Aging In Tandem
Symbols, signs, & messages
Aging In Tandem
She’s definitely showing
signs of her age –
at least eighty,
in human years.
Each morning
while I brush her
she sits by her dish
seeming eager for food
but when I put down her breakfast
she lowers her head to sniff
then straightens back up
purring happily
like a connoisseur politely
tasting but declining
the first wine presented
to wait for something better.
She ignores the new dietary formula
I ordered for her: if the label says
‘senior’ she walks proudly away—
as if preferring not to advertise her age.
Sometimes I find her paused
on the threshhold between
one room and the next
and picture her trying to think
where she was going, and why—
or is she meditating,
adept in the art of being
in the here and now?
Every afternoon
she curls up in the shade
of the Montauk daisy,
sleeping there for hours.
After dinner she scrunches in
between the arm of the chair
and the book on my lap while I
read and idly stroke her fur.
Both of us are quite content
in this quiet old house
when no one else is around—
we coexist in peace.
Who will be my next cat?
I startle myself
with that sudden thought,
the stark reality:
this friend will pass —
will I want another?
And if I leave first,
Who will be her next human?
***
The poem above was written in 2024. And a few days ago, the time came when Kitze had to leave us, to leave this earth.
We were carrying her body out the door, when suddenly a pair of hummingbirds appeared from around the corner & darted toward us. They came very close, hovered for 2 or 3 seconds — shimmering, iridescent, ethereal — and then they sped off, flashing the sun’s light, celestial messengers showing us the way.
I will so miss seeing Kitze. She was a lovely and lucky being.
I just read this out loud to Paul, 84, and our 18 year old Boo…aka Bookitty and Pussy Willow. We feel your loss. ❤️🐈⬛ 🙂83yo Peesh