To my joy
there appeared
Sonny the canary
After Sonny Bono
Because I dreamed Sonny and Cher
were my secret parents
and they would rescue me someday
George the tiny turtle
the first official funeral I attended
Goldie the neighbor’s cat
they rang the doorbell late at night
because mother who’d lived a farm life
on another continent might midwife her kittens into
the world
i remember the visceral fear
and the glow of triumph as they wiggled to life
Rover the working dog from Australia
who never obeyed anyone
but his master
who abandoned us all
or so we felt
at sea
wrecked havoc on us all
Lassie who was a strange mix
but pure love
Cindy the kitten
that appeared when we were almost homeless
and afraid
who would purr and knead
she may have left her
mother too soon
I was told
school vacations when we hosted
the unnamed gerbil mother
traumatized by fire in the
public school where she lived
who repeatedly
ate her babies
and though I wept and clung and asked
never received a satisfactory answer
only a mother who seemed to know
i was a child who needed to love
and kept bringing
wounded glorious
creatures
home
Revrosee's Blog 