I had to bury my cat today.
I attended to it before I took out the garbage
It seemed right as an order of operations
as acts of importance go.
The ground was hard
in all the wrong places
Like it wasn’t quite ready to take him in.
I had to say goodbye to my cat today.
He was quite bad at being feline
Fell off the ledge
Played fetch
Would rather go under than over
He had no fear of home repairs
or power tools.
When the baby cried
he was the first to the door
hoovered up goldfish crackers
dropped green beans and cereal.
I had to bury my cat today.
He came to say goodbye
played swats over the food dish
with the kitten.
Had a lick-face-fight
with the hunter.
Napped on my lap late into the evening.
Checked on each family member in turn
then sauntered out into the dark.
I found a spot for him, down by the garden
where the sun always pauses.
I had to bury my friend today
and my world got a little bit smaller.