After living upstairs for ages
At the graces of the old white hand
That fed you tender morsels
Let you in or out,
Cleaned up the messes
You left under the couch
And the kitchen floor
After you howled at me
In unexplained angst
After running off
To the psychedelic tom
Who abandoned you
In the kennel
After all that
I realized you weren’t ever
To be my lover,
Or even my friend,
Only my cat