Mine

Our intimacy existed in a vacuum

The early hours of the day

And if you ever asked me if I wished

For things to have been different

Adamantly, I would have said no

And yet, there is one moment

I've never told you or anyone about

You stood at the doorway of your bedroom

Looking straight at me

You stopped, just for a moment

Perhaps switching off the bathroom light

i don't remember

You stood there naked, looking at me

As I lay on your bed

Perhaps I smiled at you then

Everything felt so light, golden

These early hours of the day that were ours

There was a softness to what I saw

Your almirah, ajar

A backpack on a chair, clothes on the floor

And then, you, standing there,

Looking at me

And just for a moment,

I wanted more

God, I wished you were mine

Gingie Biscuit

Gingie is too often hangry, meowing complaints about

A lack of food - even though her bowl is so rarely empty

Sometimes, she will bite or scratch in protest

Of how badly she is (supposedly) treated in our house

And yet, when she finally found her way home

After a two-week absence that left our hearts aching

And our feet too, after long searches in the neighbourhood

Her eyes reflected the relief and joy that surely she saw in mine

This cat, ginger and clingy, annoying but affectionate, had come back

Even though she could have found a new home, like she had claimed ours years ago,

Forcing us to open our doors and hearts to her when we had already

Decided we had had enough with the pain that comes with a feline's death

And now she sleeps on my bed, tummy rising up and down

While I work on my laptop right next to her, thinking:

This is the life I want - this love and contentment that comes with

Sharing your house with a (mostly hangry) cat that only has love to give

Word of the day: hangry
feeling irritable or irrationally angry as a result of being hungry