…but all at once
as if awakened, he turns his face to yours;
and with a shock, you see yourself, tiny,
inside the golden amber of his eyeballs
suspended, like a prehistoric fly.
-- adapted from “Black Cat” by Rainer Maria Rilke
Rilke in this poem captures all the relentlessness and "otherness" of cats, but this fellow -- my partner's cat -- was also a loveable chump, affectionate as cats can be, a true "person with fur". He will be sorely missed.
3 comments:
Sympathies, Brian. To you and all who will miss him.
Thanks, Gina. I have been receiving lots of emails from friends in response to the above. Here is perhaps the most eloquent and touching:
"Lovely tribute. It's always so heartrending to lose a furry friend. The relationship is unlike any other--really pre-verbal, tactile, a unique kind of intimacy, so maybe that's why it lives in such a deep place in our being.
He was lucky to have such a happy home.
My thoughts are with you two."
What a sweet face. I'm sorry for your loss.
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