Cat Lady

A Poem by Jared Orlando

Floors speckled in
Bits and flakes of cardboard
The scent in the air
Soured and sweet
The smile wrapped
Around her lips
When his distant paws
Pitter right behind the door
And then it comes..
The scratching.
Etched into a once silent air
Now bursting with the
Want to stay in,
The curiosity to go out,
To explore the inner confines
And shun the outer
Every corner tapped, just for a moment
Then turning away in
Bitter distaste
They both turn their ears
Away from world in all its
Noise
Its romance and its danger
And choose to remain instead, safe
She wears his face
Deep into her white skin
In a kaleidoscope of hue
And he nuzzles up and
Runs his sandpaper tongue
Across it