FOR RED 1

On Friday, I lost my dear cat Big Red to cancer. This poem is morbid, maudlin, and incomplete but I needed to write it, needed to share it, and hope it resonates with others who have lost beloved pets.

Today is easier:

no diarrhea or urine-soaked pads;

no medications to give;

no special foods or the corralling of cats so they do not eat each other’s;

no worry or fear that you are in pain, that you will die soon.

You have crossed that Bridge to the pain-free world.

And I, left to my easier day, would take it all back in a second to be with you again.