This is for my cat, Baby, who died Jan. 28, 1998. He was 14 years old, and I'd had him since I was in 2nd grade. He was a great cat, and I loved him very much. Those of you who have owned a cat and more importantly, been cat-owned, will understand. I wrote this poem in late 1996, ironically, when he was alive and healthy, if a bit slower than in his youth. He was insisting, as usual, that he be in my lap. :) So, to his memory.

True Love

Old cat,
Who lays in sunlight seeking.
Old cat,
Who moves with stiffened bones.
Old cat,
Yet goes about his paces.
Old cat,
Refuses not to roam.

Old cat,
Who looks with glowing embers.
Old cat,
Who walks on thinning paws.
Old cat,
Gazes up to greet me.
Old cat,
Love has only grown.

Old cat,
Who sits so very near.
Old cat,
Who purrs a halting tune.
Old cat,
Knobby bones beneath my hand.
Old cat,
You who are my own.

Old cat,
Who used to guard my dreaming.
Old cat,
Who comes trotting to my call.
Old cat,
With faded tiger striping.
Old cat,
Time does quickly crawl.

Old cat,
Who makes me laugh and cry.
Old cat,
Who devotes himself to me.
Old cat,
Take my shelter for the fall.
Old cat,
My Baby always be.