loud and clear! Thanks for sharing. So glad you participated this March!! I hope you are free on the 11th to come celebrate safely at Lacey Wood Park (see email invite).
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Molly and Ollie to round out this charming series! Crafted with wondrous word play- “pack sisters, soul sisters, play sisters”, this piece had me bopping from line to line. I love how I learned not only about the felines in your life, but also about the writer.
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