A grey shade in the cottage shadows
a paw lick of sinuous silence
a tail flick of smoke
a pounce on time’s toll
Like a smoke devil escaped the chimney
she inhabits the lounge at night
never settling
she drifts across the hearth
Like the umbral weight of her past
she settles beyond my sight
I sense only the leak
of light left by her passing
Like the presence of an unseen wraith
she is at my supper table
to fill the empty chair
across from me
Like the gentle press of death I feel
her weight as sleep prowls
she makes no noise
as I enter our dream
Later she is an autumnal dawn mist
a purr of a past warmth
an absence that chills
as I greet another cottage day
A grey shade in the cottage shadows
a breath of sinuous silence
a tail curl of smoke
drifting across cottage time
